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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

New 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 ⬇️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

New 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/...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Remember 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

Temperature fluctuations in Wytham Woods between 15 May and June 15 for 2023-2026. Orange and green lines represent mean hourly temperatures from 218 temperature loggers in 2026 (orange) and 2023-2025 (green). The grey line and ribbon represent the mean daily temperature ± mean daily temperature range from the Central England Temperature dataset (CET; 1772-2025)

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George Rabin @ghtrabin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Delighted 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... 🧵

doi.org

Redirecting

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Eloise Newman @eloisenewman.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Sad that #ExE2026 is over - it was fantastic to visit Falmouth! Thank you so much to all the organisers. From the @egioxford.bsky.social we had a range of talks from @rona-learmonth.bsky.social @davididiaquez.bsky.social @celestineadelmant.bsky.social and Lucy Morley

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Strong EGI team at #ExE2026 this wk: @devisatarkar.bsky.social on climate extremes @davididiaquez.bsky.social on mass change @celestineadelmant.bsky.social on phenology drivers, Hannah on number-quality trade-off @rona-learmonth.bsky.social on plasticity & carry-over effects & Lucy on spatial scales

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Irene Martinez-Baquero @imbaquero.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

First paper, first post 🥳 Many congrats to Liliana Silva and everyone involved! Every behavioural ecologist who’s stared at hours of video footage should check this out 👀 Very proud that the Wytham Tits are part of this!! 🐥🐣 @egioxford.bsky.social

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Happy to share some Great Tit data from Wytham to test this model!

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

One question about the 2026 Wytham Tit field season is whether the exceptional late May 2026 heatwave will have any effects on growth or survival of nestlings that were in the nest at the time: some thermologger data collected & analysed by @davididiaquez.bsky.social shows how unusual this was

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Scarcely into June, and already more or less completed this year's tit field season in Wytham, marked with the now traditional group photo. Great teamwork once again led by @mcmahok.bsky.social with excellent support from @ellafcole.bsky.social & Sam Croft. Will update with some data summaries soon!

The 2026 Wytham Tit project field team posing in a Sweet Chestnut Tree. Picture shows 12 fieldworkers sititng in various places on branches and one standing on the ground, surrounded by lush summer vegetation

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Here's some hard quantitative data on how many km travelled, steps taken, metres climbed and hours spent in the woods fron one of the Wytham tit season team in this, our 80th year of data collection. What a work out!

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Here is a lovely thing: a long interview with Chris Perrins by EGI DPhil student @jorgensoraker.bsky.social reflecting on his 70 years at the forefront of avian ecology here at Oxford

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Wishing you both all the very best for the future!

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Abby Williams @abbyevewilliams.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Excited to share the first chapter of my PhD thesis as a preprint! We investigated the genomic consequences of secondary contact between passerines on a remote oceanic island, finding evidence of three-way hybridisation and spooky “ghost introgression” 🏝️🪶🧬 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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Jude Lane @heyjooode.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Our new research shows that HPAI increased Northern Gannet mortality by a factor of ~6 and ~4 at two of the world’s largest colonies. We predict this impact will take almost two decades to recover from. #biologicalconservation #seabirds #hpai Full paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.111887

Adult gannet (left) with colour ring on it's leg left inscribed with a unique code, and it's fully grown chick (right)

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

On the occasion of his 100th Birthday - many happy returns Sir David! - we remember fondly the time Sir David Attenborough came to do some filming of Great Tits in Wytham Woods (and with clip of the resultant film here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGjL...) wythamtits.com/the-day-sir-...

Sir David Attenborough in the Bluebells of Wytham Woods

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BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

There's a mini jobs bonanza just now at BTO! 🐦 Apply to become our next Scottish Raptor Monitoring Coordinator, Biological Data Manager or Research Support Officer via www.bto.org/jobs Birds Science People; it is a powerful combination – will you be part of it?

Photo of a Buzzard by Edmund Fellowes / BTO and text advertising three jobs at BTO.

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Some new work from us, led by @davididiaquez.bsky.social (see thread ⬇️). We ask what happens if instead of measuring on calendar dates, we measure bird responses to climate defined by the temperature at which annual events happen. It turns out they keep stable T˚! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

Phenological plasticity enables thermal homeostasis in a wild bird population

Changes in phenology buffer against climate change by ensuring breeding at temperatures that maximize reproductive success.

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

From new preprint by @devisatarkar.bsky.social et al (ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...) - widespread variation in method used to achieve heating/cooling, reported effect sizes, and how these are measured

ecoevorxiv.org

Methodological challenges in avian nestbox temperature manipulation experiments: a review with recommendations

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Many studies have set out to manipulate nest temperature in birds, particularly in cavity-breeding species in nestboxes. A new review by @devisatarkar.bsky.social et al. discusses methodological challenges with these and recommends some more standardised reporting and protocols.

