⏰ Final call: Nominations for the 2026 SORTEE Commendation Awards close in one week! Know a project promoting Open Science in ecology & evolution? Projects of any scale are welcome. Submit now: sortee.org/awards/ #OpenScience #EcoEvo #SORTEE
Frigg Speelman
@friggspeelman.bsky.social
Postdoc at @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social working on eco-evolutionary dynamics of migration in blackbirds 🐦⬛. Previously at @rug.nl Macquarie Uni (AUS) studying partnerships in birds 💕.
A bit late to the #ISBE2026 posting brigade, I had to recover from the inspiring talks, old and new friends, parties… I presented the latest results from @jpartecke.bsky.social’s cross-continent migration experiment on 🐦⬛. Curious? Stay tuned.. 👀 @isbe2026.bsky.social @animaltracking.bsky.social
For anyone that missed my talk at @isbe2026.bsky.social - never you fear! You can watch my talk and read more about the new Replication Studies section at @behavecol.bsky.social right here! laskowskilab.faculty.ucdavis.edu/2026/07/22/r...
Ehi @isbe2026.bsky.social! @sortee.bsky.social is here at ISBE! Come to talk with us about OPEN SCIENCE!
SORTEE is coming to #ISBE2026! 🎉 📢 Learn about open science at our presentation (Monday, July 20, 14:00–14:40) 🎲 Chat with our volunteers, test your knowledge with open science quizzes and games, and enter our prize draw at the SORTEE stall (all conference)
The blackbird field season has officially started! 🐦⬛ Lots of birds to catch with @jpartecke.bsky.social, Maja Bradarić & Kristaps Sokolovskis at @animaltracking.bsky.social
🌟Nominations are now open for the 2026 SORTEE Commendation Awards! Know a project promoting #OpenScience in Ecology & Evolution (workshops, tools, outreach & more)? Projects can be local or global, team-based or individual Submit a nomination here: sortee.org/awards/
NEW on #theBOUblog from Frigg Speelman Partners Beyond Breeding: Pair-bonded Chirruping Wedgebills spend lots of time together; but they’re closer after breeding than during breeding bou.org.uk/blog-spee... Based on this paper doi.org/10.1093/behe... #ornithology 🪶
New blog post at BOU - how 'close' are pair-bonded birds truly? Read it here 👉 bou.org.uk/blog-speelma... Based on this paper out now in Beh Ecol: doi.org/10.1093/behe...
Partners Beyond Breeding - British Ornithologists' Union
Pair-bonded Chirruping Wedgebills spend lots of time together; but they’re closer after breeding than during breeding
bou.org.uk
The last data chapter of my PhD is out now! 🤩 A highly collaborative effort with Chris Tyson, @marcnaguib.bsky.social, and Simon Griffith.
British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU)@bou.org.uk · 10mo agoHigh spatial pair cohesion during and after breeding in a socially monogamous territorial passerine | doi.org/10.1093/behe... | Behavioral Ecology | #ornithology 🪶
How 'inseparable' are partners? 📍🐦 Using fine-scale automated radiotracking we found that chirruping wedgebill breeding partners stick extremely close — they occupy almost identical spaces and follow each other continuously during AND after breeding. Check it out ➡️ doi.org/10.1093/behe...
🥳😇
Dugdale Research Group@hannahdugdale.bsky.social · 11mo agoCongratulations to Dr @friggspeelman.bsky.social who was awarded a PhD yesterday 🎉 @rug.nl on 'Socially monogamous partnerships in birds: Causes, consequences, and pair-bond strength' research.rug.nl/en/publicati... A fantastic achievement!
Just got back from Ny-Ålesund, the northernmost town in the world, to catch and track Arctic terns for @seatrackscience.bsky.social in collaboration with @maartenloonen.bsky.social. I love coming to this place, and I love the terns. They probably did not like me so much though...
🔊🔊 What's important in a duet? In a new paper, we tested whether duet coordination in pairs has a function in their territoriality, using fine-scale and coarse measures of duet coordination in response to playback in chirruping wedgebills. See 👉 doi.org/10.1111/eth.... @marcnaguib.bsky.social
Broken families can have huge effects on children, even later in life. But is that the case in species other than humans? Read my latest article in the @aunz.theconversation.com on mate switching effects in offspring of the @seychelleswarbler.bsky.social 👇 theconversation.com/the-chicks-a...
