#HotOffThePress 🔥🖊️ “Ravens (Corvus corax) use conspecifics and heterospecifics to navigate risky foraging scenarios”🐦‍⬛ July 2026. Behavioral Ecology. @silviadamini.bsky.social, A. Lindeman , @awanib.bsky.social, @pesumas.bsky.social & T. Bugnyar doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-10290-0

Thank you @araa.at It was lovely to be there 😊

ARAA@araa.at · 3w ago

It was our pleasure to have a guest talk on macaw numerical cognition from @jimeloism.bsky.social, visiting us from Uni Buenos Aires. Had a great roundtable after about international differences in academia and then a fun time at Nice Guys pub (they were in fact, nice guys)! Thx UBB for hosting 😊

Postdoc Opportunity! 4-year @royalsociety.org funded post @uniexecec.bsky.social: “Understanding the role of individual cognitive variation in reintroduction biology”. Closes: 5 June 2026. More info & to apply: careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/78... Wt: @paradiseparkhayle.bsky.social & Wildwood Trust

📢 New article out in PLOS BIology! It was truly a pleasure and honour be a part of the core team members to lead this study and work alongside 129 collaborators from 82 institutions across 24 countries - the largest ever comparative study of neophobia in 🐦! 🥰

A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia

Neophobia (the aversive response to novelty) varies considerably across species and individuals, and can impact adaptability and survival. This study assesses neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 bird ...

journals.plos.org

ManyBirds Project@themanybirds.bsky.social · 10mo ago

🐦 Exciting news! Our new paper is out in PLOS Biology: “A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia.” Led by the #ManyBirds Project - 129 researchers, 82 institutions, 24 countries 🌍 🔗 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... @themanybirds.bsky.social

Neophobia compared in 1,439 birds of 136 species Specialised diets and migration are associated with greater fear of new objects. Surprisingly, witnessing such objects in groups is also associated with greater fear. (paper) journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... (blog) phys.org/news/2025-10...

Fear of novelty varies across species & individuals, impacting adaptability & survival. @themanybirds.bsky.social @drrmiller.bsky.social &co assess #neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 #bird species, identifying phylogenetic influences & broad ecological drivers @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4haLEsN

Fear of novelty varies across species & individuals, impacting adaptability & survival. @themanybirds.bsky.social @drrmiller.bsky.social &co assess #neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 #bird species, identifying phylogenetic influences & broad ecological drivers @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4haLEsN

The first empirical paper from @themanybirds.bsky.social is out in @PLOSBiology! 🎉 doi.org/10.1371/jour... Thanks to our amazing collaborators, we tested neophobia in 130+ species across 25 taxonomic orders!🕊️🦜🐓🦚🦉🦆🐦🐧🦅

A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia

Neophobia (the aversive response to novelty) varies considerably across species and individuals, and can impact adaptability and survival. This study assesses neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 bird ...

doi.org

Big thank you to our ManyBirds core leadership team: @drrmiller.bsky.social, Megan Lambert, @vedranaslipogor.bsky.social, @nomascus.bsky.social, @jimeloism.bsky.social, Carl Soulsbury, @stephanreber.bsky.social, Claudia Mettke-Hofmann - and to all of our collaborators!

The #ManyBirds Project shows how big team open science approaches can uncover hidden patterns in animal behaviour and evolution, complementing critical in-depth single-lab work. Huge thanks to everyone involved across six continents 🌍💛 More info & how to join future studies: 👉 www.themanybirds.com

Home - Many Birds Projects

A Big-Team Open Science approach to avian cognition and behaviour research.

themanybirds.com

Birds tested in groups were more neophobic than those tested alone - likely waiting for others to take the risk first! And individuals showed consistent behaviour over time, suggesting neophobia is a stable behavioural trait.

Two main ecological factors predicted neophobia: 🥗 Dietary specialisation – species with narrower diets were more fearful. 🧭 Migratory behaviour – migratory species were more cautious. ➡️ Supporting both the Neophobia Threshold & Dangerous Niche Hypotheses.

