Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDDebottam Bhattacharjee @debottam1991.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Join us for your bachelor or master projects on Japanese macaque affect & cognition at the Affenberg Research Station in Austria. Details in the photo 👇 Write to us: affenberg.lewi@univie.ac.at / debottam.bhattacharjee@uni-goettingen.de Project abstract link: gepris.dfg.de/project/5630... 048
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDCamille Troisi @camilletroisi.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Super mega stocked to share this ⭐new review ⭐ on the impact of urbanisation on social learning. tinyurl.com/2pt6s6zstinyurl.comClient Challenge 12414
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDClaudia Wascher @wascherclaudia.bsky.social · 23/09/2026I'm so excited to finally see the special issue "Addressing Biases in Animal Behaviour" fully published: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu.... Huge thanks to my brilliant co-editors @viveknityananda.bsky.social & @nicolakoyama.bsky.social. Special issue grew from @asab.org's 2024 Winter Meeting 🧵sciencedirect.com 15738
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAnimal Behaviour Collective @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Our latest microgrant funding round is open now! 📢 Below is a reminder of what we do and don't fund. This round closes October 30th! Want to help us support students? Please spread the word, and donate if you can! For more informaition and to apply: opencollective.com/animal-behaviour-collective 01316
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAnimal Behaviour Collective @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Fantastic to see ABC mentor @williamohearn.bsky.social and his former mentee @giuliaseverino.bsky.social at @ecbb2026.bsky.social! Huge congratulations to Giulia for winning the #ECBB2026 Best Early Career Primate Presentation Prize! 👏🐒 Follow us to hear about our next mentorship-matching events 🤝 1164
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAwani @awanib.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Got caught by surprise with the award! Thank you @ecbb2026.bsky.social !! Forgot to take a photo of my poster, but here's a glimpse of it featuring the showstopper Paul. ✨😁 8638
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDSofia Forss @sofiaforss.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Growing up demands the right cognitive toolkit at the right time 🧠 We show cognitive development over key life transitions from ontogeny to adulthood in wild meerkats. 🚨 Read our new findings👇🏼 doi.org/10.1098/rspb... Great Thanks to @royalsocietypublishing.org @templetonworld.bsky.social @snsf.chdoi.orgCognitive abilities show distinct developmental trajectories in wild meerkatsAbstract. Understanding cognitive development is fundamental for explaining variation in adult cognitive phenotypes, and thus the processes driving cogniti 1248
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAnimal Behaviour Collective @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Thank you to the organisers of @ecbb2026.bsky.social for allowing us to spread the word about our microgrants & mentorship at their brilliant, inclusive conference! #ECBB2026 Our next migrogrant funding round opens this month! Save the date 🗓️ 0148
Katy Willcox, PhD @katywillcox.bsky.social · 05/09/2026@vernouilleta.bsky.social & Elias Garcia-Pelegrin put together such an interesting and varied symposium on Social Cognition in a Human World #ECBB2026 🌍🐤 0163
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDEuropean Conference on Behavioural Biology @ecbb2026.bsky.social · 02/09/2026How can we improve the study of lizard cognition? @birgitszabo.bsky.social opens with first explaining why we study lizard cognition! 0327
Katy Willcox, PhD @katywillcox.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Had such a fun week at @ecbb2026.bsky.social !! Lots of exciting talks and so many lovely and inspiring people. Very grateful to the organisers & to ASAB for my travel grant! 🐤 #ecbb2026 0246
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDVitor H. B. Ferreira @vitorhbf.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Great few days at #ECBB2026 in Cambridge: great talks, great people, and plenty of ideas to bring home 🧠🐔 And, of course, I kept spreading the chicken agenda: they’re not just farm animals, but fascinating models for understanding behavior and cognition. 0133
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDEuropean Conference on Behavioural Biology @ecbb2026.bsky.social · 04/09/2026#ECBB2026 @vitorhbf.bsky.social closing out Symposium 10: Social cognition in a human world with his talk Humans as social partners? Experience and selection history shape responses in domestic chickens 183
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDCesare Pacioni @cesarepacioni.bsky.social · 22/07/2026New paper out! 🎉 Common waxbills (Estrilda astrild) have spread far beyond their native African range, reaching cooler regions - so how do they cope when temperatures drop? doi.org/10.1016/j.cb... @ecobird.bsky.social 0158
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAnimal Behaviour Collective @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social · 12/07/2026We are thrilled to announce that this microgrant funding round we distributed ~£1300 to 7 recipients! 🎉 The next funding round opens September 21st! Learn more about how to donate or apply: opencollective.com/animal-behav... 0112
