Czech Centre of Cognitive Ethology

🎓✨ It’s official – I am now a Ph.D. 🎓✨
After years of research, fieldwork, writing, and countless discussions, I successfully defended my dissertation on predator recognition in birds.

I couldn’t have done this without the support of my colleagues, mentors, friends, family and birds. Thank you! 🦅🙏

🤩 Both amusing and informative! #BirdCognition #Ornithology 🪶

Numerical cognition in birds Nature Reviews Psychology - Birds demonstrate complex numerical abilities at levels similar to primates. In this Review, Regolin and colleagues describe the contribution of laboratory, field and...

Our new review on numerical cognition in birds, just out in Nature Reviews Psychology! 🐦🧠

Behavior, neurobiology & field studies across avian species

Very fond of the neurobiology part :)

📖 Read it here: rdcu.be/eyErI

Food availability affects parental anti‐predator behaviour in red kites Parental investment theory proposes two non-mutually exclusive hypotheses to explain variation in anti-predator behaviour in relation to the age of offspring: the ‘reproductive value of offspring' hy...

Food availability affects parental anti-predator behaviour in red kites | doi.org/10.1002/jav.... | Journal of Avian Biology | #ornithology #RaptorResearch 🪶

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Vol 380, No 1929

Selection Shapes Diverse Animal Minds: our special issue of @royalsocietypublishing.org Phil Trans B on the diverse evolutionary processes underlying cognitive evolution is out today. Thanks to all our contributors! royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...

😍 Thank you, Maja, for the wonderful summary of our research. I would like to add that this is not all—another batch of crazy bird scarecrows will be coming soon. Stay tuned 🤩🪶🦅🧪

@ckecz.bsky.social
#BirdCognition #Ornithology

Goffins, shrikes, tits — I had the pleasure of talking about all of them at #VetMedUni in Vienna! 🇦🇹🪶🦜🦅
Thanks to @mohara.bsky.social and @bmioduszewska.bsky.social for the invitation. 🤩 It was fantastic to catch up with this wonderful group of brilliant people over good 🍻
#ComparativeCognition

Horror monsters for birds

By modifying the eyes of the sparrowhawks, great tits find them: either harmless like a pigeon (with no eyes), or absolutely terrifying (with frontal eyes in line or under the beak).

(paper) www.researchgate.net/publication/... @laniusondrej.bsky.social

1/7 Alternatives for a complex mind

Look at the image, it shows the proportion of neurons in the pallium (in blue) and in the cerebellum (red). Primates (including humans) have a rodent-like proportion

(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
by @gallinaciega.bsky.social
via @Raccoonologist

🧠🦅 Facial configuration matters 🦅🧠

We tested if wild #GreatTits recognise predators not just by what facial elements are present (eyes, beak), but also how they’re arranged.

👁️🔄 Rotate the eyes 90° = more fear
👁️↩️ Rotate them 180° = same fear
👁️🚫 No eyes/beak = no fear

#BirdCognition 🐦🪶🧪 #JCOMP

Viewing conditions predict evolutionary diversity in avian plumage colour | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Animals communicate using multiple sensory channels, including via vision. The colourful plumage of birds is a model system to study visual communication, having evolved through a complex interplay of...

Our paper, on viewing condition and the evolution of plumage colour, is published!

This was several years of work, building on our study of woodcock communication.

Working with @sheardcat.bsky.social and John was a particular privilege.

🪶🧪#ornithology

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

🧠🦅 Czech interview about bird intelligence in Czech Radio České Budějovice 🦅🧠 @irozhlas.cz

budejovice.rozhlas.cz/moudry-jako-...

#Ornithology #AnimalCognition 🪶

❗️🧠 I'm reminding this starter pack, anyone who wants to be added, let me know.

#BirdCognition 🧪🪶🦜🦅🦉🐦‍⬛🦆🐥

Attendees at the 9th Hole-nesting Birds Meeting, hosted in Oxford, Sept 2022 at the conference dinner at Jesus College

Coming later this year, the 10th hole-nesting bird conference, from 10-12 Sept in beautiful Olomouc, Czech Republic. Held every 3-4 years, this is a great meeting bringing all those interested in cavity-nesting birds (natural & artificial) together. #ornithology

zoologie.upol.cz/hnb-2025/

🐝 According to the discovery of a new fossil hoverfly with a well-preserved mimetic color pattern, the occurrence of accurate wasp mimics preceded the dominance of passerine birds in Europe. 🐦

Read more in a new paper ⬇️

doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

CogEvo 25 - Workshop on Cognition and Evolution CogEvo 25 Workshop on Cognition and Evolution will be held in Rovereto from 17 to 18 July 2025

‼️ CogEvo 2025 🧠 🚨

A unique workshop on cognition, neuroscience, evolution and development organized by the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences.

🗓️ July 17-18, 2025
📍 Rovereto, Italy 🇮🇹
🔗 Registration: event.unitn.it/cogevo/

#CogEvo2025 #CogEvo #Cognition #Neuroscience

🦅🧠 Bird Cognition 🧠🦅
Anyone who studies or is just fascinated by how birds perceive, learn, remember and solve problems 🐦

Let's all meet in this cool new #starterpack 🤩

Let me know if you want to join in too 🦜🦤🦉🦆🐣🪺🪶🧪

🔗 go.bsky.app/V2K7HQM

#Ornithology #Birds #AnimalBehaviour

Why do woodpeckers not get stuck in trees? Well, they actually do get stuck in trees quite often—but they free themselves within a blink of an eye. Here's how.

