Edward Grey Institute
@egioxford.bsky.social
Research Institute in Dept of Biology at University of Oxford studying all aspects of Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution of Birds in natural environments. Follow us for updates on science, seminars, jobs & field projects: https://egioxford.web.ox.ac.uk/
This week's EGI seminar in @biology.ox.ac.uk will be given by Dr Kirsty MacPhie from @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social on the contrasting insights to be drawn from studies of phenology in @phenoweb.bsky.social and @rumdeerresearch.bsky.social. Usual time and place - details below with streaming info ⬇️
February 2, 2026 at 4:21 PM
This week's EGI seminar in @biology.ox.ac.uk will be given by Dr Kirsty MacPhie from @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social on the contrasting insights to be drawn from studies of phenology in @phenoweb.bsky.social and @rumdeerresearch.bsky.social. Usual time and place - details below with streaming info ⬇️
Reposted by Edward Grey Institute
New preprint! 🐥🦠🏝️
We study a great speciator, the silvereye, to test whether parasites follow island biogeography rules, and find that parasite diversity and isolation effects depend strongly on transmission strategy.
Led by PhD student Sarah Nichols.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We study a great speciator, the silvereye, to test whether parasites follow island biogeography rules, and find that parasite diversity and isolation effects depend strongly on transmission strategy.
Led by PhD student Sarah Nichols.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
January 31, 2026 at 12:01 PM
New preprint! 🐥🦠🏝️
We study a great speciator, the silvereye, to test whether parasites follow island biogeography rules, and find that parasite diversity and isolation effects depend strongly on transmission strategy.
Led by PhD student Sarah Nichols.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We study a great speciator, the silvereye, to test whether parasites follow island biogeography rules, and find that parasite diversity and isolation effects depend strongly on transmission strategy.
Led by PhD student Sarah Nichols.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
This week's EGI seminar will be given by Prof Jon Slate @jon-slate.bsky.social of @sheffielduni.bsky.social at 3.30 on Fri 30 Jan in LT1 in LaMB @biology.ox.ac.uk. OK, it's not quite birds, but our colleagues' work on @soaysheep.bsky.social has much in common with what we do. All welcome: details ⬇️
January 26, 2026 at 4:56 PM
This week's EGI seminar will be given by Prof Jon Slate @jon-slate.bsky.social of @sheffielduni.bsky.social at 3.30 on Fri 30 Jan in LT1 in LaMB @biology.ox.ac.uk. OK, it's not quite birds, but our colleagues' work on @soaysheep.bsky.social has much in common with what we do. All welcome: details ⬇️
For those of us who involved in running long-term studies, our work's value can be increased by synthetic studies like this one, which included Wytham Great Tit data, and suggests that plasticity in timing in response to temperatures buffers against population change
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 19, 2026 at 1:16 PM
For those of us who involved in running long-term studies, our work's value can be increased by synthetic studies like this one, which included Wytham Great Tit data, and suggests that plasticity in timing in response to temperatures buffers against population change
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🚨🚨🚨 Field Assistant positions - four of them!! - working with the long-term Wytham project this coming spring. Details below. Previous year's field team - come and join us! Details below ⬇️
January 16, 2026 at 3:07 PM
🚨🚨🚨 Field Assistant positions - four of them!! - working with the long-term Wytham project this coming spring. Details below. Previous year's field team - come and join us! Details below ⬇️
Reposted by Edward Grey Institute
New paper published! 🧬🐥🦠
Host WGS data can be repurposed to uncover endoparasite diversity at low cost, without destructive sampling, and outperform 18S metabarcoding. We test it in silvereyes.
This work was led by PhD student Sarah Nichols @biology.ox.ac.uk
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Host WGS data can be repurposed to uncover endoparasite diversity at low cost, without destructive sampling, and outperform 18S metabarcoding. We test it in silvereyes.
This work was led by PhD student Sarah Nichols @biology.ox.ac.uk
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Host whole genome sequence data represent an untapped resource for characterising affiliated parasite diversity
Parasites are ubiquitous and exert varied ecological and evolutionary pressures on their hosts. Yet, characterising parasite diversity and distributio…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:05 PM
New paper published! 🧬🐥🦠
Host WGS data can be repurposed to uncover endoparasite diversity at low cost, without destructive sampling, and outperform 18S metabarcoding. We test it in silvereyes.
This work was led by PhD student Sarah Nichols @biology.ox.ac.uk
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Host WGS data can be repurposed to uncover endoparasite diversity at low cost, without destructive sampling, and outperform 18S metabarcoding. We test it in silvereyes.
This work was led by PhD student Sarah Nichols @biology.ox.ac.uk
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Edward Grey Institute
New preprint!
We explore how bird migration shapes parasite dispersal 🐤 🦠
Led by PhD student Sarah Nichols.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We explore how bird migration shapes parasite dispersal 🐤 🦠
Led by PhD student Sarah Nichols.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Life cycle complexity shapes parasite sharing amongst migratory and resident hosts
Migratory animals are potentially important parasite dispersers. However, understanding the impact of host migration on parasite distributions is challenging because variation in parasite life histori...
www.biorxiv.org
January 15, 2026 at 10:34 AM
New preprint!
