Translocation of Raso Larks to the island of Santa Luzia in 2018 after eradication of invasive cats has been spectacularly successful, with nearly 1000 individuals now. Great work by @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social partner Biosfera, and long-championed by Mike Brooke www.birdguides.com/news/raso-la...

Raso Lark reintroduction proves a triumph

After a small number of Raso Larks were translocated to Santa Luzia in 2018, the population has grown to as many as 1,000 individuals.

birdguides.com

It's 5y since my greatest scientific breakthrough was published w the great @dhaelewa.bsky.social in OFOAJ! It truly marks a paradigm shift! 🤣 Need a break from the world? Read about fishy #birds + fungi + pizza at doi.org/10.19080/OFO... — and background at tinyurl.com/4ayknbty! 🪶🧪🐦🐟🍄‍🟫 #Scam

#Thanksgiving 🦃 with our amazing volunteers in the bird collections of National Museums Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿! 😉 Do you live nearby and would like to join? We're capturing data from all our #birds. Well, now's your chance! Don't wait... careers.nms.ac.uk/job/800113 #museum #ornithology 🪶

Well, it's official. After our paper last year (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....), the Slender-billed Curlew is officially declared Extinct today. Scientists dream of describing new species, not writing their obituary and epitaph, knowing that they are gone forever #ornithology

I've been silent a while, as I've struggled to keep up with *most* things, due to accumulated stress from hubby's 5-month unemployment, teenager+school+drama, challenging relatives & whatnot. #Birding gives me relief when #MentalHealth is so-so: recent Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini) = golden band-aid!

A good 6 hours and 6 minutes left to apply! Don't be shy.

Martin Stervander 🏳️‍🌈🇸🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏛️🦉🦤🪶@stervander.com · last yr.

Join us as Assistant #Curator of Vertebrates @ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿NMS! Large collections of #birds & #mammals + very active specimen prep = cool place! The ad doesn't say, but I say there's a good chance of prolongation beyond 1y. Hurry up and apply/spread the word: careers.nms.ac.uk/job/748553! 🪶🧪 #museumjobs #job

The most chilling science video ever shot www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...

Whelks overwhelm and consume lobsters

YouTube video by Christie Wilcox

youtube.com

Great news, the new application deadline is 31 August. 9 more days for you all to spread the word or/and submit your application for our position as Assistant Curator of Vertebrates! Again, in reality this should be a longer-term position despite what the ad says. Happy to chat/answer questions!

Martin Stervander 🏳️‍🌈🇸🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏛️🦉🦤🪶@stervander.com · last yr.

Join us as Assistant #Curator of Vertebrates @ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿NMS! Large collections of #birds & #mammals + very active specimen prep = cool place! The ad doesn't say, but I say there's a good chance of prolongation beyond 1y. Hurry up and apply/spread the word: careers.nms.ac.uk/job/748553! 🪶🧪 #museumjobs #job

#EOU2025 #ornithology folks and friends liking #birds and #mammals, this is the position I just highlighted. Join us! Cool collection and very active continuous preparation of new specimens. Deadline soon... Happy to chat with anyone curious today!

Martin Stervander 🏳️‍🌈🇸🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏛️🦉🦤🪶@stervander.com · last yr.

Join us as Assistant #Curator of Vertebrates @ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿NMS! Large collections of #birds & #mammals + very active specimen prep = cool place! The ad doesn't say, but I say there's a good chance of prolongation beyond 1y. Hurry up and apply/spread the word: careers.nms.ac.uk/job/748553! 🪶🧪 #museumjobs #job

Join us as Assistant #Curator of Vertebrates @ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿NMS! Large collections of #birds & #mammals + very active specimen prep = cool place! The ad doesn't say, but I say there's a good chance of prolongation beyond 1y. Hurry up and apply/spread the word: careers.nms.ac.uk/job/748553! 🪶🧪 #museumjobs #job

Either you recognize a state or you don't. If you do, that sovereignty shouldn't be any less, depending on a third party. This is like telling someone you're their friend unless their neighbor stops parking in their driveway. Where's the integrity? Where's the spine? #KeirStarmer #palestine #israel

UK to recognise state of Palestine in September unless Israel holds to ceasefire

Cabinet agrees to support Middle East roadmap at emergency meeting called amid humanitarian crisis in Gaza

theguardian.com

Are you an early-career biologist or ecologist who would benefit from an invited seminar? Would you like to come to UMaine next fall or spring to give a talk? Leave a brief comment with some info about what you do. I'm co-hosting our seminar series again, and am filling out our rosters.

1. Here's a fish swimming upstream. Nothing unusual about that. What's unusual is that this particular fish is *dead*. Vortices in the water as it flows past the fish cause the fish's body to flex, maintaining orientation and actually propelling it forward. (D. N. Beal et al 2006 J. Fluid. Mech.)

