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PiedFly.Net

@piedflynet.bsky.social
495 followers 125 following 21 posts

Posts by Malcolm Burgess. Runs PiedFly.Net, a citizen science network monitoring Pied flycatchers across SW England contributing to science on #phenology #migration #demography and more.

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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
New job alert 🪶🧪 We are hiring a Conservation Scientist to work on links between hydrological restoration and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker conservation Deadline: 7/10/26 Apply here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car... #SpeciesRecoveryProgramme @naturalengland.bsky.social 📷Ben Andrew
A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker perched by its nest hole
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Paul Doniol-Valcroze @pdvsky.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Here is the 2nd big piece of my postdoc at @cesco-lab.bsky.social, out now in @consletters.bsky.social 📖 doi.org/10.1111/con4...
doi.org
Multi‐Sensor Logger Tracking Reveals the Threats of Offshore Windfarms to Passerine‐Sized Birds
Offshore wind energy is a cornerstone of the transition to renewable energy, yet its rapid expansion raises concerns for wildlife. These concerns notably involve small migratory birds whose movements...
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Journal of Vertebrate Biology @jvertbiol.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
🐦🌊 Tracking 65 birds from 11 species found that most sea crossings happened at night and at low altitudes - overlapping with offshore wind turbine rotors 👉 doi.org/10.1111/con4... #ornithology #birdmigration @pdvsky.bsky.social @pauldufour80.bsky.social @piedflynet.bsky.social @rafnuss.bsky.social
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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
New job alert🪶 2.5yr fixed term Conservation Scientist role in our England and Wales team Project: Developing a trial management intervention for upland breeding Whinchat through a programme of new science Deadline: 23 Sept Full details here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car... 📷Ben Andrew
A Whinchat perches atop a fern.
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Phenoweb project @phenoweb.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
1/🧵 Our 2026 Spring field season data is in! Here are some highlights from our long-term monitoring of blue tits, invertebrates & trees across 44 sites in Scotland👇🏼
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Paul Dufour @pauldufour80.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
🐦🌙 Happy to see this big collaborative paper out in @currentbiology.bsky.social! We address a seemingly simple question using geolocator data collected across many species and individuals: how much of bird migration actually happens at night? www.cell.com/current-biol... A short🧵
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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
📣 New preprint with @allyphillimore.bsky.social, out now! As climate change shifts seasonal timing across food-webs, we present an experiment testing the impact of phenological mismatch in *48* plant-caterpillar 🌳→🐛 trophic interactions. Read it here: doi.org/10.64898/202... ...or scroll 🧵👇 1/7
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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
New research by the RSPB shows Swifts are highly loyal to the same nest sites each year Read on for a summary Full paper: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @uniexecec.bsky.social
Caption: Common Swift poking its head out of a specially created nesting brick on the side of a new build house. 

Alt text: A red brick wall with a square sand coloured brick on it. The square brick has a horizontal opening with the head of a Swift looking out of it.  

Credit: Ben Andrew / RSPB
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MMU - Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Resilience @sbac-manmetuni.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Check out this wonderful guest blog post on Willow tit conservation by our own MMU PhD student @bensecker.bsky.social for @songbirdsurvival.bsky.social www.songbird-survival.org.uk/post/guest-b...
songbird-survival.org.uk
Guest blog: Why are willow tits disappearing from our woodlands?
Guest blog from Ben Secker who is is a Doctoral Researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University studying the willow tit. From SongBird Survival, your voice for songbirds and other small birds in the UK, a specialist charity.
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Science X / Phys.org @sciencex.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Dutch pied flycatchers raised in Sweden wintered about halfway between the usual Dutch and Swedish sites in West Africa, pointing to both inheritance and natal environment. doi.org/hb8qb4
phys.org
Why these birds meet again in Africa: Flycatcher study reveals how genes and environment guide 13,000‑km migrations
Migratory birds such as the pied flycatcher typically have wintering locations in Africa close to others from the same breeding population.
