Do you study female birds? What field approaches have you used to target females? Join our conversation about considerations and methods for field work on female birds! americanornithology.org/studying-fem...

Studying female birds in the field: Challenges, suggestions, and shared experience - American Ornithological Society

At the AOS 2024 annual meeting, fellow ornithologists and I were invited to present academic talks during a female bird symposium organized by Joanna Wu aimed at highlighting recent research on female...

americanornithology.org

And that’s a wrap on season 1 of Birdbrain Q&A sites.google.com/view/birdbrain This last episode was cohosted by comedian Paula Barros. We we so lucky to have her!

A new study by @laurynbenedict.bsky.social and colleagues finds companion parrots often learn and use names, sometimes applying them as individual vocal labels in social contexts like greetings and attention-seeking, highlighting their capacity for name-like communication. plos.io/4ugUeLZ

Name use by companion parrots

Humans organize social interactions in part by referring to others using proper names (hereafter “names”). Names might also facilitate the complex social lives of animals. Several animal species…

journals.plos.org

I had a very fun chat with @lastshow.bsky.social about our research on how parrots use names. @viktoriagroiss.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Parrots Know Names, They Really Know Names

Podcast Episode · The Last Show with David Cooper · April 21 · 11m

podcasts.apple.com

Parrots demonstrate the ability to use specific names to identify individuals, suggesting complex vocal and cognitive skills similar to aspects of human naming behavior. doi.org/hbxj7n

Parrots are not just mimicking words—they use proper names like humans to identify individuals

Like many animals, parrots make sounds that suggest they are talking with each other, maybe even calling out to a specific parrot.

phys.org

Can parrots 🦜 learn the names of people and animals they live with? Yes. Do they use them correctly? Sometimes. Read more about how parrots of many species use names in our recently published article: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour... @viktoriagroiss.bsky.social @chris-birdnerd.bsky.social #parrots

Name use by companion parrots

Humans organize social interactions in part by referring to others using proper names (hereafter “names”). Names might also facilitate the complex social lives of animals. Several animal species produ...

dx.plos.org

After visiting Down House, I understand why Darwin often spent decades working on one book. The pace of life seems slower there. And those gardens plus 10 children must have been a strong force calling him away from his study.

Do you know a parrot that talks or sings? Tell us about it at www.manyparrots.org @birdsingalong.bsky.social @laurynbenedict.bsky.social et al.

New paper examining song type sharing between Rock Wrens in NoCo, with @laurynbenedict.bsky.social journal.afonet.org/vol97/iss1/a...

Journal of Field Ornithology: Song-type sharing between male Rock Wrens in northern Colorado

We examined song-type sharing and song-type co-occurrence among broadcast songs in a migratory population of a songbird with large and highly variable repertoire sizes, the Rock Wren (<em>Salpinctes o...

journal.afonet.org

I spent part of last month in Tanzania and I’m finally getting through my photos. Here’s a thread with some favorite birds. 1. This Steppe Eagle watching us over its shoulder

First bird species of 2026: my backyard chickens 🐓 Second bird species of 2026: northern flicker I feel good about that energy for the year ahead

Congratulations to Wynn Buchanan on their MS graduation last Friday! Wynn has been an integral part of our lab for the past two years. Watch for more about their work on parrots 🦜

If you like birds, check out my new project. I co-host videos with the hilarious Pam Moore, where we answer questions from viewers. What’s up with bird knees? Is Big Bird a bird? Watch and share if you like it! www.birdbrainqa.com youtube.com/@BirdbrainQA #birds #ornithology

Birdbrain Q&A

A Video Series for the Bird-curious Hosted by Lauryn Benedict and Pam Moore Produced by Jill Dugan

birdbrainqa.com

Why didn’t I read this sooner?? It’s wonderful. And I love that the cover features four female birds, including the subtly gorgeous California Towhee, my PhD bestie. @amytan.bsky.social #birds

Here's my latest contribution to the "Lost Science" series at the New York Times: Jay Falk, a scientist who studies why some female hummingbirds look just like males. Gift link: nyti.ms/4qF7Qje

Amazing work @rosvall-lab.bsky.social! I'm honored that I got to add 1 tiny data point to your massive effort.

Kim Rosvall@rosvall-lab.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Pumped to share our work on bird behavior and the 2024 Eclipse, in today's @science.org. 100k bird vocalizations + 10k continent-wide observations from the public = really fun collab led by Liz Aguilar, with @juncowren.bsky.social @mathcancer.bsky.social @imillercrews.bsky.social #NSF

I relocated my office to a spot where I can bird from my desk. Loving it.

What life history and behavioral traits predict female bird song at a global scale? Our collaborative paper let by Karan Odom and out today in @natcomms.nature.com helps to answer that question @josephtobias.bsky.social @sheardcat.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Global incidence of female birdsong is predicted by territoriality and biparental care in songbirds - Nature Communications

Elaborate traits like birdsong are thought to be sexually selected in males but are poorly understood in females. This study shows that year-round territoriality and biparental care are selected for f...

nature.com

I got to be part of this hilarious podcast. Bonus: if you listen to the whole episode, you can learn about the #fartwalk before you get to birds 🐦 youtu.be/3onWvZHcvME?...

Fart Walks, Birds, & Squirrels

YouTube video by Holderness Family Laughs

youtu.be

Free link! Our article on bird flash plumage signals is now officially out in Ornithology. Huge thanks (again) to David Allen Sibley for allowing us to use his artwork in it. #ornithology @amornith.bsky.social academic.oup.com/auk/article/...

Phylogenetic analyses support flush-pursuit foraging and flocking behaviors as evolutionary drivers of flash plumage signals in North American passerines

ABSTRACT. Animal coloration patterns are wildly variable. Despite this, there are plumage traits that occur similarly across taxonomic groups, suggesting t

academic.oup.com

I had the chance to be part of a YouTube podcast series on “Listening.” Thanks to Adam Taub for including me. I’ll be checking back for more episodes on all the ways we listen. youtu.be/69woD5-bmU0

Bird Expert on Listening to Birds and Ornithology

YouTube video by Story Doc

youtu.be

Meet one of the newest birds in my life. . . this is Dumpling, posing for her glamour shot.

Have you ever wondered why so may birds have “flash” wing and tail color patches that appear when they fly? We did too. . . doi.org/10.1093/orni... Special thanks to David Allen Sibley for letting us use some of his incredible illustrations in Figure 1 #birds #ornithology

Phylogenetic analyses support flush-pursuit foraging and flocking behaviors as evolutionary drivers of flash plumage signals in North American passerines

ABSTRACT. Animal coloration patterns are wildly variable. Despite this, there are plumage traits that occur similarly across taxonomic groups, suggesting t

doi.org

The first paper of your PhD is always so exciting! 🤩 An all-#Galbatross effort, "A focus on females can improve science and conservation!" See press release (www.audubon.org/news/researc...) and the study here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...! #FemaleBirds #FemaleBirdDay

In Research, Ignoring Female Birds Harms Scientific Understanding

A new study shows that ecological research often ignores or excludes data on female birds and behavior, resulting in erroneous assumptions on conservation.

audubon.org

Which #Parrots are the best vocal learners? Help us answer that question by sharing info about your talking and singing 🦜 🦜 For this thread, drop a note with something a parrot says . . . I’ll start: “Alexa. . .” www.manyparrots.org

The Many Parrots Project

The Many Parrots group is a team of scientists studying parrot vocal learning and musicality. We invite the public to contribute to research by filling out surveys about their talking and singing parr...

manyparrots.org

Hello BlueSky. I’m new. How is it over here? Nice and birdy? 🦜🐦‍⬛