New paper out! 🎉 Common waxbills (Estrilda astrild) have spread far beyond their native African range, reaching cooler regions - so how do they cope when temperatures drop? doi.org/10.1016/j.cb... @ecobird.bsky.social

We are thrilled to announce that this microgrant funding round we distributed ~£1300 to 7 recipients! 🎉 The next funding round opens September 21st! Learn more about how to donate or apply: opencollective.com/animal-behav...

Our paper is out now! 🎉📝 We describe how we work to address barriers faced by students and early-career researchs in the animal behaviour field, through our mentorships and microgrants. We hope that this can inspire and provide practical resources for others hoping to do the same!

The animal behaviour collective: building confidence and breaking barriers through community

Despite increasing efforts to diversify the field of animal behaviour, systemic barriers continue to limit access and inclusion for researchers from h…

sciencedirect.com

Keeping the Pride Spirit Alive! 🌈 Hope you all celebrated this past month! We’ve gathered some fascinating examples of queer behaviour in nature to share with you.

Very grateful for my amazing jury!!

Alizée Vernouillet@vernouilleta.bsky.social · last mo.

Thank you also to the thesis evaluation committee, Prof. Lara Bardi, Prof. Frank Tuyttens, Dr. Lucy Mitchell @lucyjmitchell.bsky.social as internal examiners, and especially to Prof. Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato @tyroneluconxiccato.bsky.social and Dr. Maria Loconsole for acting as external examiners!

A huge congratulations to newly-appointed Dr. Katy Willcox!!! @katywillcox.bsky.social 🍾🎉 For her thesis @ecobird.bsky.social, Katy evaluated the influence of early-life social environments on inhibition, aggression, & social networks in chickens & quails 🐥

Excited to share that last week I successfully defended my PhD thesis 🎉 I am beyond grateful for everyone who has supported me on this journey, I couldn’t have done it alone! #PhDone

Our first round of ABC microgrants for 2026 is done, and for the first time, we were able to fund each and every eligible application! 🎉🎉🎉 We funded a total of 5 applications – this was made possible thanks to our generous donors! 🙏🏽

📣 I am excited to share some new collaborative work published in Biology Letter @royalsocietypublishing.org on spatial learning and lateralisation in lizards 🦎! Check out the full OA paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... #AnimalCognition #ThinkLikeALizard

Spatial learning and lateralization in lizards

Abstract. Spatial memory is a fundamental cognitive process that allows animals to navigate and interact with their environment effectively. While extensiv

doi.org

In part 2 we apply this framework across three tasks, and test the performance of herring and lesser black-backed gulls in the detour task, the thwarting task (often used with fish) and the stop-change task (developed from the human cognition literature) 🐦 Part 2: rdcu.be/e2pyI 5/6

We explain how this framework applies to the main tasks used to measure response inhibition in the field of animal cognition Part 1: rdcu.be/e2pyN 4/6

🚨Not one, but two papers now out on response inhibition (also called motoric self-regulation or inhibitory control in the field of animal cognition). Many studies find no link between individual performance on different tasks supposedly measuring response inhibition. 1/6

Let’s celebrate women and girls in science on this International Day of Women and Girls in Science! UNESCO reports that women represent only 35% of STEM graduates, about 1/3 of researchers worldwide, and just 1/10 STEM leaders.

Attention - the first round of microgrants for 2026 is running! Apply and read terms and conditions here : opencollective.com/animal-behav...

I am looking for a PhD student to join my new Socio-Eco-Evo group, hosted in Katie Peichel's Evolutionary Ecology Division @ University of Bern. We're offering a fully funded 4-year position, studying social plasticity and behavioral adaptation among stickleback in Greenland. Please share around!

Round 1 of our training and travel grant is open! Grants up to £500 are available to support the training and development of PhD students and postgraduate research assistants. Send us your application by 25 January ⏰

Perhaps the question is not whether cows can use tools, but why it took us so long to notice. Maybe because we continue to underestimate the minds of the animals we eat. Veronika is here to remind us of our biases

There is still some time to submit for our Special Collection on social cognition and anthropogenic environments! We are looking forward to hear from you! link.springer.com/collections/... Please do get in touch if you have any questions. #openaccess #socialcognition

Alizée Vernouillet@vernouilleta.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Excited to announce that Eli Garcia-Pelegrin and I are co-editing a special collection for Animal Cognition on "Social Cognition in a Human World". Do you study how urbanization, pollution, heat stress, fragmentation, ... affects cognition? We want to hear from you! link.springer.com/collections/...

Cow Tools! We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years. We breed them and exploit them It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS Here I describe our study (paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social with @auersperga.bsky.social

New paper out! Early-life social instability increases aggression in chickens, but does not affect response inhibition 🐤 We discuss what this means for developmental links between social environments, cognition, and social behaviour, highlighting strong context dependence Full text: rdcu.be/eYOzC

New pre print out! Last chapter of my PhD looking at nightjar movement with environmental conditions. Super proud of this one, I love the interactions and thinking about what else we could do. www.authorea.com/users/101810...

Proc B with @sampassmore.bsky.social! We used simulations to explore the innovation strategies of speed climbers 🧗‍♀️ Innovation is higher among slower athletes and lower when the population size is larger, and the overall balance of innovation and copying appears to be suboptimal 🔗 bit.ly/499QjZM

Simulation-based inference with deep learning suggests speed climbers combine innovation and copying to improve performance

Abstract. In the Olympic sport of speed climbing, athletes compete to reach the top of a 15 m wall as quickly as possible. Since the standardization of the

bit.ly

✨New paper✨ How do juvenile ravens find social groups? We describe how juvenile common ravens, who have left their natal territories seeking to join non-breeder flocks, use space with respect to other birds, and discuss what this means for social integration. www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Had a nice break seeing friends, family, and (most importantly) Tabitha

📢📢PhD opportunity! We are looking for enthusiastic researchers to develop a project looking at the ontogeny of migratory behaviour! Deadline for expression of interest: 8 February 2026 👉Check details here: drive.google.com/file/d/1wow2... #migration #ornithology #GPStracking

A male rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in winter plumage. Ptarmigan is from Gaelic 'tarmachan' meaning "croaker". The p- was added when people mistakenly assumed it was a Greek word. A bird forever warning people: "A werewolf!" (just in case of werewolves).

Hope 😍

European Commission@ec.europa.eu · 8mo ago

The United Kingdom is coming back to Erasmus+ 🇪🇺🇬🇧 We have concluded negotiations for the United Kingdom’s association to Erasmus+ in 2027, making further steps in our renewed EU-UK Strategic Partnership. More ↓ link.europa.eu/vf3vJk

Christmas came early, my "big chicken paper" has been accepted 🎉 very grateful to everyone involved and looking forward to sharing it soon