Pablo Macias Torres
@pablomaciastorres.bsky.social
PhD at Lund University. Bird migration tracking and flight energetics. Wind tunnel. From Extremadura, Spain. https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/pablo-mac%C3%ADas-torres
As great snipe migrate between Europe & sub-Saharan Africa, the intrepid birds can reach great heights, ascending and descending several thousand meters, but it turns out that these extraordinary altitude changes don't cost the birds any additional effort doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
📢 happy to share our new paper in @molecology.bsky.social Common chiffchaff subspecies diverge in the same migration-related region as willow warblers (see thread): onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Common Chiffchaffs (<fi>Phylloscopus collybita</fi>) Diverge in a Genomic Region Associated With Migration Differences in Willow Warblers (<fi>Phylloscopus trochilus</fi>)
Despite technological advances in both tracking and sequencing technologies, finding the genetic mechanisms behind migratory traits remains a challenge. Recent studies have shown that migratory direc...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
🐦🌙 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🧵
🚨 Exciting news! The Swiss Ornithological Institute is starting a collaborative program that offers multi-sensor geolocators and analytical support for bird migration research, focusing on underrepresented species & regions. Interested? geopressure.org/GeoCollabForm/ Please share!
A high-quality peer review should always be standard. But paying reviewers seems reasonable, especially when journals charge such substantial publishing fees and the reviewing process is so important
Nature@nature.com · 2mo agoA biology journal trialled paying their reviewers and found it led to faster first editorial decisions – and increased review quality. go.nature.com/446SaLu
Moonlight shapes life in red-necked nightjars. Anders Hedenström and colleagues used multisensor loggers and GPS to show that foraging, energy saving, migration and reproduction follow the lunar cycle. The article is published in Science Advanced www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Photo: Carlos Camacho
Tracking data show that thrush nightingales are inactive during the day while crossing deserts and fly at night. They rely on energy reserves. @pablomaciastorres.bsky.social et al. quantify diel behaviour across migration using light/activity loggers. royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article...
Small migratory birds cross deserts and seas as part of their annual migration. But how? Our new study shows how thrush nightingales do it: by flying night after night and stopping during the day, when they remain innactive🐦➡️(1/3) doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... @royalsocietypublishing.org #BirdMigration
The past 11 years were the 11 hottest on record amid an increasing onslaught of climate-driven disasters, the World Meteorological Organization said in a new report
There is no historical precedent for how badly out of balance the climate is now, U.N. warns
The past 11 years were the 11 hottest on record amid an increasing onslaught of climate-driven disasters, the World Meteorological Organization said in a new report
scientificamerican.com
Now online in Journal of #Ornithology Tracking the range restricted white-spotted Bluethroat Luscinia svecica namnetum using multi-sensor and light-level loggers link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Tracking the range restricted white-spotted Bluethroat Luscinia svecica namnetum using multi-sensor and light-level loggers - Journal of Ornithology
The Bluethroat Luscinia svecica is a Palearctic passerine comprising several subspecies with distinct migratory strategies. While the movements of L. s. svecica, L. s. cyanecula and L. s. azuricollis ...
link.springer.com
Una treintena de científicos desmonta un estudio utilizado por los cazadores para avalar la captura de aves cantoras. ¡Cualquier escusa es buena para justificar la captura de pajarillos! Aunque los argumentos sean de lo más peregrinos. Lamentable. elpais.com/clima-y-medi...
Una treintena de científicos desmonta un estudio utilizado por los cazadores para avalar la captura de aves cantoras
La revista ‘Ecological Indicators’, donde apareció una controvertida investigación sobre conteo de pájaros, publica una réplica que denuncia graves deficiencias y conflicto de intereses
elpais.com
Another great #euflynet meeting just came to an end, this time in Vienna. Very exciting bird migration networking environment. www.euflynet.eu/post/euflyne...
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself! bluesky-map.theo.io I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
Bluesky Map
Interactive map of 3.4 million Bluesky users, visualised by their follower pattern.
bluesky-map.theo.io
Our new @science.org paper is out! Cuckoos and hosts are locked in a coevolutionary arms race over egg mimicry. But how are these egg types inherited, and could this drive speciation? We sequenced hundreds of genomes to find out! doi.org/10.1126/scie... 🧵1/6
Genomic architecture of egg mimicry and its consequences for speciation in parasitic cuckoos
Host-parasite arms races facilitate rapid evolution and can fuel speciation. Cuculus cuckoos are deceptive egg mimics that exhibit a broad diversity of counterfeit egg phenotypes, representing host-ad...
doi.org
For Scientific American’s 180th birthday, we’ve updated a classic graphic comparing different forms of animal locomotion, first published in this magazine in 1973.
