Paul Dufour

Genetic confirmation of an “uncommon mourningthroat” (Geothlypis philadelphia  ×  G. trichas): A rare but persistent hybrid warbler | www.tandfonline.com/... | Wilson Journal of Ornithology | #ornithology 🪶

Our new paper is out today in Journal of the Royal Society Interface (link below). All about eggshell roughness: "Scratching beyond the surface: examining macroecological patterns in avian eggshell texture". Congrats first author Marie Attard, and thank you @leverhulme.ac.uk for the funding.

Feral cats to be added to Predator Free 2050 The Government is delivering on its campaign promise to add feral cats to the Predator Free 2050 target species list to protect our precious native wildlife, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says.

GREAT NEWS in #conservation: the government of New Zealand has announced that they will include feral cats in their PredatorFree 2050 strategy, aiming to benefit #seabirds and landbirds across NZ by removing feral cats:

Corncrake on a cruise ship

Even consummate migrants like Corncrakes can end up being ship-assisted, although presumably being adopted by a family and fed prawns is a rarer occurrence.... #UKBirding #Ornithology
www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2563328...

Figure with a photo of a member of then Solomons Monarch complex, a map of the Solomon Islands (divided into four island groups, Makira being the most isolated), and a principal component analysis highlighting the distinct between-island-group structure, with moderate structure within the New Georgia Group and weaker structure within the Bukida group (highlighted in an inset).

Just out in Systematic Biology, we explore the role of gene flow in island phylogeography of the Solomons Black-and-white Monarch complex. doi.org/10.1093/sysb...

Up first, strong genetic structure between islands groups and weak (but present!) structure between Pleistocene-connected islands (🧵)

A male Anna’s hummingbird at the door. So nosy! 🤣

Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door.

This is who it was:

We visited plaine de Crau (S France) to catch Richard’s pipits last week and sample feathers for isotope tests. Numbers were low (~10), though more birds usually stop here at this time of year (up to 30/40) before they move south. Unclear if birds left early or had a poor breeding year.. #birds

On the train back home, still buzzing from some great days at @vogelwarte.bsky.social where Hans Schmid wrote "Getrennte Wege" - a classic synthesis of Honey Buzzard migration. A quarter century later the species has revealed a few more, but still not all of its migratory "Geheimnisse". #ornithology

It was great having you here for a few days, and thank for your super, inspiring talk!

PhyloWeaver – Interactive phylogenetic tree editor Edit and visualize phylogenetic trees directly in your browser. PhyloWeaver lets you interactively rearrange tree topologies and export high-quality figures for publications and presentations.

I’ve released a tool to sketch and edit phylogenetic trees!
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/

Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.

This Swallow at Balranald, N Uist this afternoon appears to be the American subspecies: erythrogaster due to the lack of a dark band across the lower throat.

This parasitic ant tricks workers into committing matricide Newly mated parasitic queen ants invade colonies and spray their victims with a chemical irritant that provokes the workers to kill their mother.

This is such a cool study. A parasitic ant queen tricks worker ants into murdering their own queen, so the parasite can take over the colony.

A hand holding an eastern nashville warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla ruficapilla) during bird banding

Going to be a big month for warbler science! First out of the gates is @lannhiphung.bsky.social, with song & genomics of Nashville warblers. Eastern and western subspecies: non-overlapping and super distinct. Keep an eye on your life list 😉
🦉🧪@journal-evo.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...

After a month of research in #Porcupinebank on board #VizcondedeEza in the wild waters west of #Ireland, we're finally at home! The most amazing #seabird sighting was a South Polar skua! @rspb.bsky.social @irishbirds.bsky.social @ieo-cadiz.bsky.social Ireland waters are always a box of surprises!

Our last paper describes the spring-accelerated loop-migration of the Woodchat Shrike, tracked with light- and multi-sensor geolocators link.springer.com/article/10.1... #ornithology

Nice paper by @paulcuchot.bsky.social!

The date is set for the next EOU Fledglings Meeting 🐥 in Gdansk, Poland! Share the news with your peers! 🦆

Male Varied Thrush in a southern Vancouver Island forest today. I’ve ringed 10 first-years over the last two weeks here, but this was my first adult! 🪶

Our paper on tinamou evolution is finally out in @systbiol.bsky.social. academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...

Multispecies sensory networks and social foraging strategies: Implications for population decline in procellariiform seabirds | PNAS Multispecies sensory networks, where different species prioritize different sensory modalities and then use heterospecific information in a likely ...

Granger et al. Multispecies sensory networks and social foraging strategies: Implications for population decline in procellariiform seabirds www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #ornithology #seabirds

New paper out about elevational shifts in European birds lead by @josephinecouet.bsky.social: "Solar Radiation Affects Bird Distributions but Not Elevational Shifts in European Mountains"

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@emmamarjakangas.bsky.social @andreasantangeli.bsky.social @ebcc.info

I am recruting a #postdoc for a project investigating the evolution of avian heat tolerance in @erc.europa.eu project #HotLife. Fieldwork over broad latitudinal gradients, common-garden experiments, and more. Read more and apply👇
shorturl.at/WA1Qa

Would appreciate a re-post!

@evoldir.bsky.social

A male Victoria's riflebird (Ptiloris victoriae) in display.

Our latest issue is out!
www.cell.com/current-biol...

On the cover, a male Victoria's riflebird doing his best to dazzle a female (or screaming at the white blob?)

Paper & dispatch here👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...

Genomic architecture of egg mimicry and its consequences for speciation in parasitic cuckoos Host-parasite arms races facilitate rapid evolution and can fuel speciation. Cuculus cuckoos are deceptive egg mimics that exhibit a broad diversity of counterfeit egg phenotypes, representing host-ad...

Our new @science.org paper is out! Cuckoos and hosts are locked in a coevolutionary arms race over egg mimicry.

But how are these egg types inherited, and could this drive speciation? We sequenced hundreds of genomes to find out!

doi.org/10.1126/scie...

🧵1/6

Why are Procellariiform seabirds most diverse in the Southern Hemisphere?

Our study found that wind patterns and time since evolutionary origin best explain the extratropical peak in breeding species richness of these remarkable seabirds. 🐦💨

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

A 1st winter male SIBERIAN RUBYTHROAT caught on North Ronaldsay!!!

#RareBirdsUK
#BirdingScotland
#OrkneyBirding

ebird.org/tripreport/4...
A short stay on Corvo finally turned into a long one due to a plane issue for almost a week.. While extra days were slow, first days were exciting: best was finding the 2nd Ruby-crowned Kinglet (8th WP), plus some nice extra species (Cape May, Protho & Magnolia Warblers) 🪶

Yes please! 😉

End-Cretaceous asteroid impact

Also check out the great summary perspectives in @science.org by Lindsay Zanno featuring @nataliajagielska.bsky.social’s incredible illustration of the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

New Mexico dinosaurs including Alamosaurus watch the asteroid hit the Yucatán about 3,000 kilometres away, 66 million years ago

New paper today in @science.org: we date the Naashoibito Member (New Mexico) to 66.4–66.0 Ma, coeval with the Hell Creek, with important remarks on pre-extinction dinosaur diversity & regionalisation in North America 🦖🦕☄1/
Art: @nataliajagielska.bsky.social
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...