@egioxford.bsky.social
Research Institute in Dept of Biology at University of Oxford studying all aspects of Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution of Birds in natural environments. Follow us for updates on science, seminars, jobs & field projects: https://egioxford.web.ox.ac.uk/
@egioxford.bsky.socialExcellent long discussion with Daisy about her DPhil research on social networks in great tits with @jorgensoraker.bsky.social. Very nice to have long enough to go into depth on a full DPhil project.
@egioxford.bsky.socialPleased to announce first EGI seminar of 2026-27 with @erikpostma.bsky.social from @uniexecec.bsky.social talking about Evolutionary Dynamics & Constraints on Avian Reproductive Effort. Abstract in ALT-text. Erik's seminar is at 3.30 in LT2 in LaMB @biology.ox.ac.uk. All welcome; also streamed ⬇️
@egioxford.bsky.socialNew preprint from @devisatarkar.bsky.social et al: How does the correlation between body mass as a nestling and and adult change with the environment? Using the covariance reaction norm approach, we find lots of variation. See Devi's thread below ⬇️
@egioxford.bsky.socialNew paper in @animalecology.bsky.social led by @davididiaquez.bsky.social published today. We document a reduction of ~5% in body mass of adult great tits at Wytham (>1 sd!) over ~45 years and show best explained by natal environment carry-over
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@egioxford.bsky.socialThe potential for non-linear effects of higher temperatures is concerning; we need support for long-term studies (like the Wytham tits - which just collected 80th year of data) to understand the consequences of rare events 4/4.
@egioxford.bsky.socialWe show that it was associated with elevated mortality and reduced growth - in contrast to the effects of high temperatures that are less extreme which seem to be beneficial (see @devisatarkar.bsky.social et al paper from earlier this year: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....) 3/n
@egioxford.bsky.socialA new preprint led by @davididiaquez.bsky.social analysed the effects of this exceptional event: (2/n)
@egioxford.bsky.socialRemember the summer heatwaves in the UK in 2026? The late May heatwave was exceptional: an event +4.3 sd above mean - likely to occur only once every few decades under normal conditions. It was also unusual in being early and coinciding with tit breeding season. What consequences did it have? 🧵1/n
@ghtrabin.bsky.socialReposted by @egioxford.bsky.socialDelighted that my master's project @biology.ox.ac.uk about social trade-offs in a wild population of birds is now published in Animal Behaviour @asab.org doi.org/10.1016/j.an... 🧵