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angusrobin.bsky.social @angusrobin.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
A new Pied Flycatcher nest on a fledged Blue Tit nest @piedflynet.bsky.social @somersetbirds.bsky.social @btosomerset.bsky.social
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Dr Rachael Miller (Harrison) @drrmiller.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
*Upcoming deadline for two advertised posts in the Miller Cognition and Conservation Group is 5 June 2026* - 4-year PhD advert: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin... - 4-year Postdoc advert: careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/78...
exeter.ac.uk
From cognition to conservation: using cognitive and behavioural research to enhance animal reintroductions, PhD (Funded) | University of Exeter
The University of Exeter’s Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, is inviting applications for a 4-year PhD studentship (UK fees), ideally commencing Sept 2026.
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Dr Rachael Miller (Harrison) @drrmiller.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
PhD Opportunity! 4-year funded PhD @uniexecec.bsky.social: “From cognition to conservation: using cognitive and behavioural research to enhance animal reintroductions”. Closes: 5 June 2026. Funding: @royalsociety.org (UK/Home students only). More info & to apply: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin... 1/
exeter.ac.uk
From cognition to conservation: using cognitive and behavioural research to enhance animal reintroductions, PhD (Funded) | University of Exeter
The University of Exeter’s Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, is inviting applications for a 4-year PhD studentship (UK fees), ideally commencing Sept 2026.
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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
📣 New Preprint, out now on @ecoevorxiv.bsky.social... Resource abundance can buffer trophic mismatch in a caterpillar-passerine food-chain 🌳→🐛→🐦 w/ @kenandlindasmith.bsky.social, @piedflynet.bsky.social et al. Read it here: doi.org/10.32942/X2K... ...or scroll for some highlights 🧵👇 1/4
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EcoEvoRxiv @ecoevorxiv.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Resource abundance can buffer trophic mismatch in a caterpillar-passerine food-chain doi.org/10.32942/X2K...
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Ros Kennerley @drroskennerley.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
A perfect sunny day to set up audio recorders at Yarner Woods with @ajhdoyle.bsky.social & @piedflynet.bsky.social. The recorders will act as a remote nest box monitoring tool to estimate breeding behaviour, phenology & success of the Pied Flycatchers. Find out more: www.durham.ac.uk/staff/andrew...
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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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Erik Postma @erikpostma.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
🚨 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE APPROACHING! 🚨 Only 1 week left to submit your abstract for #ExE2026! Submissions close April 1. All the details are at evoxeco.uk and below 👇
evoxeco.uk
Welcome
ExE 2026 is a 3-day conference aimed at evolutionary ecologists from around the world, hosted by the University of Exeter in beautiful Cornwall. It provides a friendly and inclusive platform for all c...
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Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar @asanchez-tojar.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Never too late! From a hot summer in 2009 spent in the lab molecularly sexing pied flycatchers to a 2026 paper 🐦 Using 2,759 sexed nestlings (1997–2018) tracked through 2023, we show male attractiveness & annual rearing conditions increase the proportion of sons in broods 🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.an...
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Ros Kennerley @drroskennerley.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
A successful annual meeting at the weekend for @piedflynet.bsky.social, with around 60 keen attendees there to hear about last season's results, @cateden91.bsky.social's research on spotted flycatchers, the Two Moors Pine Marten project, and to generally feel geed-up about the season ahead!
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Lizzie Bruce @lizziebruce.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
📢 Job Alert: Monitoring officer I am looking for an experienced ornithological fieldworker to join the team this spring to lead on the monitoring of Black tailed godwits at WWT Welney. Closing date: 6 March 2026 Apply ➡️ vacancies.wwt.org.uk/vacancies/77...
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BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
New role! 📢 We're looking for a dynamic and experienced Science Manager to join us at BTO. Apply now ➡️ www.bto.org/jobs #Ornithology 📆 Full time, Permanent. 📝 £46,344 per annum. 📍 Hybrid working. Deadline for applications: Monday 9 March.
