iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜️⬜️ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜️⬜️ 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ app.academy.allaboutbirds.org/blird I've committed my entire life to these winged beasts and I still can't ID a bird to save my life lmao

app.academy.allaboutbirds.org

Blird Game | BirdWise ID Quizzes

A daily bird identification game. Identify today's blurred bird in less than 5 guesses.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I'm not exactly fond of mallards and other birds'sexual activities but I think birdwatching and being perturbed by behaviour seems at odds with birdwatching.

Australian man known for 'succulent Chinese meal' but the text reads

'What is the crime? Watching a sparrow? A reprobate house sparrow?'

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Today was a brilliant day. I got to watch a webinar by Rosemary Grant about the evolution of Darwin's finches hosted by @bes-evolecol.bsky.social. Her insight into the challenges she faced in starting her career were as captivating as the findings of recent studies she is involved in.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Maybe weirdly specific but does anyone else absolutely love the look of juvenile starlings? Obviously the adult iridescent plumage and spots are gorgeous. But I think the pointy, jet black beak and pale brown is so cool. They really make me happy when I see a ton of them together.

A juvenile starling standing on a post. Pale brown body plumage, no spots. Black beak.

Sourced from: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/id

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Reposted by Jack Smith

Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

In a decade, when there is a distinct lack of (modified-emu-fake-)moa running around, the handful of researchers who sacrificed their reputations to back up this scam will have to ask if the money was worth it. www.rnz.co.nz/news/science...

rnz.co.nz

Can we de-extinct the moa and more importantly, should we?

Colossal Biosciences calls itself an advanced genetics company that's developing the science that will save us all.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Y'all ever masked so hard you copied another species? Couldn't be me, anyway let me get back to my once-every-four-years crop of rimu fruit.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I've started eating sunflower seeds for a snack as a source of fiber and my autism councillor (not actually what it is but basically) was like '...are you trying to copy birds?'

static.klipy.com

Malreynolds Firefly Speechless Reaction

ALT: Malreynolds Firefly Speechless Reaction

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Thank you! Through that I found the original publication on ResearchGate in case others are interested www.researchgate.net/publication/... What a world we live in, it really makes me so curious about the evolution of such specific (and shocking!) hunting behaviours. Morning reading sorted.

researchgate.net

(PDF) A curious predation behaviour by the Eleonora's Falcon Falco eleonorae at Essaouira Archipelago (Morocco)

PDF | In 2014, a curious predation behaviour never described before has been shown by the Eleonora's Falcon at that site. This falcon teared off wing... | Find, read and cite all the research you need...

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Sorry I might be very dumb but after reading the whole thread (fucking crazy stuff) I can't find a source or paper on this linked? Not doubting you at all, I just wanna read about it so I can incorporate this in to fun facts I'm going to bother my friends with at the weekend!

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

I'm going to be living in fear of The Onion dropping 'Kakapo actually REALLY fucking stupid, scientists confirm' after seeing this

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Jess O'Thomson @jessothomson.co.uk · 15/08/2026

We are writing to the Prime Minister, and the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, calling for an immediate public inquiry into the British press, following the tragic death of Jason Arday. Sign here 👇

goodlaw.social

Jason Arday Letter | Good Law Project

Commission an immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press given its contribution to Dr Arday’s tragic death.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Bird n' boardgame lovers, good news, you can now annoy everyone with a version of Wingspan you can bring to the pub. Friends of bird lovers, bad news, you won't have a social interaction go by where this doesn't get suggested to play.

Copy of Wingspan Pocket, a quicker version of Wingspan that fits in a box small enough to carry on your bag and play on the go. I am not on commission.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

We love science with museum specimens 😍 this is so cool

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

@catfishing.net there's no way I just learned this from an earlier game and it came up again today 😂

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Learned about the Scopes Trial. This was included on wiki as an example of a fundamentalist cartoon against 'modernists', who believed evolutionary theory and the bible were compatible. If it's meant to make them look bad, why did they draw them looking so fucking cool descending those damn stairs 😭

"The Descent of the Modernists", by E. J. Pace, first appearing in the book Seven Questions in Dispute by William Jennings Bryan, 1924, New York: Fleming H. Revell Company.

