🐦🎥 Behind the scenes of our project on how bird feeding affects reproduction and nestling welfare! A big thank you to Denise Zortea for producing this wonderful short video showcasing our research and fieldwork. Watch it here: youtu.be/PkxVKE9bOIA

"To feed or not to feed wild birds" - University of Innsbruck

YouTube video by Denise Zortea | Into the woods

youtu.be

🔬🌙 Once again, the 2026 Lange Nacht der Forschung was a great success! Children especially loved extracting DNA from strawberries, observing arthropods, and playing bird memory games. 🧬🕷️🐦 Thanks to everyone who joined us!

🔬🌙 Meet us today at the Lange Nacht der Forschung on the UIBK Technik campus from 5 pm! Discover applied animal ecology: extract DNA from strawberries, play biodiversity games, see live insects, and learn how we catch & measure birds for research. 🐦🧬🌿 langenachtderforschung.at/station/5405

Was passiert da hinterm Zaun im grünen Dickicht? - #LNF26 Lange Nacht der Forschung

Entdecken Sie auf einem Gartenrundgang Lehr- und Forschungsbereiche aus Zoologie und Biologiedidaktik!

langenachtderforschung.at

The Easter bunny arrived a bit early this year! 🐰 We just found the first tit eggs of the season: four great tit eggs!! 🥚🥚🥚🥚

🐣Nestboxes update! Several are now occupied—and competition is fierce in some spots. A striking case: a blue tit pair has taken over a nest started by tree sparrows! A great example of how dynamic (and competitive) breeding can be.

🐦🏙️ New paper! Beyond “urban dullness”: across 8 urban–rural gradients (Poland), great & blue tits show species- & trait-specific colour shifts. Carotenoid & structural colours respond differently, while melanin traits remain stable www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🦉MSCA Postdoc opportunity! Work on little owl monitoring & sex ratio evolution in Strasbourg, France, with Josefa Bleu as part of a Horizon Europe project. Interested candidates should email their expression of interest by 24 Apr 2026. Exciting eco-evolutionary research awaits!

🌇🌇🔥🔥🦟🦟🦠🦠

Iberian Group of Urban Ecology@igue-aeet.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Next IGUE #UrbanEcology speaker online talk (on a Monday!!): Martina Ferraguti @ebdonana.bsky.social (@csic.es) We will learn about the role of birds🦜 and mosquitoes🦟 in urban areas🏙️ as diseases reservoirs🦠 Save it to your 📆 drive.google.com/file/d/1oyJv... @csicdivulga.bsky.social #OneHealth

Our project on bird feeding & reproduction is underway! Blue tits, great tits, and even some sparrows are already exploring the nestboxes. We will soon find out if feeding makes gardens more attractive as breeding sites🐣 — exciting insights ahead!

Next week online seminar of the #IGUE ( @eco-aeet.bsky.social ) with Ibone Ametzaga from @ehu.eus about Ecosystem Services and Nature-Based Solutions in urban areas. Join us!

Iberian Group of Urban Ecology@igue-aeet.bsky.social · 8mo ago

We can announce the next #IGUE Urban Seminar online talk, which will take place on 12 February at 16:30. We will host Ibone Ametzaga from @ehu.eus, who will speak about Ecosystem Services and Nature-Based Solutions in cities. Save the event to your calendar here: drive.google.com/file/d/1h22m...

🌆🐦 New paper! DNA metabarcoding of 370 tit droppings across Innsbruck urban mosaic shows urbanisation drives habitat-linked diet shifts shaped by vegetation & feeders, likely underlying urban–rural differences in reproduction and informing bird-friendly city design. doi.org/10.1016/j.la...

🔊 KEYNOTE NOMINATIONS Who would you like to see deliver a keynote at #BOU2027 ? #BOU2027 | Avian disease ecology | 6 - 8 April 2027 | Nottingham, UK & Zoom & Bluesky Nominate via link ⬇️ bou.org.uk/event/avi... #ornithology 🪶

We are happy to announce that the next EOU Conference will be in Brno, Czech Republic in 2027! Check our website eounion.org and follow us on social media for regular updates! #ornithology #EOU2027

Our next seminar on #UrbanEcology is in less than two weeks. This time it's on a Wednesday! This time, Juan Diego Ibáñez Álamo (@animalecpurban.bsky.social) from @universidadgranada.bsky.social will be talking about landscape configuration of urban green areas. 🔗 teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-joi...

We are looking for a PhD student to join the Animal ECO Urban group (University of Granada).

📃Call for Papers! Scientific Reports: "Burden of air pollution on biodiversity & habitat loss". Submit by 1 Jul 2026. We welcome research on direct & indirect effects of NOx, O₃, PM on individuals, populations, communities & species interactions 😶‍🌫️🐞🌿 Mitigation studies also welcome!

🚨Call for Grant proposals is currently open at www.wildanimalinitiative.org/grants! Deadline: 14th November #WildAnimalWelfare #Grants

Wild Animal Initiative@wildanimals.bsky.social · 11mo ago

P.S. We currently have an open call for proposals on all of our grant types. Learn more and submit your EOI by November 14: www.wildanimalinitiative.org/grants

Congratulations to Marina Sperling on her bachelor’s thesis featured in the Uni Innsbruck Newsroom! Marina studied bird diversity across five UIBK campuses, showing how green spaces attract rare species like hawfinches, while buildings offer nesting sites for swifts. www.uibk.ac.at/de/newsroom/...

Zwischen Beton und Bäumen – Vögel an der Uni Innsbruck

Wer über den Campus der Universität Innsbruck geht, sieht vor allem Gebäude, Asphaltflächen und Fahrradständer. Doch zwischen Beton und Glas haben sich zahlreiche Vogelarten eingerichtet. Im Frühjahr ...

uibk.ac.at

Feeding birds connects us to nature 🐦 but it may also expose them to pathogens or stress. With our new FWF-funded project "Pathogens: From Feeders to Flocks", we will uncover how bird feeding shapes pathogen exposure and health in wild birds. With Daniela Sint and Tina Weedman in Innsbruck!

⏰ DEADLINE APPROACHING ⏰ BOU Small Research Grants & Career Development Bursaries Application deadline: 31 Oct 2025 Full details via links ⬇️ Grants: bou.org.uk/funding/s... Bursaries: bou.org.uk/funding/c... #ornithology 🪶

Excited to kick off my project “To Feed or Not to Feed Wild Birds”, funded by @wildanimalinitv.bsky.social We’re setting up nestboxes and feeders in 40 private gardens in Innsbruck to study how bird feeding affects nestling welfare. Stay tuned to see if our backyard treats really help birds!