A Cuckoo perches on a post. Wording over the image reads: We're hiring. Science Manager. www.bto.org/jobs. BTO logo top right of the image. Image credit bottom left reads: Cuckoo by Edmund Fellowes / BTO.
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British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) @bou.org.uk · 11/02/2026
EARLY VIEW in IBIS Reproductive consequences of mate retention and divorce in a short-lived migratory passerine | onlinelibrary.wiley.... Daniel R. Rodríguez-Solís, Iraida Redondo, Jesús Martínez-Padilla, Carlos Camacho, Jaime Potti, David Canal | #ornithology 🪶
Black and white bird perched on a branch, singing, with foliage in foreground.
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Lesser Spot Network @lesserspotnet.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
Our new guidance note/protocol for using sound recorders to detect Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers gives practical details for using Song Meter Mini & Micro recorders from Wildlife Acoustics in woodland with suitable habitat & has proved a great success www.woodpecker-network.org.uk/index.php/ne...
woodpecker-network.org.uk
Woodpecker Network - Setting up and using sound recorders for detecting Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers
A forum to encourage and facilitate the study of woodpeckers in Britain and Ireland
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Claire Branston @clairebranston.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
I’m excited to share our new paper in Ecology! Our 9‑year study across an urban–rural gradient shows native trees, especially oaks, boost blue tit breeding success. More native foliage supports more of the birds preferred prey and improves reproductive success. 📃 doi.org/10.1002/ecy.... #ornithology
doi.org
Native trees are related to advanced bird breeding phenology and increased reproductive success along an urban gradient
Urban areas are altered from natural landscapes in several ways that can impact wildlife. Birds are widespread in urban areas, and it is well documented that there are phenotypic differences between ...
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Keith McMahon @mcmahok.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
We are hiring at the Wytham Woods for the upcoming field season. 4 roles available. Please share with anyone who might be interested. #UKbirds #birdringing
We are seeking to appoint four full-time field assistants to work on the Wytham Tit Project for 4-8 weeks in spring 2026.
Two 8-week field assistants will join the nest monitoring team; duties for these posts will include (i) collecting standardised data from nest-box breeding populations of blue and great tits, (ii) catching and ringing parent birds, (iii) ringing nestlings, and (iv) inputting data collected in the field. These positions with run from approximately Tuesday 7th April to Monday 1st June. Successful candidates for these positions must have (or be qualified to obtain) a BTO permit to ring adult great tits and blue tits.
A further two field assistants will be hired to support a project collecting behavioural (foraging) data for great tits breeding in the Wytham population. These roles will involve a significant amount of nightwork. Duties will include (i) setting up and calibrating electronic tracking equipment and nest box cameras in the field, (ii) mapping tracking equipment locations using GPS, (iii) helping with catching and ringing parent birds and fitting tracking devices, (iv) assisting with mistnetting to re-trap tagged parents, and (v) inputting data collected in the field. These positions with be approximately 7 and 4 weeks in duration, starting from 13th April and 4th May, respectively. Possession of a BTO ringing permit with misnet endorsement and driving license are highly desirable for these roles.
All fieldwork will take place in Wytham Woods, near Oxford. All Successful candidates must be able to demonstrate skill and enthusiasm for biological research as well as experience of fieldwork under arduous conditions, and both lone work and working as part of a team. Due to the short-term nature of these posts, successsful applicants must already have the right to work in the UK. Salary & Accommodation: Field assistants will be paid at grade 5.2 (£17.37/hour). Contact eleanor.cole@Biology.ox.ac.uk
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Lynda Donaldson @lyndadonaldson.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
RSPB seasonal positions @rspbscience.bsky.social are live & we are ready for applications! 🌱🪶🌊⛰️🐣 Huge variety of posts available for 2026: seabirds, veg surveys, visitor questionnaires, upland monitoring, wader chick tracking... all listed on the attachments via the link 👇 Deadline 11th Jan 2026 📆
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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
We're hiring! Seasonal Research Assistant and Senior Research Assistant positions for 2026 🪶 Deadline: 11th Jan 26 Apply here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car...
