We branched out a little and contributed mercury measurements to this study on Arctic barnacle geese by Matteo Schiavinato et al, published in Environmental Pollution: doi.org/10.1016/j.en...

The Banter See season is slowly drawing to a close. The first day of August ended with 717 birds being registered. Last year this time that number was 477.

New paper out!🥳 Here, we used a multi-biomarker approach to evaluate the ecotoxicological status of great tit (Parus major) populations from areas with different anthropogenic impacts. More information can be found here👇 doi.org/10.1016/j.en...

See that cute gull-billed tern chick thinking of leaving the safety of the frog- and electric fence that allowed it to grow up behind? Well, it did, and with a logger, so that you can also see its first trip away from the colony on the right. ❤️

Out now & open access in Avian Pathology - a collaborative paper showing how highly pathogenic avian influenza (clade 2.3.4.4b euBB) was introduced, and led to high mortality, in breeding colonies of black-headed gulls and common terns in Germany in 2023: doi.org/10.1080/0307...

we won! 🏆 kids4kids was awarded the open-science-prize from UG (Unversitätsgesellschaft Oldenburg) tinyurl.com/356mmf6m @ifv-whv.bsky.social we’re incredibly happy and grateful for this recognition. It really means a lot to see our passion project celebrated

Talking about the chicks... they are doing amazing! There is plenty of food around, so they are growing up fast, with the first ones having fledged this week and many more getting ready to follow that example.

Chick sampling was closely supervised by Ariella, this weekend. Ariella hatched in 2022, prospected in 2024, then started breeding with Vedran in 2025. Last year they fledged 1 chick, and this year things are looking good for fledging 2. 🥰

After last year’s successful pilot study, GPS-tracking @gullbilledterns-de.bsky.social's birds, we’re back at it this year. The lovely bird @harrykuipers.bsky.social photographed is L39, a 5-yr old female, breeding with 4-yr old R75 on nest 8. She laid two eggs that both hatched successfully.

A few days after successfully defending my PhD, another chapter of my thesis is out in Environmental Toxicology!🥳 Here, we show that bird embryos actively mobilize Hg from eggshells, key for better understanding Hg impact on wildlife. More information can be found here👇 doi.org/10.1002/tox....

Experimental Evidence for Mobilization of Mercury From the Eggshell by the Developing Embryo in an Avian Model Organism

Of the many pollutants wildlife is exposed to, mercury ranks among the most toxic. In birds, mercury does not only accumulate within generations, but also is transferred across generations via matern...

doi.org

Hosted 25 kids at the museum this morning. 10 interviews are in the pocket, and the next event is planned too. One of the kids drew me this card as a thank-you. Mission accomplished. :-)

Very proud of you @matteobeccardi.bsky.social 👇😃🎉

Institute of Avian Research 'Vogelwarte Helgoland'@ifv-whv.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Huge congratulations to @matteobeccardi.bsky.social on successfully defending his PhD thesis "Intrinsic and extrinsic factors shaping individual quality in birds"!!!🐦🥚🐣🤔🎓 🎉 Cheers to the next chapter!!!🍾🍾🍾

Huge congratulations to @matteobeccardi.bsky.social on successfully defending his PhD thesis "Intrinsic and extrinsic factors shaping individual quality in birds"!!!🐦🥚🐣🤔🎓 🎉 Cheers to the next chapter!!!🍾🍾🍾

First opportunity to present my PhD results at #SIBM2026. A rewarding experience filled with insightful discussions, valuable feedback, and new ideas to bring back to my research.🦈🌊

The 2-year-olds have started to arrive en masse and, with 83, now make up 18% of the registered birds at the colony. At 470 of those, we are exactly 70 above the number we had this time last year. Food is looking good too, and the chicks are growing nicely. ❤️

Bugging is underway, and we are missing @matteobeccardi.bsky.social who spent two seasons supplementing the team to collect data on sex- and age-specific mitochondrial functioning in the terns. His paper on this just came out in @jexpbiol.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

Excited to share our new paper out in @jexpbiol.bsky.social! Here, we investigated how sex and age shape mitochondrial function under natural conditions in a long-lived seabird, the Common tern. Read the paper here for more information👇 doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

Sex and age shape mitochondrial function in a long-lived seabird

Summary: Age and sex influence mitochondrial function in a long-lived seabird, offering insights into ageing and individual differences in performance.

