Christopher Pollock

🏔️Arctic-breeding black-legged kittiwakes show individual variation in foraging responses to glacial conditions without consequences for reproductive output

📷 © Delphin Ruche

vist.ly/48wsh

The dawn of the post-literate society And the end of civilisation

As others have already said, this essay by James Marriott is well worth taking the time to read. Now, back to my book if I can just prise my iPhone out of my hand for a few minutes… open.substack.com/pub/jmarriot...

Very pleased to be a part of this research contribution into the ongoing impact of HPAI on seabirds; led by @sue-lewis.bsky.social alongside fellow authors from @rspbscience.bsky.social @rspbengland.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social & @seabirdcentre.bsky.social

Fully funded PhD working on insectivorous bird declines with a broad range of stakeholders. Starting ASAP #ornithology #zoology #biodiversity #science #ecology
www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...

To lead or to follow: disentangling the genetic and cultural contributions to long-distance seabird migration at University of Liverpool on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - To lead or to follow: disentangling the genetic and cultural contributions to long-distance seabird migration at University of Liverpool, listed on FindAPhD.com

Delighted to be cosupervising this funded PhD with @joewynnbirds.bsky.social on #migration in #birds #seabirds @liverpooluni.bsky.social. Start in early 2026! Register for our online briefing session. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

NetLogo 7 is here!!

✨New modern UI with dark mode
🔧Performance improvements & new features

👉Download: www.netlogo.org/download
📣 Full announcement: www.netlogo.org/announcements/

#NetLogo #AgentBasedModeling #ABM #ComplexSystems

Very happy to share that our paper presenting a framework for optimal movement decisions in complex landscapes has just been published in TREE @stephharris.bsky.social @jacobnabe.bsky.social tinyurl.com/d45s36y5

Optimal movement decisions in complex landscapes Understanding and predicting optimal movement decisions in complex and dynamic landscapes requires identifying the mechanisms driving movements, beyon…

Brilliant read for those interested in movement ecology and how we can integrate costs (e.g. wind), gains (food) and external moderators (e.g. the "landscape of disgust" which is a new one for me) for prediction and use in conservation strategies!

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

Global tracking of marine megafauna space use reveals how to achieve conservation targets The recent Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) sets ambitious goals to protect, conserve, and manage at least 30% of the world's oceans in an effort to halt the loss of important mari...

BioSS researcher Dr Ana Couto worked with a team of international scientists who tracked over 100 marine species of large vertebrates to identify the most critical locations for conservation in the global ocean. 🌍🌊

Read more here: www.bioss.ac.uk/case-studies...

#conservation #marinebiology

We are back on the Isle of May for the final bit of breeding season monitoring. Fulmar checks are now complete. We'll be sharing all the Isle breeding season results very soon. @smp-seabirds.bsky.social @theseabirdgroup.bsky.social

More intense human-caused heat extremes have reduced terrestrial bird abundance - in particular in the tropics - more than other human pressures
#ornithology
doi.org/10.1038/s415...

A Causal Inference Framework for Climate Change Attribution in Ecology Accurately attributing ecological shifts to climate change remains a significant challenge. Here, we present an accessible causal inference framework designed for climate change attribution in observ...

Really excited to share our new paper on #causalinference & #climatechange attribution out in #EcologyLetters today!

Are you asking "how much" or "if" climate change has impacted your system, then this paper is for you!

🧪🌏🌐🍁🌺🌱🌿
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Why flying insects gather at artificial light - Nature Communications It is unclear why flying insects congregate around artificial light sources. Here, the authors use high-speed videography and motion-capture, finding that insects fly perpendicular to light sourc...

We now know why insects gather at artificial lights

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The BOU being so on it they beat me to posting about our own paper!

Any folk interested in using bioacoustics to monitor petrels/ #seabirds do get in touch- we're continuing this work at @btoscotland.bsky.social and always keen for more collaborations in this emerging field

A graphical abstract depicting the paper title, author list, and brief description of the paper. One images displays an adult common gullemot with one logger on each leg, next to a chick. The second image displays a close-up of a common guillemot's legs with both loggers shown. The text reads: An improved method to derive behavioural budgets and energetics from geolocator data in Common Guillemots Uria aalge Lila Buckingham, Maria Bogdanova, Francis Daunt, Robert Furness, Sophie Bennett, Ruth Dunn, David Jardine, Mark Newell, Ewan Weston & Jonathan Green We deployed two devices (time-depth recorder & geolocator) on 39 Common Guillemots for one non-breeding season. We allocated time to behaviours using 1) both devices (see Buckingham et al. 2023) and 2) only geolocators, following previous methods. We compared the behavioural budgets. We could not extract foraging behaviour (diving) when only using geolocator data. We devised an improved method for estimating behaviours and energetics in Common Guillemots using geolocator data. We also provide guidance for studies of other diving seabirds that rest at sea. Photos by Andrew Carter Seabird 37 (2025) Early Release

Do you use geolocators to estimate foraging time, behaviour, or energetics in diving seabirds? See our new paper for insights from a study of Common Guillemots.

doi.org/10.61350/sbj...