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Lynda Donaldson @lyndadonaldson.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
📣 New paper out now in @conbiology.bsky.social! #Headstarting - hatching eggs and/or rearing chicks in captivity & releasing them back to the wild - has been increasingly used for #wader #conservation. But it can be challenging and expensive. So why do it and when❓ 📷WWT/Bob Ellis #godwit (1/4)
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BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
1/ A new study from @lesserspotnet.bsky.social & BTO in @britishbirds.bsky.social looks at how passive acoustic monitoring is an effective way of surveying Lesser Spotted Woodpecker ➡️ www.bto.org/LSWBioacoust... #bioacoustics #ornithology @simongillings.bsky.social @hosbirding.bsky.social
A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on the trunk of a tree. A grey box to the left features the words: New study. Bioacoustics as a tool for the detection and monitoring of a scarce woodland bird – the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. ww.bto.org/LSWBioacoustics. BTO logo is top left of the image. Image credit bottom left reads: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker © Denja1 from Getty Images via Canva.com.
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Lesser Spot Network @lesserspotnet.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Something to celebrate - our 2025 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker report - successful breeding season, the most nests monitored & highest number of chicks fledged per nest since we started in 2015. Acoustic monitoring giving amazing results too, download here www.woodpecker-network.org.uk/images/L_S_W...
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at its nest in New Forest, photo by Steve LaycockSix Lesser Spot young in a Quantocks nest, photo Gus Robin
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Tom Finch @tfinch.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Are you an MSc student based at a UK university? Or do you know one? RSPB @rspbscience.bsky.social have just released their list of research projects for 2026: www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu... #ornithology #conservationscience 🌍
rspb.org.uk
Postgraduate opportunities
The RSPB is offering a variety of exciting research projects for postgraduate students in 2026.
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Cat Eden @cateden91.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Super excited to share the first paper from my PhD! 🎉 We found that rivers don’t just matter for wetland birds - they also help support terrestrial insectivores, thanks to the flow of energy and nutrients from aquatic insects. 🌊🦟 Read more here: 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Cross-system transfer of fatty acids from aquatic insects supports terrestrial insectivore condition and reproductive success - Oecologia
Cross-system fluxes of aquatic insects rich in omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 LC-PUFAs), specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), may subsidise ins...
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Jennifer Morinay @jennifer-morinay.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
🚨 Come join the fantastic long-tailed tit team 🚨 🐦We are recruiting a field technician to collect behavioural data on a long-term studied population of wild long-tailed tits (passerine birds). 🪶20 months contract in Sheffield, UK. 🌲Deadline: 23/11/2025. jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Technici...
Colour-ringed long-tailed tit
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Andreas Nord @cyanistesnord.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
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
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Eldar Rakhimberdiev @eldarrak.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Want your modelling to save birds? PhD with me at UvA (Amsterdam): build spatial integrated population model for black-tailed godwits with world-class dataset and strong team here & @birdeyes-gfn.bsky.social/RUG). werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies... Apply by 1 Dec 2025: #Ecology #Bayesian #Conservation
a couple of individually marked godwits. Photo by J. Seenstra
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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Spotted Flycatchers declined by 88% between 1970-2018, could low reproductive productivity be the cause? Read on for a summary of new RSPB research Full paper: doi.org/10.1111/ibi.... (1/5)
doi.org
Inadequate reproductive success is a potential cause of Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) population decline in England
Most demographic studies of multi-brooded species require information on breeding success per nesting attempt and the number of nesting attempts made to derive a measure of whole-season productivity....