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAnimal Behaviour Collective @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Our paper is out now! 🎉📝 We describe how we work to address barriers faced by students and early-career researchs in the animal behaviour field, through our mentorships and microgrants. We hope that this can inspire and provide practical resources for others hoping to do the same!sciencedirect.comThe animal behaviour collective: building confidence and breaking barriers through communityDespite increasing efforts to diversify the field of animal behaviour, systemic barriers continue to limit access and inclusion for researchers from h… 03625
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAnimal Behaviour Collective @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Keeping the Pride Spirit Alive! 🌈 Hope you all celebrated this past month! We’ve gathered some fascinating examples of queer behaviour in nature to share with you. 3167
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAlizée Vernouillet @vernouilleta.bsky.social · 03/07/2026A huge congratulations to newly-appointed Dr. Katy Willcox!!! @katywillcox.bsky.social 🍾🎉 For her thesis @ecobird.bsky.social, Katy evaluated the influence of early-life social environments on inhibition, aggression, & social networks in chickens & quails 🐥 2193
Katy Willcox, PhD @katywillcox.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Excited to share that last week I successfully defended my PhD thesis 🎉 I am beyond grateful for everyone who has supported me on this journey, I couldn’t have done it alone! #PhDone 0141
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAnimal Behaviour Collective @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social · 21/02/2026Our first round of ABC microgrants for 2026 is done, and for the first time, we were able to fund each and every eligible application! 🎉🎉🎉 We funded a total of 5 applications – this was made possible thanks to our generous donors! 🙏🏽 1216
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDBirgit Szabo, PhD 🦎🐸🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ @birgitszabo.bsky.social · 19/02/2026📣 I am excited to share some new collaborative work published in Biology Letter @royalsocietypublishing.org on spatial learning and lateralisation in lizards 🦎! Check out the full OA paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... #AnimalCognition #ThinkLikeALizarddoi.orgSpatial learning and lateralization in lizardsAbstract. Spatial memory is a fundamental cognitive process that allows animals to navigate and interact with their environment effectively. While extensiv 1257
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDCamille Troisi @camilletroisi.bsky.social · 12/02/2026In part 2 we apply this framework across three tasks, and test the performance of herring and lesser black-backed gulls in the detour task, the thwarting task (often used with fish) and the stop-change task (developed from the human cognition literature) 🐦 Part 2: rdcu.be/e2pyI 5/6rdcu.beUnpacking response Inhibition in animals – part 2: an empirical test 171
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDCamille Troisi @camilletroisi.bsky.social · 12/02/2026We explain how this framework applies to the main tasks used to measure response inhibition in the field of animal cognition Part 1: rdcu.be/e2pyN 4/6rdcu.beUnpacking response inhibition in animals – part 1: a conceptual framework 171
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDCamille Troisi @camilletroisi.bsky.social · 12/02/2026🚨Not one, but two papers now out on response inhibition (also called motoric self-regulation or inhibitory control in the field of animal cognition). Many studies find no link between individual performance on different tasks supposedly measuring response inhibition. 1/6 26610
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAnimal Behaviour Collective @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social · 11/02/2026Let’s celebrate women and girls in science on this International Day of Women and Girls in Science! UNESCO reports that women represent only 35% of STEM graduates, about 1/3 of researchers worldwide, and just 1/10 STEM leaders. 12314
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAnimal Behaviour Collective @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social · 06/01/2026Attention - the first round of microgrants for 2026 is running! Apply and read terms and conditions here : opencollective.com/animal-behav... 0816
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDJordan S. Martin @jsmartin.bsky.social · 02/02/2026I am looking for a PhD student to join my new Socio-Eco-Evo group, hosted in Katie Peichel's Evolutionary Ecology Division @ University of Bern. We're offering a fully funded 4-year position, studying social plasticity and behavioral adaptation among stickleback in Greenland. Please share around! 17895
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDBritish Ecological Society @britishecologicalsociety.org · 23/01/2026Round 1 of our training and travel grant is open! Grants up to £500 are available to support the training and development of PhD students and postgraduate research assistants. Send us your application by 25 January ⏰ 1611
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDTay (Antonio J. Osuna Mascaró) @biotay.bsky.social · 19/01/2026Perhaps the question is not whether cows can use tools, but why it took us so long to notice. Maybe because we continue to underestimate the minds of the animals we eat. Veronika is here to remind us of our biases 113320
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAlizée Vernouillet @vernouilleta.bsky.social · 20/01/2026There is still some time to submit for our Special Collection on social cognition and anthropogenic environments! We are looking forward to hear from you! link.springer.com/collections/... Please do get in touch if you have any questions. #openaccess #socialcognition 0810