@theseabirdgroup.bsky.social

Very excited to announce my first paper!
With @sjportugal.bsky.social, published in @ecol-evol.bsky.social 🧪🌍

We studied how flocks of homing pigeons change their flight in response to different ground cover, with some surprising results...

doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

#movementecology #ornithology

Composite image of the Proceedings B journal title, the manuscript title and the author list, alongside an image of a red-footed booby flying amongst palm trees. Some text reads: "Winds shape the behavioural decisions of red-footed boobies, impacting their foraging commutes and feeding behaviour".

"Commuting in crosswinds and foraging in fast winds: the foraging ecology of a flying fish specialist" 💨🐦🐟

New @iomarinescience.bsky.social research out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

📸 @robinfreeman.bsky.social

🧪🌍🪶

Job Advert reads: Work with us! Seabird Monitoring Programme Organsier www.bto.org/jobs With a photo of a Razorbill flying behind the text.

📢Job alert! We’re looking for the next Seabird Monitoring Programme Organiser to join the BTO Surveys Team!🔭📈

ℹ️ For more information and to apply: www.bto.org/jobs
🗓️ Deadline for applications: 8th Sept 2025.

#seabirds #citizenscience
@btobirds.bsky.social, @jncc.bsky.social, @rspb.bsky.social

Image description: figure from review titled Map and compass navigation: the mechanism and ontogeny of animal maps. The figure shows how environmental cues can vary in predictable gradients through space, generating unique cue combinations at each location. The second part of this figure shows how animals may respond to these cue combinations, either treating them as discrete cue-location associations, or as continuous gradients. These differences may lead to differences in navigational strategies and performance.

Ever wondered how animals know where they are? Or how they find where they need to be?

The answer is that they have maps and compasses built into their heads! Excited to see this new review of map-and-compass navigation led by Joe Morford out in Animal Behaviour @asab.org

doi.org/10.1016/j.an...

A small wader bird (Sanderling) is wearing a running number, blue trainers, and a headband. The background is a bright green street map design. The large text reads: “How different birds would run a marathon*” and underneath, in smaller type: “*Not approved by RSPB fact-checkers.”

How different birds would run a marathon... a thread. 👇

Reckon you could outdo these birds? We're taking applications for London Marathon 2026 Team RSPB runners.

Follow the link to apply, you have 'til Sunday! 🏅

rspb.org.uk/helping-natu...

Asymptomatic infection and antibody prevalence to co-occurring avian influenza viruses vary substantially between sympatric seabird species following H5N1 outbreaks - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Asymptomatic infection and antibody prevalence to co-occurring avian influenza viruses vary substantially between sympatric seabird species following H5N1 outbreaks

New paper on avian flu in seabirds from an Edinburgh Uni PhD student published! Edinburgh University has been working on the Isle of May with UKCEH and other partners to investigate the effects of this virus among seabirds. Read about it here: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Partial Niche Partitioning in Three Sympatric Gull Species Through Foraging Areas and Habitat Selection | Ecology and Evolution | doi.org/10.1002/ece3... | #ornithology 🌍🧪#seabirds

A checklist for designing and improving the visualization of scientific data - Nature Cell Biology Creating clear and engaging scientific figures is crucial to communicate complex data. In this Comment, I condense principles from design, visual perception and data visualization research in a checkl...

Lots of invaluable advice here for both early stage researchers and well established folk. Well thought out impactful figures are key to getting your points across, and it's all too common to see poor practice 🧪🧬🖥️🌍 #datavis #bioinformatics
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A dead Black-headed Gull at a colony in Norfolk, UK, photographed by Dawn Balmer / BTO, and likely a victim of high pathogenicity avian influenza.

22 papers across two issues document the impact of #AvianInfluenza and assess effectiveness of management responses. They show the unprecedented scale of the outbreak, decimating populations across Europe, Africa, North and South America to the South Atlantic.
📚 bit.ly/bird-study-h...
#Ornithology

📖Published📖

Check out our new Perspective article 👉 Empirical ecology to support mechanistic modelling: Different objectives, better approaches and unique benefits 🌍 🧪

buff.ly/obwawk5

New #UKCEH dataset published on how breeding seabirds spend their time and energy. These data will help us to model the potential impacts of any changes in seabird behaviour in response to new offshore windfarms catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/07...

🧪🌊🦑 #jobs #postdoc Last call for applications, deadline is this Sunday for a 42-months #Research Fellow post in Plymouth (Salary £39,355-£45,413). All things #plankton, #predators, remote #sensing & #autonomy
APPLY NOW 👇

Pre-laying sex differences in reproductive roles can constrain foraging behaviour in a monomorphic seabird - Marine Biology Sex differences in foraging behaviour can arise in monomorphic species when reproductive roles differ. How these differences shape foraging behaviour during the pre-laying period—an understudied repro...

Am super excited that our new paper is out, it looks at how reproductive role can constrain foraging and restrict evening diving opportunities for males during the pre-laying period in Manx shearwaters🥚

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The First GPS Observation of a Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) Riding in a Long-Haul Garbage Transfer Truck | doi.org/10.1675/063.... | Waterbirds | #ornithology 🪶

A marine predator relies on both social cues and frequently updated memory to search for prey | royalsocietypublishi... | Proceedings of the Royal Society B | #ornithology #seabirds 🪶