Jimena Lois-Milevicich

📢 New article out in PLOS BIology!

It was truly a pleasure and honour be a part of the core team members to lead this study and work alongside 129 collaborators from 82 institutions across 24 countries - the largest ever comparative study of neophobia in 🐦! 🥰

Neophobia compared in 1,439 birds of 136 species

Specialised diets and migration are associated with greater fear of new objects. Surprisingly, witnessing such objects in groups is also associated with greater fear.

(paper) journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
(blog) phys.org/news/2025-10...

Left: Examples of novel objects used. Each black/white bar is 5 cm long. The objects ranged in size from a third to half the size of the subjects: (a) Southern cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, (b) Moluccan eclectus, Eclectus roratus, (c) Rüppell’s vulture, Gyps rueppelli, (d) gray-winged trumpeter, Psophia crepitans, (e) common waxbill, Estrilda astrild. Right: Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) at Adlerwarte Berlebeck, Germany, interacting with a novel object. Image credit Kai Caspar.

Fear of novelty varies across species & individuals, impacting adaptability & survival. @themanybirds.bsky.social @drrmiller.bsky.social &co assess #neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 #bird species, identifying phylogenetic influences & broad ecological drivers @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4haLEsN

Left: Examples of novel objects used. Each black/white bar is 5 cm long. The objects ranged in size from a third to half the size of the subjects: (a) Southern cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, (b) Moluccan eclectus, Eclectus roratus, (c) Rüppell’s vulture, Gyps rueppelli, (d) gray-winged trumpeter, Psophia crepitans, (e) common waxbill, Estrilda astrild. Right: Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) at Adlerwarte Berlebeck, Germany, interacting with a novel object. Image credit Kai Caspar.

Fear of novelty varies across species & individuals, impacting adaptability & survival. @themanybirds.bsky.social @drrmiller.bsky.social &co assess #neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 #bird species, identifying phylogenetic influences & broad ecological drivers @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4haLEsN

Special thanks to my on-site team: @raulogomez-uba.bsky.social @jcr55.bsky.social Alicia de la Colina, Florencia Foitzick, Nínive Paes Cavalcante & Sebastián M. Santiago; and to the the supporting institutions: EGE-FCEN-UBA, IEGEBA-CONICET, Aves Argentinas, Agencia I+D+i, Fundación Temaikèn 🥰

It was such an incredible, enriching, and fun experience — I learned so much ❤️ So thankful to the amazing leadership team who welcomed me! @drrmiller.bsky.social @vedranaslipogor.bsky.social @nomascus.bsky.social @stephanreber.bsky.social @cds-york.bsky.social Megan Lambert & Claudia Mettke-Hofmann

A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia Neophobia (the aversive response to novelty) varies considerably across species and individuals, and can impact adaptability and survival. This study assesses neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 bird ...

The first empirical paper from @themanybirds.bsky.social is out in @PLOSBiology! 🎉 doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Thanks to our amazing collaborators, we tested neophobia in 130+ species across 25 taxonomic orders!🕊️🦜🐓🦚🦉🦆🐦🐧🦅

Big thank you to our ManyBirds core leadership team: @drrmiller.bsky.social, Megan Lambert, @vedranaslipogor.bsky.social, @nomascus.bsky.social, @jimeloism.bsky.social, Carl Soulsbury, @stephanreber.bsky.social, Claudia Mettke-Hofmann - and to all of our collaborators!

Home - Many Birds Projects A Big-Team Open Science approach to avian cognition and behaviour research.

The #ManyBirds Project shows how big team open science approaches can uncover hidden patterns in animal behaviour and evolution, complementing critical in-depth single-lab work.
Huge thanks to everyone involved across six continents 🌍💛 More info & how to join future studies: 👉 www.themanybirds.com

Birds tested in groups were more neophobic than those tested alone - likely waiting for others to take the risk first!
And individuals showed consistent behaviour over time, suggesting neophobia is a stable behavioural trait.

Two main ecological factors predicted neophobia:
🥗 Dietary specialisation – species with narrower diets were more fearful.
🧭 Migratory behaviour – migratory species were more cautious.
➡️ Supporting both the Neophobia Threshold & Dangerous Niche Hypotheses.