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDTay (Antonio J. Osuna Mascaró) @biotay.bsky.social · 19/01/2026Cow Tools! We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years. We breed them and exploit them It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS Here I describe our study (paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social with @auersperga.bsky.social 261328544
Katy Willcox, PhD @katywillcox.bsky.social · 13/01/2026New paper out! Early-life social instability increases aggression in chickens, but does not affect response inhibition 🐤 We discuss what this means for developmental links between social environments, cognition, and social behaviour, highlighting strong context dependence Full text: rdcu.be/eYOzC 13512
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDDr Lucy Mitchell @lucyjmitchell.bsky.social · 13/01/2026New pre print out! Last chapter of my PhD looking at nightjar movement with environmental conditions. Super proud of this one, I love the interactions and thinking about what else we could do. www.authorea.com/users/101810... 1121
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDMason Youngblood @masonyoungblood.bsky.social · 08/01/2026Proc B with @sampassmore.bsky.social! We used simulations to explore the innovation strategies of speed climbers 🧗♀️ Innovation is higher among slower athletes and lower when the population size is larger, and the overall balance of innovation and copying appears to be suboptimal 🔗 bit.ly/499QjZMbit.lySimulation-based inference with deep learning suggests speed climbers combine innovation and copying to improve performanceAbstract. In the Olympic sport of speed climbing, athletes compete to reach the top of a 15 m wall as quickly as possible. Since the standardization of the 34318
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAwani @awanib.bsky.social · 11/01/2026✨New paper✨ How do juvenile ravens find social groups? We describe how juvenile common ravens, who have left their natal territories seeking to join non-breeder flocks, use space with respect to other birds, and discuss what this means for social integration. www.cell.com/iscience/ful... 47224
Katy Willcox, PhD @katywillcox.bsky.social · 06/01/2026Had a nice break seeing friends, family, and (most importantly) Tabitha 010
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDBirds on the Move @birdsmove.bsky.social · 06/01/2026📢📢PhD opportunity! We are looking for enthusiastic researchers to develop a project looking at the ontogeny of migratory behaviour! Deadline for expression of interest: 8 February 2026 👉Check details here: drive.google.com/file/d/1wow2... #migration #ornithology #GPStracking 06046
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDc0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 06/12/2025A male rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in winter plumage. Ptarmigan is from Gaelic 'tarmachan' meaning "croaker". The p- was added when people mistakenly assumed it was a Greek word. A bird forever warning people: "A werewolf!" (just in case of werewolves). 11547971696
Katy Willcox, PhD @katywillcox.bsky.social · 10/12/2025Christmas came early, my "big chicken paper" has been accepted 🎉 very grateful to everyone involved and looking forward to sharing it soon 0100
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDColin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 09/12/2025Tighter visa rules will cost UK up to £10.8bn giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... 211552
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAmy Leedale @amyleedale.bsky.social · 05/12/2025JOB ALERT! 🦜🔭🌿 Are you passionate about #Birds, #Ecology, #Fieldwork, #Research? The University of Salford is looking for a #ResearchTechnician to assist with ecological monitoring of #Ringneckedparakeets in Manchester, UK. More info & how to apply 👇 Hurry! Closes 15 Dec @salforduni.bsky.social 01112
Katy Willcox, PhD @katywillcox.bsky.social · 05/12/2025Today in end-of-phd-brain: had a hyper-realistic dream where I came up with some great research ideas for an animal that, unfortunately, only existed in that dream 070
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDNinargh 🐈⬛ 🎃 👻 @ninawils.bsky.social · 03/12/2025Relatable Corvid 10268502110
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAlice Risely @alice-risely.bsky.social · 02/12/2025Love looking through all the submissions on the Gulls Eating Stuff project website. Getting pretty good coverage of the UK too! If you have photos of gulls eating stuff, you can submit them at citsci.org/projects/gul.... Thanks to @scistarter.bsky.social for promoting the project too :). 03115
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDAnimal Behaviour Collective @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social · 02/12/2025This #GivingTuesday please consider donating to @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social to support undergraduate students globally!! 🫶🗺️ Help us make #animalbehaviourresearch more inclusive 🐝🐝🐝 Sign up to be a monthly donor, or make a one time contribution using this link opencollective.com/animal-behav...opencollective.comAnimal Behaviour Collective - Open CollectiveWe are a collective of animal behaviour researchers organising microgrants and mentorship for undergraduate & graduate students in animal behaviour. 0117
Reposted by Katy Willcox, PhDMartin Whiting @lizardlab.bsky.social · 25/11/2025A huge congrats to Dr Jai Lake! Jai just gave his exit seminar at Macquarie on why lizards are social. To be slightly more precise, his PhD was about the mechanisms underlying sociality. Papers are submitted and in prep! Watch this space. Jai was cosupervised by Geoff While at Univ. Tasmania. 0113