The chicks are alright: what songbirds can teach us about divorce and moving on
Parental separation in humans can deeply affect children. But in another monogamous pair-bonding species, it has no such effect.
theconversation.com
Check out the latest paper on the dramas of Seychelles warbler family life here! 👇👇
Dugdale Research Group@hannahdugdale.bsky.social · last yr.Ever wondered how divorce affects offspring fitness? @seychelleswarbler.bsky.social Check out our new paper: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... @friggspeelman.bsky.social @terryburke.bsky.social @david-s-richardson.bsky.social
Most Relatable Paper Title 2025? Stewart & Kelley find in chestnut-backed antbirds that acoustic features + duet coordination correlate w/body & territory size www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Interesting to compare w/quoted @friggspeelman.bsky.social study #prattle 💬 #bioacoustics
You are what you tweet: vocal traits communicate threat in a duetting tropical bird
Animals may assess the vocal traits of opponents during resource competition to determine threat, which is a combination of the fighting ability and m…
sciencedirect.com
animal prattle@animal-prattle.bsky.social · last yr.Duetting do what now? @friggspeelman.bsky.social etc al. (incl. @marcnaguib.bsky.social) ask in chirruping wedgebills. Authors measure response to playbacks of duets, coordinated or un- Results do not support role for precise coordination ecoevorxiv.org/repository/o... #prattle 💬 #bioacoustics
Duetting do what now? @friggspeelman.bsky.social etc al. (incl. @marcnaguib.bsky.social) ask in chirruping wedgebills. Authors measure response to playbacks of duets, coordinated or un- Results do not support role for precise coordination ecoevorxiv.org/repository/o... #prattle 💬 #bioacoustics
ecoevorxiv.org
1/11 New preprint out with @hannahdugdale.bsky.social, @lummaalab.bsky.social, and @erikpostma.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Why do we age? And can a “natural experiment” during the Great Finnish Famine with long-term data help provide some answers?
A lovely feature in iflscience on the causes of divorce 💔 in Seychelles warblers! 👇👇👇 www.iflscience.com/why-these-li...
Why These Little Birds Divorce Despite The Risks
Ditching your partner doesn’t seem to work all that well for Seychelles warblers, even if they keep the house, which may be why not many do it.
iflscience.com
New paper: causes and short & long-term consequences of divorcing 💔. This papers highlights the shortcomings of studying divorce to date and provides methods to address them. Plus some new insights on divorcing in birds! See 👇 doi.org/10.1111/ele....
Causes and consequences of divorce in a long‐lived socially monogamous bird
In socially monogamous species, sexual selection involves both initial mate choice and mate switching. We found that divorce in Seychelles warblers occurs most among young and old males, and in pairs...
doi.org
We humbly interrupt your scroll to bring you the news that Wisdom—the world's oldest known wild bird—is breeding again, age 74. Go on girl. 😍
🌧️💔🐦 Climate impacts on bird relationships A new @animalecology.bsky.social study shows high & low rainfall impacts divorce rates in monogamous Seychelles warblers. Could this signal broader ecological impacts due to #ClimateChange? besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🧪 #SciComm
Rainfall is associated with divorce in the socially monogamous Seychelles warbler
To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to show that extreme rainfall increases the prevalence of divorce in a socially monogamous population. Our findings add to the growing literature ...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Listen to Frigg Speelman speaking on ABC radio national drive about the love life of the Seychelles warblers: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Extreme weather driving songbirds to 'divorce' - ABC listen
The early bird gets the worm, the bird in a heavy rainstorm gets divorced.
abc.net.au
Want to know how divorce in birds is associated with rainfall? 💔🌧️ Frigg Speelman wrote a piece (in non-scientific jargon!) theconversation.com/divorce-in-s... about our recent paper doi.org/10.1111/1365...
‘Divorce’ in songbirds: extreme weather pushes couples past breaking point
New research examines the link between extreme weather and divorce in a small monogamous tropical songbird, the Seychelles warbler. Concerningly, extreme rain and dry spells increased divorce rates.
theconversation.com