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Blanca Jimeno @bjimeno.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Very excited about this work now out in @molecology! We test whether🐦with ⬆️dispersal propensity differ in the nº CpGs across the genome, with the hypothesis that⬆️CpGs allow for⬆️epigenetically-driven plasticity facilitating environmental coping onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Epigenetic Potential and Dispersal Propensity in a Free‐Living Songbird: A Spatial and Temporal Approach
Natal dispersal is a key life history trait determining fitness and driving population dynamics, genetic structure, and species distributions. Despite existing evidence that not all phenotypes are eq...
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Dr Danni Hinchcliffe @dannihinchy.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Should I stay or should I go?🐦 Fancy a #PhD studying Pied flycatchers in the Peak District to help better understand what drives individual & population performance? Think #habitat #movement #ecology #genetics 🌍 Make use of this nestbox PIT tag study system and join us! Email me #LJMU #NationalTrust
Male pied flycatcher
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Interested in a PhD in ornithology? Funding available for projects at the interface of ecology, behaviour & evolution from Oct '26 working on long-term population studies of tits at Wytham, based in @biology.ox.ac.uk in the new Life & Mind Building in Oxford www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Examples of some recent papers from graduate students in my group - a full list of recent papers and preprints can be found here (https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=pTdxVdIAAAAJ) and profile of the group here: https://egioxford.web.ox.ac.uk/membersThe annual Wytham Field Team Photo!Celebrating a successful field season with great food & good company - May 2025Front view of the Life & Mind Building, which opened in Oct 2025: The new home of Biology at Oxford
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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Job vacancy 🧪 Principal Conservation Scientist, RSPB Cymru Can you provide the evidence needed to save and restore the iconic species and landscapes of Wales? Deadline: 3rd Nov Location: Flexible within Wales Duration: Permanent Apply here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car... 📷Jake Stephen
A Chough sits on a rocky cliff edge at South Stack Nature Reserve, North Wales.
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PiedFly.Net @piedflynet.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
JOB ALERT: We have an exciting Senior Research Assistant post available for a project tracking predators and prey simultaneously starting early 2026. We need someone with experience tagging adult raptors or wader chicks. This you? app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car...
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British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) @bou.org.uk · 06/10/2025
EARLY VIEW in IBIS Inadequate reproductive success is a potential cause of Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) population decline in England | onlinelibrary.wiley.... Malcolm D. Burgess et al | #ornithology 🪶
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PiedFly.Net @piedflynet.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Closing date tomorrow, an exciting PhD linking insects with demography of aerial foraging birds such as House martin based @uniexecec.bsky.social in Cornwall.
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Stu Bearhop @stubearhop.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
Only a few days to go… please share!!!
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PiedFly.Net @piedflynet.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Fully funded PhD with me, @uniexecec.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social working on insectivorous bird declines - hopefully esp. House martin www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
New job alert: An amazing opportunity - our International science team are hiring for a 2yr position (initially) for an experienced scientist to work on tropical forest conservation 🌍🧪 Full details here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car... 📷Nick Williams/RSPB
The Gola Rainforest
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PiedFly.Net @piedflynet.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Back from Olomouc — such a well-organised conference in a brilliant location. This community through these HNB conferences has sparked so many collaborations for PiedFly.Net, putting UK data on the map, and led to @spibirds.bsky.social making working together even easier. Thanks you organisers!
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British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) @bou.org.uk · 18/09/2025
Extending Long-Term Avian Studies Alters Temporal and Climate-Driven Trend Conclusions | doi.org/10.1002/ece3... | Ecology and Evolution | #ornithology 🪶
doi.org
Extending Long‐Term Avian Studies Alters Temporal and Climate‐Driven Trend Conclusions
Long-term population studies are essential for understanding the effects of climate change on biodiversity, yet predictions based on short-term data may be unreliable. Our findings reveal that initia...
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Stu Bearhop @stubearhop.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Come work with us… PDRA position to work on a host of exciting things! jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr... Get in touch if you want to know more
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