Across 1,439 birds from 136 species and 25 avian orders, we used standardised tests:
familiar food was presented with and without a novel object.
⏱️ Longer hesitation = higher neophobia.
Flamingos were cautious, falcons bold - big differences across species!
(Photo credit: @jimeloism.bsky.social)

Neophobia - the fear of novelty - shapes how animals balance risk and opportunity.
Too much caution can limit flexibility, but too little can be dangerous.
We asked: why do some bird species fear new things more than others? 🐧🦅

A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia Neophobia (the aversive response to novelty) varies considerably across species and individuals, and can impact adaptability and survival. This study assesses neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 bird ...

🐦 Exciting news! Our new paper is out in PLOS Biology:
“A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia.”
Led by the #ManyBirds Project - 129 researchers, 82 institutions, 24 countries 🌍
🔗 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
@themanybirds.bsky.social

I didn't know. Great, thank you!! What an honor ☺️

🦅🧠 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

Hi Ondrej, I would like to be added please. Thank you!

La inversión en ciencia y tecnología caería este año a su mínimo histórico Un trabajo del grupo EPC la estima en un 0,157% del PBI, el menor porcentaje desde que se mide, en 1972; en 2002 fue del 0,17%

¡Buen martes! Hoy 🌨️🌩️⛈️ 26 de máx.
Cientificidio: si se cumple lo dispuesto en el Presupuesto 2025 y las expectativas de inflación, la inversión en ciencia nunca habrá sido tan baja: será la menor desde que empezó a medirse, en 1972👇
www.eldestapeweb.com/sociedad/pol...

Fijate esto: el organismo que financia la ciencia en nuestro país recibió los fondos del BID pero no los entregó. El concurso se abrió en diciembre de 2023, ya se prorrogó 6 veces.
HOY, 11 de febrero sale NUEVA prórroga
Decime vos, si esto no es desmantelar al sistema,
que es?

Innovative flavoring behavior in Goffin’s cockatoos Dunking behavior can be a foraging innovation in non-human animals in which food is dipped in a medium prior to consumption.1 Five functions of this b…

Our new study with @zewaldj.bsky.social on innovative food preparation in Goffins cockatoos just appeared in Current Biology: our results suggest that Goffins dunk noodles in selective yogurt mixtures to add flavour
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Плюшеголовые сойки не сумели воспользоваться инструментом N + 1 — главное издание о науке, технике и технологиях

New blog entry about the awesome plush-crested jays 😍 nplus1.ru/news/2025/01... Thank you @nplusodin.bsky.social Link to the paper: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Mechanical problem solving by plush-crested jays: are tools special after all? - Animal Cognition Tool use is taxonomically associated with high behavioural flexibility and innovativeness, and its prevalence is greater in primates and some bird species. This association, however, is not known to b...

Mechanical problem solving by plush-crested #jays with @jimeloism.bsky.social
dx.doi.org/10.1007/s100...

Hi Drew, I would like to be added please. Thanks!

@raulogomez-uba.bsky.social bienvenido a @bsky.app

A las urracas sobre todo! jaja

Thank you for preparing this! I hope to study them more 🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

I'm so happy to announce that my beautiful & charismatic jays have been published 🐤New research on #cognition in Plush-crested jays, a corvid member. Thanks to my co-authors and #AnimalCognitionJournal
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

ManyBirds Project: Potential ManyBirds Studies This is a form for submitting proposals for potential ManyBirds Project future studies (www.themanybirds.com). Full submissions are confidential and will be reviewed by the ManyBirds Core Team Leads ...

We are also excited to officially open the call for submission of potential future studies: forms.gle/8WASqR1fvU1w.... Please see link for all info on process and planned review criteria. Deadline for submission is 31 May 2025. We welcome new ManyBirds collaborators to future studies! 5/

We are delighted to announce that ManyBirds Study 1 “Evolutionary drivers of neophobia across the avian clade” is now available in pre-print: doi.org/10.31219/osf... and been submitted for peer-review publication. 1/

The ManyBirds Project are now on Bluesky! Stay tuned for exciting project updates coming very shortly... 🦜 🦆 🪶 🦉 🦅