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Ferran Sayol @ferransayol.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

New paper out! 🖨️ Glad to be part of this study, out in Science Advances: "Emergent patterns of island biodiversity in the Anthropocene" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Much of what looks natural in island biodiversity is a legacy of human impacts going back millennia. See main findings 👇🧵 (1/8)

science.org

Emergent patterns of island biodiversity in the Anthropocene

Human impacts substantially affect our ability to detect and understand natural biodiversity patterns.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Having one orca hold my corpse while the other rams into it and obliterates me into an empty flesh pinata has become my new most wanted funeral method.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

So lucky to be alive at the same time as this footage. I do love sunfish, but THIS IS AWESOME WHAT THE HECK

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Dr James Rule @palaeo-jrule.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Seals have a superpower: they are the only mammals with amphibious hearing! They hear well both in-air and underwater. My collagues and I have a new study in Proceedings B on the origins and evolution of amphibious hearing in pinnipeds 🦭🔊🧪 doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

doi.org

The origin and evolution of amphibious hearing in pinnipeds

Abstract. Pinnipeds (true seals, eared seals and walruses) are the only mammals that can hear effectively in both air and water. How and when they achieved

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Sad to see the last episode of @perfect-specimen.bsky.social! I loved the lost media tidbits, I was lucky to see 007 loggerhead shrike in person. As a fan of comparatively very small and very big taxa (ISLANDS!), I hope the podcast continues and Josh and Natalie get to use 'COMPARE' as a word soon!

youtu.be

What's been our favourite specimen? | The 'Perfect' Specimen Ep29

YouTube video by Natural History Museum

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Stupidly excited for this. Reminds me of the evolution segments from Walking with Monsters which I grew up obsessed over. Feels like a brilliant era for natural history television.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Walked into the natural history section of The Hancock Museum in Newcastle. Kākāpō senses were tingling. I was correct. 10/10, very nice museum with lovely exhibits.

A portly man points at a specimen of a Kākāpō with an indescribable look on his face.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I'm not the best at wikipedia-guessing game catfishing.net, so it's always very satisfying to get some evolution related article that less than 10% of players knew. Highly recommend this daily game!

A selection of categories for a Wikipedia article on catfishing.net

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

You could put this as a free space on a 2027 bingo and it'd still be too free. They'll announce it with AI graphics too, if their not-even-a-fucking-tinamou 'moa' is anything to go by (not that a GMO tinamou would actually be any better).

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

One of the most joyful and inspiring documentaries on YouTube. The little deck of cards that dictates everything is so fascinating! This is peak human whimsy, creativity and perseverance.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Big speedquiz win in my first day back in Ireland for a week! Plus added 3 more Kākāpō shirts to the wardrobe. Overall a brilliant day.

Speedquiz results table with Pintmen at the top.

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Reposted by Jack Smith

Carl Bovis @carlbovisnature.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Chaffinch on my Somerset lawn a couple days ago. 😍 Taken through the cat-flap. 😁🐦 #birds 🪶 Order your 2027 Birds and Puffin calendars here; www.carlbovis.com/2027-birds-c... ❤️

Male Chaffinch on a loan surrounded by daisies

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Best of luck with whatever comes next Josh! Your articles were always a treat to read and ofc the podcast was so good. Thanks for that time you talked to me about sperm whales 🐋

Simpsons meme made on frinkiac. Text says 'He didn't care for T. rex lips. Still, there goes the best damned science writer a museum ever had.'

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Embarrassed to admit, but how on earth did it take me this long to realise that moa only had two limbs and are the only birds to have ENTIRELY lost their wings?! I always assumed the wings were just vestigial... And how did I only find out from a Wikipedia category guessing game? This is insane!!

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Reposted by Jack Smith

Andrew Digby @digs.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

This nest wasn't usual: the first ever in which we couldn't access the chick. But Whetu-A3 has recently fledged from the nest in good health. As we transition to less intensive management for #kakapo, more nests will be treated like this (without ramps!). 📸: Petrus Hedman. #conservation

A kākāpō chick on a person's lap receiving a health check. Credit: Petrus Hedman.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

The staff at Triple Point Brewery in Sheffield are so awesome, they gave me this poster a few weeks back because I'm always wearing my Kakapo shirts and it lead to a conversation. They're currently serving it again at the brewery so worth trying! It's delicious. #kakapo

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

bsky.app/profile/digs... He has a kākāpō named after him!