Have you ever wondered why #woodpeckers don't get stuck in trees?

I answer that question in the latest post of my newsletter “Beaks & Bones”. 🪶🧪
You can read it here for free:
beaksandbones.substack.com/p/woodpecker...

#birds #ornithology #biology #nature

Check out the way this Long-eared Owl changes the shape of its facial disk when it hears a rodent below it:

🥳 Successfully passed state doctoral examinations 🥳

Thank you to all the examiners and everyone who has helped me on this dream journey 🙏 🦅

All that's left is the dissertation. Let's do it! 💪

#AnimalBehaviour @malavika-m.bsky.social @sangeeth-sailas.bsky.social @ckecz.bsky.social

Der Erfindergeist der Tiere

It is the first book by cognitive biologist Alice Auersperg (@auersperga.bsky.social), about the inventive capacity of other species. From bees to, of course, Goffin's cockatoos!

Recommended for those who speak German
www.brandstaetterverlag.com/buch/der-erf...

Are you my successor? The @ibisjournal.bsky.social are looking for their next social media support officer to help deliver conferences, promote #ornithology and grow engagement across social media platforms

Very happy to chat more about the role, just comment 👇 or message me! ☺️

🧪 #AcademicSky #ECR

PhD position in parrot tool use Job offer: applications opening 19th of February 2025. We are looking for a PhD student (funded by the Austrian Science Fund, FWF) for a doctoral project in the field of animal behaviour and cognition Project Title: Dexterity in the tool use of the Goffin’s cockatoo https://www.fwf.ac.at/forschungsradar/10.55776/PAT2728324 Project Location: The Messerli Research Institute is located at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. Its division on Comparative Cognition investigates cognitive abilities in both the social and physical domain of various, free-living as well as domesticated, animal species including Goffin’s cockatoos, keas, dogs, goats and pigs. https://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/en/messerli This PhD project will be conducted at the Goffin Lab in Lower Austria. https://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/cognition/goffin-lab Academic Supervision: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alice Auersperg (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Project Description: The Goffin’s cockatoo uses and builds tool -based technologies rivalling higher primates, both in captivity as well as in the wild. While we already understand a lot about what kinds of tools animals use in which context, we still know very little about the innovative process and fine-scaled mechanisms underlying such behaviour: how are the cockatoos able to innovate tool use in the first place? Thereby, it is important to consider behavioural as well as physical barriers that animals face when using tools. We currently predict that tool use techniques are strongly affected by the different properties of the tasks the birds are operating their tools upon. This PhD project aims to test to what extent the tool use techniques invented by aviary cockatoos in Austria manifest in a predictable manner based on specific tool and task properties. To achieve this, we plan to blend behavioural analysis and material physics. The findings of this project will help to understand the onset and mechanisms underlyi…

Deadline and project start: Please send your application before 1th of June 2025. The successful candidate can start in July at the earliest (we would like to have started the project by September of this year). Requirements • A master’s degree • A master’s thesis with a topic related to animal cognition/animal behaviour/comparative psychology or material science. • Genuine Interest in animal behaviour and cognition • At least some experience in direct interaction with animals (experience with animal testing is highly appreciated). • Comfortable with direct contact with parrots • Statistical knowledge (preferably experience in General Liner Mixed Models, PCA, Survival Analysis etcetera.) • Experience with R. • Excellent English skills written and spoken (additional German skills are highly appreciated) • Excellent teamworking and communication skills What we offer • Employment at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna via a FWF funding for a minimum of three years. • Access to institutional support (administrative support, statistician, IT manager, technician for experimental apparatuses). • Various scientific events including weekly seminars of comparative cognition researchers • Opportunity to visit international conferences. • Opportunity to visit social events for PhD students studying avian cognition in Vienna. • An international and interdisciplinary work environment at the Messerli Research Institute for Human-Animal Interaction. How to apply: Applications (email: alice.auersperg@vetmeduni.ac.at) will be considered until the 1st of June 2025 Only complete submissions will be taken into consideration. Your application should contain the following information: 1. A Cover Letter detailing your motivation for the research topic, relevant experience, and expectations for the position (max. 2 pages) 2. A Curriculum Vitae including copies of relevant university degree certificates 3. Contact details for two references (incl. email)

We have an exciting new position in our lab for a PhD on parrot tool use! See below

After your tea, why not learn about what makes #woodpeckers so darned cool!
Watch my brand new animated bird guide episode here youtu.be/GEQBrT-587Q?...

@asab.org @avianbiology.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social @nordicoikos.bsky.social @ibisjournal.bsky.social

Responses of avian predators to the polymorphic harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) Harlequin ladybird shows high colour polymorphism with particular colour forms differing substantially in their abundance in nature in Central Europe, where this species acts as invasive. We experim...

🐞 resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Strange features are no better than no features: predator recognition by untrained birds - Animal Cognition Predator recognition is essential for prey survival, allowing for appropriate antipredator strategies. Some bird species, such as the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio), distinguish not only between ...

👀 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Function of juvenile plumage in the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis): aggressive mimicry hypothesis Multiple raptors show juvenile plumage that is substantially different from that of their parents. Here, we test the prediction that the colouration of the juvenile northern goshawk Accipiter gentili...

🧐 nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

🦅 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...