The Most Efficient Traveler Isn’t a Bird or a Fish—It’s You on a Bike
A famous graphic, now updated, compares locomotion in the animal kingdom
scientificamerican.com
The structure of the annual migratory flight activity in a songbird | royalsocietypublishi... | Proceedings of the Royal Society B | #ornithology 🪶
Today IUCN has officially declared the Slender-billed Curlew extinct, marking the first known global extinction of a formerly widespread migratory bird species whose range included mainland Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. Read more here ⬇️ www.unep-aewa.org/fr/node/6632
🚨 Master’s project! Curious how birds find their way? 🧭🐦 Analyze decades of ringing data to study abnormal migratory routes and uncover what these deviations can reveal about the mechanisms guiding birds on their journeys. Drop me an email for details! #ornithology www.vogelwarte.ch/de/wir/mitar...
Are animals randomly distributed in the air, or is there a structure to where and when we find them? In our new paper we outline factors that shape habitat use in the air, from abiotic structure to biotic interactions. A lot of fun discussions behind this one! 🦅🦋🦇🌬 www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...
Animal niches in the airspace
For flying animals, including many birds, bats, and insects, the air is a crucial arena for a range of behaviors. Technological advances, such as year-round tracking of flight altitudes and expanded u...
cell.com
🚨 PhD alert 🚨 We are looking for a highly motivated student to use 🧬 genomics 🧬 and 🛰️ bio-logging 🛰️ approaches to disentangle cultural and genetic contributions to seabird migration 🐣 Think this is you, or someone you know? Then come to our Q&A session at on 29/09 and check out the ad below!
Today we welcomed Sveriges Radio P4 Malmöhus (local radio) who actually sent live from our wind tunnel. There was a bit of waiting involved… 😇 when @pablomaciastorres.bsky.social and professor Anders Hedenström were interviewed about their research. 👏👏👏
Migratory birds aren’t equally efficient at all speeds. A new Lund University study shows thrush nightingales fly most efficiently at 7–8 m/s – the speed they actually use on migration. @pablomaciastorres.bsky.social & Prof. Anders Hedenström, Animal Flight Lab. www.biology.lu.se/article/not-...
EUROPEAN HEAT WAVE Brutal heat from Morocco to UK Among the records in NW Europe 33.4 JERSEY HOTTEST JUNE DAY IN HISTORY 33.0 Airport GERMANY 35.8 Wielenbach June R HIGH MINIMUMS 22.1 Rheinau all time R 21.7 Elzach all time R 21.3 Pirmasens June R 19.4 Münsingen June R
The Australian bogong moth uses the Milky Way as compass during annual 100-mile journey to cool caves. This is shown by a groundbreaking study also revealing that the Earth's magnetic field plays an important role in the navigation of this mysterious moth. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Bogong moths use a stellar compass for long-distance navigation at night - Nature
Every spring, Bogong moths use the starry night sky as a compass to navigate up to 1,000 km towards their alpine migratory goal.
nature.com
After a lot of time spent in the darkness of the wind tunnel, the results finally see the light. I'm very excited to share what will become the first chapter of my thesis. Energy conversion efficiency peaks at intermediate flight speed in a migratory songbird www.cell.com/current-biol...
Energy conversion efficiency peaks at intermediate flight speed in a migratory songbird
Using in vivo measurements of thrush nightingales flying in a wind tunnel, Macias-Torres et al. show that energy conversion efficiency varies with airspeed following a concave function, with a maximum...
cell.com
Let's talk about this Nature piece in more detail. I've rarely read something so anti-scientific anywhere short of the National Review. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Three AI-powered steps to faster, smarter peer review
Tired of spending countless hours on peer reviews? An AI-assisted workflow could help.
nature.com
Just returned from the #EUFLYNET cost action meeting in Tarifa. There were plenty of interesting talks regarding migratory birds and networking opportunities. The landscape and wildlife were a highlight. #birdmigration
Last week, 56,000 #btgodwits were counted in the rice fields of the #Tagus estuary, the highest concentration of the species in the EAF. In this rice field alone, 36K godwits were recorded by drone! #LifeGodwitflyway
How important are your #postdoc years in the likelihood of you staying & succeeding in #academia? In our newly published paper in @pnas.org, "Postdoc Publications and Citations Link to Academic Retention and Faculty Success," we study the journey of #CareerSuccess of ~45,000 #postdocs. 🧵1/7