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

I got hooked on darts this year, I know the feeling. Only sport where the top players have the same beer belly as me 😂

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Best thing about trains: Gorgeous views of scenery passing by :) Worst thing about trains: Catching fleeting glimpses of birds that I'm too amateur to ID at high speed :(

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Another day in Sheffield, another Kākāpō. If anyone is aware of more Kākāpō specimens I can spot in museums up north, please let me know!

A fat man crouches down in glee pointing at a Kakapo specimen in Weston Park Museum, Sheffield. A partial dodo skeleton is also visible.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Colossal Bollocksciences at it again in media. Fair play to all critics of this absolute mockery of diversity of life on our planet. Extinction is unequivocally irreversible. We need to focus on proven conservation methods and not this tech-bro snake oil.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Moved to Sheffield! Went for drinks in the spot we always go when visiting (shout-out Triple Point Brewery). Turns out they have a Kākāpō wheat beer! Shame it's one of the 2 out of 7 days of the week where I'm not wearing a Kākāpō shirt, but I'm treating seeing this as a sign of good times ahead 🦜

Very happy person holds a craft beer can with a Kakapo label on it in a brewery pub booth. Proudly posing with can as of it's a can they brewed themselves, but in reality they just love fat green parrots.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Petition for future palaeontologists to name the golden age of birds the Tarsometatarstical period. Also actual answer was Carboniferous for those interested.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

New favourite wrong answer on a quiz show. Celebrity Mastermind, specialist subject was 'Sharks'. Q: 'Which geologic period, that ended around 300 million years ago, is sometimes known as "The golden age of sharks"?' Contestant's answer: 'The Metatarstical [sic] period.'

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-r... Thankfully they sent this out before midnight here because I audibly cheered when I got the email notification. Is this what football fans feel like when their team scores a goal? GWAN THE FECKIN' KĀKĀPŌ!

doc.govt.nz

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Kakapo at an all time high while I'm at an all time low mentally feels like it's a sign to help me, BIG KAKAPO 2026 is my driving force going forward this year LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

I was so lucky to be part of @nhcooper123.bsky.social lab group when the 'greasefish' was an amazing topic of conversation. What a bizarre and unfortunately likely extinct creature! The folds instantly reminded me of the breadbugs in Pikmin... Really fun episode as always!

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Andrew Digby @digs.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Three more #kakapo nests found on Pukenui/Anchor Island yesterday. Here's Konini with her two eggs. We have found nests for 26 out of the 36 adult females on the island, with more to come in the next few days. It's a big year! #conservation #kakapo2026 A

A kākāpō on a nest with two eggs. Credit: Andrew Digby

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

I don't even know how I'm supposed to play Wingspan with over like 500 cards. Do I play with subsets of cards? Primary reason I bought them is because I just like looking at pretty bird art on cards. Well worth picking up.

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Conor O'Carroll @conorocarroll.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

The eagerness of some people for Ireland to follow the UK in its anti-trans crusade is genuinely worrying. If the UK jumped off a cliff are we supposed to follow?

A screenshot from yet another anti-trans opinion piece in the Irish media, this time from The Irish Times. It reads, "The department has not issued guidelines on transgender students since 2016. These guidelines are under review by Maynooth University, but the landscape has changed greatly since then. The UK Cass Review is central to that change. Not only does the Know Your Rights guide not reference it, but it also acts as if it never happened."

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

The compassion is basically because Ireland is somehow worse than TERF island for trans healthcare... 10+ year waiting lists. Hope it gets upended completely. www.thejournal.ie/investigates... Worth reading this series of articles from @conorocarroll.bsky.social, tough read but gives hope for change

thejournal.ie

‘It left me traumatised’: The barriers to accessing transgender healthcare in Ireland

The HSE has admitted that transgender healthcare is ‘limited’ and is ‘not meeting people’s full range of needs’.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Very scary in UK. Only good news I've seen is Irish government has been very good recently on trans rights and are trying for reform after recent investigation that uncovered how horrible trans healthcare is here. The subject was met with a lot of compassion and I hope that reflects to the UK.

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Jack Smith @jackmacgabhann.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

My favourite day of any conference I've been to! Thank you so much to the excellent speakers and organisers for some truly brilliant talks.

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