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Phenoweb project @phenoweb.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Spring is gaining momentum across Scotland. 🌱 Cumulative budburst across the transect has now passed 40%, driven by a surge of activity at our northern sites in recent days. While the North is waking up, the South continues to lead the way in terms of first leaf emergence. #Phenology #Spring2026

Plot showing the cumulative percentage of trees in first budburst and first leaf across the Phenoweb Transect since 1 April 2026. Orange line shows southern sites, while the blue line shows northern sites. The black line represents the transect-wide trend.

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Celestine Adelmant @celestineadelmant.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Yesterday, I organised my first workshop with @egioxford.bsky.social ! ✍🏻🖥️ Huge thank you to Dr Alexandra Cones (LMU Munich) for a fantastic introduction to multivariate models in STAN. A really useful, fun session and a great jumping off point for exploring STAN's uses in ecological research!

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

First sight of a new generation... The first Great Tit eggs have hatched in Wytham Woods this morning.

A quick photo of a Great Tit nest in Wytham Woods, taken during standard nest-monitoring protocol. A female Great Tit lying to one side on the nest, with three eggs and two just hatched nestlings visible in a nest constructed of moss and animal hair

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Very pleased to welcome Dr Alexandra Cones (LMU Munich) for an EGI seminar in @biology.ox.ac.uk at 4pm this Friday 17 April. Alexandra will speak on "Embracing Complexity: Untangling sources of phenotypic variation across scales using birds" - also live-streamed: joining details below: ⬇️

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Denise Wawman @denisewawman.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

NEW PAPER: We obtained a COXI sequence from a specimen of the parasitic louse/flat fly Pseudolynchia garzettae (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) collected in the UK & provide a full morphological description of the specimen to aid future researchers in case of future taxonomic issues.

rdcu.be

A Molecular Phylogeny of the Nightjar Louse Fly Pseudolynchia garzettae (Rondani, 1979) (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) with a Diagnostic Morphological Description of a Sequenced Specimen

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

New preprint (part of a programme to understand resilience of the tritrophic tree-insect-bird system to varying climate). We (led by @siennarattigan.bsky.social - her MBiol project) show how temperature in development can carry-over to affect timing at later stages www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Figure 1: Winter moth life cycle. Adult winter moths emerge in Novem-
ber/December and shortly after mating brachypterous females crawl up
trees to lay eggs. Eggs hatch in early spring, and larvae feed on young
foliage until late May when they descend to the ground on silken threads
to burrow into the soil and pupate. Pupation lasts until winter, when
adults emerge and the life cycle begins again. Solid black arrows indi-
cate the duration of each development stage and blue dashed arrows
indicate the temporal variability of each stage.

Figure 3: The effect of temperature treatment on pupal development
time. Each coloured point represents the number of days between the
start of the experiment (used as a proxy for pupation date) and the
emergence date of an individual adult moth. Horizontal bars indicate
treatment means and the dashed vertical line separates the experi-
mental treatments from the ambient.

Figure 5: The effect of temperature treatment on egg development
time. Each coloured point represents the number of days between the
first egg-laying event and half-hatch date of each subclutch. Horizontal
bars indicate treatment means and the dashed vertical line separates
the experimental treatments from the ambient.

Figure 6: The effect of maternal emergence date on offspring’s egg
development time. Points represent subclutches so those aligned in the
x-axis are from the same mother. Lines show the model prediction with
a 95% confidence interval represented by the shaded ribbon. Both are
coloured by egg temperature treatment.

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Steve Portugal @sjportugal.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

New pigeon lofts at work are nearly finished! Looking resplendent. Could possibly Airbnb them out to people.

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PiedFly.Net @piedflynet.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

First Pied flycatcher at East Dartmoor today continuing the trend for earlier arrival. Another present at Dunsford Woods today. Also have the earliest ever first tit egg recorded (data starts in 1955) by two days - a Coal tit egg laid yesterday. Discovered with @drroskennerley.bsky.social

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Maria Filippou @mariafilippou.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Really excited to have presented work from my Master’s on the fitness benefits of polyandry at the #ASABSpring2026 Conference in Bristol - and proud to have won best student speaker! ✨ It was a great few days meeting other researchers and listening to all the exciting work happening in the field! 🦋

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

🚨🚨 Breaking news from Wytham Woods: The 80th year of data collection of the long-term tit study officially started today with this nest with 3 Blue Tit eggs (pic: @mcmahok.bsky.social). First egg inferred 23 March which is our earliest EVER nest - beating the previous record of 26 March by 3 days!🚨🚨

