Grace Blackburn

a black and white bird standing in the grass with the words photo and animation by dunken k bliths below it ALT: a black and white bird standing in the grass with the words photo and animation by dunken k bliths below it

Response to intruder number is related to spontaneous quantity discrimination performance in a wild bird
#bird #Cognition #NumberSense

doi.org/10.1093/behe...

Magpies can identify quantities of food and intruder calls New research has shown for the first time that magpies can distinguish between the number of callers when played recordings of intruder magpies.

The media release for our recent article on magpie quantity discrimination is out now! Check it out below 🐦⬇️ www.uwa.edu.au/news/article...

Thrilled to see our magpie research featured in "Why Do Birds Sing?" now out and recently highlighted in The Canberra Times!
Amazing to see how our work on female song and social complexity in magpies is resonating ❤️
@mandyridley.bsky.social @gblackburn.bsky.social

e-petitions e-petitions

Protecting darkness and minimising light pollution is important for human and wildlife health. Please consider signing and sharing this petition.

Petition EN7346 - National Legislation for Light Pollution Regulation and Dark Sky Preservation www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/...

Closes 19 September.

Our new cognition paper is out, headed by @gblackburn.bsky.social, and one of the last chapters from her exceptional PhD thesis!

Response to intruder number is related to spontaneous quantity discrimination performance in a wild bird The ability to discriminate between quantities is important for animal species. We show that wild magpies can discriminate both between different quantitie

New paper alert 🚨 We test quantity discrimination in #magpies using both a cognitive task and playback experiment and find that birds can discriminate between quantities in both! Interestingly, performance in the two task was negatively correlated! 🐦
@mandyridley.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/behe...

Worms eat tree-killing beetle in research trial as scientists team up Researchers say a chemical trial and a biological trial using worms have shown early success in the fight against the shot-hole borer, which has led to the destruction of thousands of Perth's trees.

Researchers across the major universities in Western Australia working in partnership with government epitomise the multi-faceted approaches required to deal with shot-hole borer.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

Street lamps aren’t the only form of artificial light pollution – here’s how to create darker nights Light Pollution is a significant environmental issue and is spreading rapidly. The good news is that it is easy to fix - find out how here…

Interesting research, suggesting poorly designed or excessive private lighting is contributing as much to ALAN pollution as street lights.
🌏🧪
This seems to be one of the few areas where our own actions can make a significant positive contribution!

Turn it off!
💡
theconversation.com/street-lamps...

Check out new #CEB paper by @gblackburn.bsky.social et al. that found that Western Australia magpies sing less when exposed to anthropogenic noise, but not necessarily louder. 🐦🚧
This may save energy, yet could cost social & territorial signals.
doi.org/10.1111/ibi....
#Bioacoustics #UrbanEcology

Western Australian Magpies alter the rate, but not the amplitude, of their territorial song in anthropogenic noise Anthropogenic noise is considered one of the most serious forms of pollution globally and has been shown to have negative effects on the distribution, behaviour, cognition and reproductive success of...

Another #PhD chapter out in the world! We investigate the impact of anthropogenic #noise on the territorial song of WA magpies 🔊🐦🔊
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@mandyridley.bsky.social @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social @dutourmylene.bsky.social

Western Australian Magpies alter the rate, but not the amplitude, of their territorial song in anthropogenic noise Anthropogenic noise is considered one of the most serious forms of pollution globally and has been shown to have negative effects on the distribution, behaviour, cognition and reproductive success of...

Our new paper, led by @gblackburn.bsky.social, finds a very sharp decline in the rate of carol calls (the main territorial call) given by magpies during anthropogenic noise, but no change in the amplitude. @dutourmylene.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Group size affects spontaneous quantity discrimination performance in wild Western Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis) - Animal Cognition Animals may benefit from the ability to discriminate between quantities in their environment; for example, when choosing between foraging patches differing in food availability or assessing the size o...

Our new #cognition paper, led by Masters student Holly Hunter, has just been published in Animal Cognition! doi.org/10.1007/s100...
@ceb-uwa.bsky.social
@mandyridley.bsky.social

Climate-induced divergence of song - Nature Climate Change Vocal communication is essential for information transmission in many species, such as that related to mating opportunities or predator presence. Recent research revealing how phenotypic changes broug...

@gblackburn.bsky.social & I recently wrote this piece in Nature Climate Change about the potential conservation implications of climate-induced divergence of song. This may occur more often under a rapidly changing climate & cause greater isolation between popns.

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

Australia-first study finds rat poison in rare Perth Hills chuditch New evidence shows the first confirmed cases of rat poisoning in native Australian marsupial carnivores.

Great piece on our new research highlighting the severe impact of using second generation anticoagulant rodenticides. We are killing quolls snd Tasmanian devils when we poison rats. www.watoday.com.au/national/wes...

Lethal second-generation rat poisons are killing endangered quolls and Tasmanian devils Second generation rat poisons are so potent that they’re banned for home use in Europe and North America. But here, you can pick them up at Bunnings or Coles.

Lethal second-generation rat poisons are killing endangered quolls and Tasmanian devils
theconversation.com/lethal-secon...

Thank you @dutourmylene.bsky.social !!!

Happy to share that today I started a #Postdoctoral #research fellow position at Central Queensland University working with Capricorn yellow #chats! 🐦 Very excited for this new adventure!