doi.org

“Counting cases, conserving species: addressing highly pathogenic avian influenza in wildlife”. Out now, and open access, in Biological Reviews: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

The observation huts and rat protection are up. It's beginning to look a lot like the breeding season of 2026. Thanks to yet another dreamteam this season!❤️

🔈Really happy to see this one ⬇️ out! 🎉 Great to see this compilation of studies finally published. Thanks to all the authors, reviewers and the team @avianbiology.bsky.social who made this possible! Editorial: nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #Ornithology #Physiology #Migration

New Frontiers in Avian Physiology: What’s Migration got to do with it?: Journal of Avian Biology

Click on the title to browse this issue

vist.ly

✨ Editorial: a summary and synopsis of the studies included in the special issue on migration physiology written by the editorial team @pablosalmon.bsky.social @barbarahelm.bsky.social #TiiaKärkkäinen ➡️ vist.ly/4ucex #ornithology #birds #migration #physiology

Thanks for featuring our work! Across 6 Italian cities (220 point counts; breeding + winter), we find that established parakeets tend to expand the functional trait space of urban bird communities, consistent with filling underused niche space.

British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU)@bou.org.uk · 6mo ago

NEW on #theBOUblog from Fabio Marcolin Are parrots filling ecological niche space?: How non-native parrots become established in urban bird communities bou.org.uk/blog-marc... Based on this IBIS paper doi.org/10.1111/ibi.... #ornithology 🪶

Proud to present: Suitcase Science, a new outreach format containing 6 assignments to take on a journey to schools in the region, to teach kids about terns, how to study them, their fascinating behaviour and some of the things that threaten them. Wanna book us? Drop me a line. :-)

⚠️Paper out ⚠️ Here, we tested if extra feeding lesser kestrel nestlings during development (and under a heatwave) can help them deal with extreme heat. Spoiler: they really struggle. Extra food helps them grow when it’s just hot, but not under a heatwave. See 👇 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Extra food buffers thermoregulatory costs during early development but does not reduce heatwave-induced mortality in nestlings of a cavity-nesting raptor

Global climate change is increasing both average temperatures and the occurrence of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves. These changes pose majo…

sciencedirect.com

If you're at #BES2025 and interested in owls and how noise & light pollution affect their foraging behaviour, come to check out my owl poster 🦉💡🚗 #owls #ecology #ornithology #RaptorResearch

👀Behind the Paper!👀 🪺Author Valentina Alaasam discusses single parenting in the avian world, enjoying all the outdoors has to offer, and the importance of not fearing failure🐦 Read it here👇 buff.ly/EjX8SQO 🧪🌍

Valentina Alaasam | What is the “hidden cost” of abandonment to rock sparrow offspring?

In this ‘Behind the Paper’ blog post, we’re getting real about parenthood! From their recently published paper: “Mate desertion affects offspring survival, development and p…

buff.ly

📰Published📰When one parent leaves: The consequences of mate desertion on offspring survival and physiology🪺 buff.ly/dURNn4V 🧪🌍

When one parent leaves: The consequences of mate desertion on offspring survival and physiology

Valentina Alaasam, Alejandro Cantarero, Matteo Beccardi, Alejandro Corregidor-Castro, Manuel Fuertes-Recuero, Matteo Schiavinato, Lia Zampa, Alessandro Grapputo, Matteo Griggio, Jenny Q Ouyang, And…

buff.ly

New paper out in @funecology.bsky.social: Parental conflict over care is bad for offspring growth! 🐤🐣 Check out our article: Mate desertion affects offspring survival, development and physiology in a songbird with multiple parental strategies. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Mate desertion affects offspring survival, development and physiology in a songbird with multiple parental strategies

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Happy to share our latest publication out now in @funecology.bsky.social. 🥳 Here, we studied the effects of mate desertion on offspring survival, development and physiology in one of the most interesting bird species, the Rock sparrow! Check out the paper for more info👇 doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Mate desertion affects offspring survival, development and physiology in a songbird with multiple parental strategies

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

doi.org

🎤 We’re excited to introduce another plenary speaker for the 5th EOU Fledglings Meeting in Gdańsk (27–29 March 2026)! 🌿 Miriam Liedvogel (@genmig.bsky.social) will share her work on blackcap migration - a fascinating look into one of Europe’s most dynamic songbird species. #EOU26 #Ornithology