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

This week's EGI seminar (last this term 😢) will be given by Dr Jennifer Morinay from @sheffielduni.bsky.social on the factors affecting helping decisions in the Long-tailed Tit - the UK's only cooperatively breeding bird. Seminar in @biology.ox.ac.uk LT1 on Fri 27 Mar at 3.30. All welcome details ⬇️

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Such a good EGI seminar from Innes Cuthill today on the ‘survivability onion’ - wide-ranging talk on defensive camouflage in birds, insects and more. One of those seminars that appeals across the department

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

In a return to his former stamping ground, this week's EGI seminar will be given by Prof Innes Cuthill from @bristolbiosci.bsky.social on how to understand defensive coloration - see if you can spot him in this old photo! Seminar in @biology.ox.ac.uk at 3.30 on Friday - joining instructions below ⬇️

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Yesterday's seminar added to our YouTube page - worth a watch if you missed

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Fascinating seminar from @pauldufour80.bsky.social today on the role of vagrancy and other rare events in avian ecology and evolution

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

New paper out! Great tits face distinct challenges from extreme weather during development, based on 60 years data from >83k nestlings in Wytham Woods 🐣 Cold snaps & heavy rain can stunt growth, but earlier breeding may help buffer this! By @devisatarkar.bsky.social et al. doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70794

doi.org

Developmental Stage‐Specific Responses to Extreme Climatic Events and Environmental Variability in Great Tit Nestlings

Extreme climatic events (ECEs) impact great tit nestlings in a developmental stage-specific and context-dependent manner. Using 60 years of data on 83,000+ great tit nestlings from Wytham Woods, UK, ...

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

This week's seminar will be given by @pauldufour80.bsky.social of @vogelwarte.bsky.social on how we can understand bird migration through the study of abnormal movements such as vagrancy. Lecture held in @biology.ox.ac.uk at 3.30 on Fri 13 March - all welcome; online joining instructions ⬇️

Poster for a seminar - Talk abstract:
Vagrant birds were historically neglected in migration research due to their rarity and the limitations of early tracking methods. Yet, growing research shows that vagrancy can help us better understand several aspects of bird migration and its consequences. In this talk, I will show how abnormal migratory movements can inform key processes in bird migration, including the colonization of new territories, the emergence of novel migration routes, and the navigation systems of migratory birds.

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

We've uploaded recordings of many of our seminars over the last few months to our You-tube channel, including from @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social, Kristen Ruegg, Daniel Field, @jon-slate.bsky.social, Paul Acker, @thelabandfield.bsky.social & @kokkonut.bsky.social - Enjoy! www.youtube.com/@EGIOxford

Screenshot of the EGI seminars You-tube Channel

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Just a reminder of tomorrow’s seminar at 3.30 in LT1 in @biology.ox.ac.uk

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Always a pleasure to catch a little extra diversity to offset the hundreds of tits!

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

How does natural selection vary in time & space? @jorgensoraker.bsky.social et al's new preprint (thread ⬇️) decomposes variation in selection on reproductive traits in Blue & Great Tits from 19,463 breeding attempts over 44 yrs. Selection dominated by temporal & spatio-temporal scale, but also...1/2

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

This week's EGI seminar will be given by Prof Hanna Kokko @kokkonut.bsky.social from Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz @unimainz.bsky.social on the role of time in avian trade-offs. All welcome in person in LT1 in LaMB @biology.ox.ac.uk 3.30pm on 6 March. Also live-streamed: details available ⬇️

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Steve Portugal @sjportugal.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Fascinating watching this Jay from my office window. Buries acorn - looks around for something to cover it with, and then looks for another object to go on top (perhaps to help relocate?), regurgitates next one ready, and flies off.

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

This week's EGI seminar will be give by @ruthedunn.bsky.social from @lancasteruni.bsky.social on Seabird-driven energy and nutrient flows, in person in @biology.ox.ac.uk on Friday 27 Feb at 3.30. All welcome! The seminar will also be live-streamed - joining details available below ⬇️

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

A very thought-provoking seminar from @thelabandfield.bsky.social this afternoon on the challenges - scientific, societal & personal of studying the increasing problem of macroplastic pollution and its ingestion by seabirds: thanks for coming over Alex!

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

New research just out in J Evol Biol: led by @lbliard.bsky.social with @jsmartin.bsky.social @dzchilds.bsky.social @paniw.bsky.social & Arpat Ozgul using the very cool Covariance Reaction Norm approach to test environmental dependence of trade-offs in great tits academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...

Figure showing how the correlation between mass and recruitment in Wytham Great Tits depends on environmental conditions - in particular note switch from almost none to very strong with increasing population density

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Reminder of this afternoon's seminar! Join online (details on the poster) if you can't make it in person

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Excellent to see Daisy presenting this work at a major network conference

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