This week has been one of the warmest on record in Oxford. This heatwave has also been recorded by the thermologgers we have in @wythamwoods.bsky.social. The period between 23rd and 28th May has been ~8°C (+2.6 SDs) warmer in 2026 than the same period between 2023 and 2025.

Happy 100th Birthday Sir David! Short clip from a film with Sir David Attenborough featuring @ellafcole.bsky.social explaining research in @wythamwoods.bsky.social into how Great Tits adjust behaviour during incubation to fine-tune hatching date: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGjL...

How Do Birds Incubate Their Eggs? | Attenborough's Wonder of Eggs | BBC Earth

YouTube video by BBC Earth

youtube.com

Edward Grey Institute@egioxford.bsky.social · 3mo ago

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-...

In our new paper, published yesterday, we use the long-term data set of Wytham Woods to show that great tits have maintained stable temperature at breeding despite the almost 2ºC increase in Spring temperature. w. E. Cole, C. Regan & @sheldonbirds.bsky.social Link -> www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Planning a nestbox temperature manipulation experiment in birds? We’ve just published a preprint that may be useful! 🪺🪶 We review 46 studies and also share our own blue tit pilot experiment from Wytham Woods, highlighting some very real practical challenges doi.org/10.32942/X25387

Ecological harshness has a weak influence on reproductive trade-offs in a #greattit population: @lbliard.bsky.social et al. 2026: doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Ecological harshness has a weak influence on reproductive trade-offs in a great tit population

Abstract. Lack’s seminal work on bird clutch sizes has spurred expansive research on reproductive trade-offs, especially focusing on offspring quantity–qua

doi.org

Great paper showing impact of extreme spring weather on woodland birds (in nestboxes). Besides rain/cold affecting nestling growth, in natural cavities another major impact of extreme weather is the nest hole soaking with rainwater, which can be a big killer. Broods even drown in severe downpours.

Edward Grey Institute@egioxford.bsky.social · 5mo ago

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

My second DPhil paper is out! A nice example of how continuous long-term monitoring of natural populations can be so valuable for understanding impacts of climate change on wild animals 🪶 📍Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire 🌳🪺

Edward Grey Institute@egioxford.bsky.social · 5mo ago

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

Climate extremes are on the rise, and early life is extra vulnerable 🌧️ New research led by @devisatarkar.bsky.social reveals that cold snaps and heavy rain can stunt growth and survival prospects in young great tits 👇

Climate extremes hinder early development in young birds

bit.ly

We have published a new pre-print showing a decline in great tit adult and nestling mass of around 1 gram in 47 y. [rate of approx. -0.040 Hadanes] With @ellafcole.bsky.social, @devisatarkar.bsky.social, Sam. Crofts, @mcmahok.bsky.social & @sheldonbirds.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Interested in fighting, flies, and evolution? I've got a project at Durham investigating the ecology, evolution, and genetics of aggression in fruit flies (Drosophila): iapetus.ac.uk/studentships.... All questions welcome - just shoot me a message or email!

What drives aggression? Linking Ecology, Evolution, and Genes

iapetus.ac.uk

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...

New preprint! 🌳🐛 We combined experimental and genomic methods to study local adaptation of winter moths to variation in oak budburst timing in Wytham Woods, UK. With @andreaestandia.bsky.social, Lea Beaupere, Ella Cole, and @sheldonbirds.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Integrative analysis of fine-scale local adaptation of winter moths to variable oak phenology

For herbivorous insects whose fitness depends on tight phenological synchrony with host plants, spatial variation in plant phenology can impose strong selective pressures and promote local adaptation ...

biorxiv.org

New preprint! 🪶 We analysed 60 years of data on 83,000+ great tits to show how extreme climate impacts on nestling growth and survival are stage-specific and context-dependent 🐣 🌍🔥❄️ With @davididiaquez.bsky.social @iremsepil.bsky.social @sheldonbirds.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

@devisatarkar.bsky.social gave beautiful talk on the extent to which social network traits are heritable vs. shaped by the spatial & social environment at birth using long-term data on blue tits 🐣🧬 @behaviour2025.bsky.social @asab.org

Wild great tits signal ‘divorce’ long before the breeding season — even in the winter, months before the couples rebreed with different partners in the following spring New study with @universityofleeds.bsky.social in @royalsocietypublishing.org 👇 bit.ly/4lRt7TN @sheldonbirds.bsky.social

Great tits show early signs of splitting up: researchers uncover social clues to bird 'divorce'

bit.ly

New research shows that the early-life environment of great tits shapes their adult behaviour more than their genetics 🐦🍃. Read more here ⬇️ bit.ly/40SkDDT @devisatarkar.bsky.social, @sheldonbirds.bsky.social, @iremsepil.bsky.social 📷 @davididiaquez.bsky.social

Lovely to see Devi Satarkar’s first DPhil paper out in print

Journal of Animal Ecology@animalecology.bsky.social · 2y ago

Using a dataset of 800,000+ observations and decades of breeding records, Dr Satarkar and team employ multi-matrix quantitative genetic ‘animal models’ to show that genes play a minimal role in shaping individual social phenotypes in an avian system 🪽 🧪 🌏

Had such a wonderful time at #ECBB2024 where I had the privilege of presenting my PhD work at an international conference for the first time ever! Beautiful city & campus and absolutely brilliant people & research 🤩 Thanks to everyone for being so encouraging about my work 🐣

Excited to share the first preprint from my PhD https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.07.11.603055 Turns out social phenotypes are not heritable in great tits! Presenting this at #ECBB2024 tomorrow (10 am, Meerkat room). Please come along if you like social networks and birds!...

Presented my first ever poster at the @royalsociety conference on age and sociality this week and immensely enjoyed 2 days of really cool research and chatting with even cooler people 🤩 Massive thanks to the organisers for such an enlightening meeting ✨

Excited to share my 1st ever paper that got published last week! It's a #review on the role of CXCR3 (a chemokine receptor) in neuronal 🧠 and cardiovascular 🫀 diseases. Beyond grateful for @drchinmoypatra's encouragement and guidance as I wrote...