Welcome a new family of #birds, the Caribbean cave rails, Nesotrochidae! They were—surprisingly—the sisters of NZ adzebills, all sadly extinct. New #OpenAccess paper out in Avian #Systematics w Gerald Mayr, Chen Guangji & Feng Shaohong: www.avespress.com/uploads/down... 🧵 #ornithology #taxonomy 🧪🪶

NEW JOB in #ornithology and #conservation managing two major restoration projects for #islands important for #seabirds: buff.ly/yfl1Vo2

🐦 It's been a while (in several aspects), so I'm extra excited to start the day with a #paper accept. Can't wait for this to hit the press, clarifying relationships among a bunch of cool #birds and introducing a new #avian family! Which one? You'll soon see... 😉 #taxonomy #systematics 🪶🧪

My main contribution to this monumentous project has been to shake up the linear sequence of the checklist to better reflect our current understanding of the avian evolutionary tree! Ostrich first—Saltator last no more... We go from Somali Ostrich to Blue-necked Tanager!

Martin Stervander 🏳️‍🌈🇸🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏛️🦉🦤🪶@stervander.com · last yr.

🦅 The new unified global #avian #taxonomy #AviList has just been released at www.avilist.org! Xmas for anyone interested in #birds & checklists... The first version will be followed by annual updates, with decisions and processes aimed to be more transparent than its predecessors'. 🪶🧪 🧵

🦅 The new unified global #avian #taxonomy #AviList has just been released at www.avilist.org! Xmas for anyone interested in #birds & checklists... The first version will be followed by annual updates, with decisions and processes aimed to be more transparent than its predecessors'. 🪶🧪 🧵

Life's been a bit much and I haven't logged on in a few months... But today's a good day to post. Über luck with 15-20 bottlenose #dolphin (Tursiops truncates), 2 minke #whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) & 5 (2♂ 3♀) #ORCA (Orcinus orca) in the #FirthOfForth 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿! Seabird count with #cetacean extras!

Ian Andrews@ijandrews.bsky.social · last yr.

2 June. A Forth Seabird Group count day off North Berwick ended up with the amazing spectacle of 4 Orcas midway to the Isle of May. Too close for my 400m at times!

Happy New Year's Day from Portobello beach, #Edinburgh! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I'm recruiting a PhD student to join my lab at the University of New Orleans starting in Fall 2025. Research topics will focus on building and using phylogenies to study the diversification of birds, with an emphasis on Neotropical bird radiations. Contact me if interested.

🪶Help me out, #ornithology folks of #BirdSky! Curating @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social collections for digitisation, I found this labeled Stripe-tailed Yellow Finch (Sicalis citrina), which it's NOT. #SouthAmerican #birds ≠ my forte: is this a Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) or something else?

Sometimes an insect specimen will have me thinking: HOW ARE YOU EVEN REAL?! Today, that was the Oleander Hawk-moth (Daphnis nerii) #Museums #Invertebrates 🧪

Mineral science and mineral collections are becoming more important than ever – 34 raw materials now deemed ‘critical’ by the UK government. I hate having to justify science with the language of capitalism, but we have to, and these reports can be very useful for promoting continued support. ⛏️💎

British Geological Survey@bgs.ac.uk · 2y ago

The UK 2024 Criticality Assessment is now live! The latest assessment, produced by the BGS-led UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, shows that growing diversification brings an increasing vulnerability in terms of disruption to supply. www.bgs.ac.uk/news/uk-2024...

Scientists raise the alarm: Too many harbour porpoises dying in nets. In Danish coastal waters over 900 die each year vs a 24 death limit that would keep Belt Sea population stable. In 2012 & 2016, there were around 40.000 individuals, by 2022, only 14.000 left.  🧪🦑🌎 tech.au.dk/en/about-the...

Wisdom's still alive, she's back at her breeding grounds! This season she'll turn at least 74 years old. 🎉🎊💃

Johan Lind@johanlind.bsky.social · 2y ago

Oh, yes, at this time of the year we're all waiting for Wisdom to return to her breeding grounds, the Midway atoll. Fingers crossed. Two things. Last year, she returned early December. And, apparently, 73 year old Wisdom got a new boyfriend in 2023. friendsofmidway.org/wisdom-a-lay...

This week I’m giving thanks for the Sling-Jaw Wrasse, and it’s amazing jaw #biomechanics! 🐟🦑🧪🌿

Also, last bird overwintering in Morocco: 1995 Me searching for Slender-billed Curlew in Morocco*: 1996 😳 🪶 *After, as a 15yo, having secured lots of 💰 from several foundations to bring a dozen youths on a 2w-trip for awesome #birding and meeting a 🇲🇦 environmental youth org. Precocious, anyone? 🤣

Martin Stervander 🏳️‍🌈🇸🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏛️🦉🦤🪶@stervander.com · 2y ago

Last week, rigorous analyses by @thelabandfield.bsky.social & co-authors saw Slender-billed Curlew declared #extinct in #OpenAccess @ibisjournal.bsky.social paper (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....), while we (coincidentally!) digitised the 7 @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social specimens. #birds 🪶🧪

Last week, rigorous analyses by @thelabandfield.bsky.social & co-authors saw Slender-billed Curlew declared #extinct in #OpenAccess @ibisjournal.bsky.social paper (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....), while we (coincidentally!) digitised the 7 @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social specimens. #birds 🪶🧪

'Tis done. From now, I'm here, and all of me except an informative finger is removed from #Twitter. For anyone considering it, I'd recommend @luca.run's free & efficient script github.com/lucahammer/t.... It's a 2-step process that'll also give you an archive of your Twitter history! #xit