Across 1,439 birds from 136 species and 25 avian orders, we used standardised tests: familiar food was presented with and without a novel object. ⏱️ Longer hesitation = higher neophobia. Flamingos were cautious, falcons bold - big differences across species! (Photo credit: @jimeloism.bsky.social)

Neophobia - the fear of novelty - shapes how animals balance risk and opportunity. Too much caution can limit flexibility, but too little can be dangerous. We asked: why do some bird species fear new things more than others? 🐧🦅

🐦 Exciting news! Our new paper is out in PLOS Biology: “A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia.” Led by the #ManyBirds Project - 129 researchers, 82 institutions, 24 countries 🌍 🔗 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... @themanybirds.bsky.social

A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia

Neophobia (the aversive response to novelty) varies considerably across species and individuals, and can impact adaptability and survival. This study assesses neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 bird ...

journals.plos.org

🦅🧠 Bird Cognition 🧠🦅 Anyone who studies or is just fascinated by how birds perceive, learn, remember and solve problems 🐦 Let's all meet in this cool new #starterpack 🤩 Let me know if you want to join in too 🦜🦤🦉🦆🐣🪺🪶🧪 🔗 go.bsky.app/V2K7HQM #Ornithology #Birds #AnimalBehaviour

¡Buen martes! Hoy 🌨️🌩️⛈️ 26 de máx. Cientificidio: si se cumple lo dispuesto en el Presupuesto 2025 y las expectativas de inflación, la inversión en ciencia nunca habrá sido tan baja: será la menor desde que empezó a medirse, en 1972👇 www.eldestapeweb.com/sociedad/pol...

La inversión en ciencia y tecnología caería este año a su mínimo histórico

Un trabajo del grupo EPC la estima en un 0,157% del PBI, el menor porcentaje desde que se mide, en 1972; en 2002 fue del 0,17%

eldestapeweb.com

Fijate esto: el organismo que financia la ciencia en nuestro país recibió los fondos del BID pero no los entregó. El concurso se abrió en diciembre de 2023, ya se prorrogó 6 veces. HOY, 11 de febrero sale NUEVA prórroga Decime vos, si esto no es desmantelar al sistema, que es?

Our new study with @zewaldj.bsky.social on innovative food preparation in Goffins cockatoos just appeared in Current Biology: our results suggest that Goffins dunk noodles in selective yogurt mixtures to add flavour www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Innovative flavoring behavior in Goffin’s cockatoos

Dunking behavior can be a foraging innovation in non-human animals in which food is dipped in a medium prior to consumption.1 Five functions of this b…

sciencedirect.com

New blog entry about the awesome plush-crested jays 😍 nplus1.ru/news/2025/01... Thank you @nplusodin.bsky.social Link to the paper: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Плюшеголовые сойки не сумели воспользоваться инструментом

N + 1 — главное издание о науке, технике и технологиях

nplus1.ru

Mechanical problem solving by plush-crested #jays with @jimeloism.bsky.social dx.doi.org/10.1007/s100...

Mechanical problem solving by plush-crested jays: are tools special after all? - Animal Cognition

Tool use is taxonomically associated with high behavioural flexibility and innovativeness, and its prevalence is greater in primates and some bird species. This association, however, is not known to b...

dx.doi.org

@raulogomez-uba.bsky.social bienvenido a @bsky.app

Thank you for preparing this! I hope to study them more 🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

Tay (Antonio J. Osuna Mascaró)@biotay.bsky.social · 2y ago

1/4 Intelligence without tool-using capabilities There has been much debate about whether tool use in nature is the result of advanced general cognition or whether it is due to particular adaptations. (paper) https://buff.ly/4f1M6XP by @jimeloism.bsky.social

I'm so happy to announce that my beautiful & charismatic jays have been published 🐤New research on #cognition in Plush-crested jays, a corvid member. Thanks to my co-authors and #AnimalCognitionJournal link.springer.com/article/10.1...

We are also excited to officially open the call for submission of potential future studies: forms.gle/8WASqR1fvU1w.... Please see link for all info on process and planned review criteria. Deadline for submission is 31 May 2025. We welcome new ManyBirds collaborators to future studies! 5/

ManyBirds Project: Potential ManyBirds Studies

This is a form for submitting proposals for potential ManyBirds Project future studies (www.themanybirds.com). Full submissions are confidential and will be reviewed by the ManyBirds Core Team Leads ...

forms.gle

We are delighted to announce that ManyBirds Study 1 “Evolutionary drivers of neophobia across the avian clade” is now available in pre-print: doi.org/10.31219/osf... and been submitted for peer-review publication. 1/

The ManyBirds Project are now on Bluesky! Stay tuned for exciting project updates coming very shortly... 🦜 🦆 🪶 🦉 🦅