We explore how bird migration shapes parasite dispersal 🐤 🦠
Led by PhD student Sarah Nichols.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We explore how bird migration shapes parasite dispersal 🐤 🦠
Led by PhD student Sarah Nichols.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Just a quick reminder of tomorrow's EGI seminar: please see joining etc details below
Delighted to begin this term's seminars with Malcolm Burgess @piedflynet.bsky.social from @rspb.bsky.social @uniexecec.bsky.social on Migration behaviour, demography & phenology of declining migratory birds. Seminar at 3.30 on 16 Jan in LT1 in the LaMB @biology.ox.ac.uk: all welcome - see details ⬇️
January 15, 2026 at 8:22 AM
Just a quick reminder of tomorrow's EGI seminar: please see joining etc details below
Delighted to begin this term's seminars with Malcolm Burgess @piedflynet.bsky.social from @rspb.bsky.social @uniexecec.bsky.social on Migration behaviour, demography & phenology of declining migratory birds. Seminar at 3.30 on 16 Jan in LT1 in the LaMB @biology.ox.ac.uk: all welcome - see details ⬇️
January 12, 2026 at 7:55 AM
Delighted to begin this term's seminars with Malcolm Burgess @piedflynet.bsky.social from @rspb.bsky.social @uniexecec.bsky.social on Migration behaviour, demography & phenology of declining migratory birds. Seminar at 3.30 on 16 Jan in LT1 in the LaMB @biology.ox.ac.uk: all welcome - see details ⬇️
Looking forward to an excellent series of seminars for the forthcoming term - programme now full till late March & will share programme very soon when we have a few last details. All seminars will be at 3.30 on Fridays in the Life & Mind Building (and usually streamed live)
January 11, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Looking forward to an excellent series of seminars for the forthcoming term - programme now full till late March & will share programme very soon when we have a few last details. All seminars will be at 3.30 on Fridays in the Life & Mind Building (and usually streamed live)
Newly published and led by @andreaestandia.bsky.social - how dispersal and immigration drive the spatial genetic structure of wild great tits in Wytham Woods
Great to see this one published in Molecular Ecology 🐦 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
with @sheldonbirds.bsky.social @nilomr.bsky.social @jon-slate.bsky.social
with @sheldonbirds.bsky.social @nilomr.bsky.social @jon-slate.bsky.social
December 15, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Newly published and led by @andreaestandia.bsky.social - how dispersal and immigration drive the spatial genetic structure of wild great tits in Wytham Woods
This week's seminar - last of this term - is our annual Christmas Seminar. We're welcoming Prof Tim Birkhead back to where he studied as a DPhil student ~50 years ago (can you can spot him in this 1978 photo?) Tim will be talking about "Sperm to Egg: Making a Biologist" - 3pm LT1 in the LaMB
December 9, 2025 at 8:16 AM
This week's seminar - last of this term - is our annual Christmas Seminar. We're welcoming Prof Tim Birkhead back to where he studied as a DPhil student ~50 years ago (can you can spot him in this 1978 photo?) Tim will be talking about "Sperm to Egg: Making a Biologist" - 3pm LT1 in the LaMB
Reposted by Edward Grey Institute
New paper out today in Ecology and Evolution! Link below. Congrats PhD student @smthmpsn.bsky.social, on your first paper. All about how wild birds learn to avoid a novel aposematic warning signal. And a nice nod to Britney Spears in the paper title.
December 4, 2025 at 2:56 PM
New paper out today in Ecology and Evolution! Link below. Congrats PhD student @smthmpsn.bsky.social, on your first paper. All about how wild birds learn to avoid a novel aposematic warning signal. And a nice nod to Britney Spears in the paper title.
Just a reminder of this week’s Seminar - 3.30 in LT1 in the LaMB
This week’s EGI seminar will be given by @peterkorsten.bsky.social from Aberystwyth on the ecology of behavioural variation in the wild at 3.30pm Friday 5 Dec - LT1 in @biology.ox.ac.uk. All welcome & live-streamed: see joining details below.
December 5, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Just a reminder of this week’s Seminar - 3.30 in LT1 in the LaMB
This week’s EGI seminar will be given by @peterkorsten.bsky.social from Aberystwyth on the ecology of behavioural variation in the wild at 3.30pm Friday 5 Dec - LT1 in @biology.ox.ac.uk. All welcome & live-streamed: see joining details below.
December 2, 2025 at 5:01 PM
This week’s EGI seminar will be given by @peterkorsten.bsky.social from Aberystwyth on the ecology of behavioural variation in the wild at 3.30pm Friday 5 Dec - LT1 in @biology.ox.ac.uk. All welcome & live-streamed: see joining details below.
Amazing work from Daniel Field on origin of modern birds and diversity in today’s EGI seminar
November 28, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Amazing work from Daniel Field on origin of modern birds and diversity in today’s EGI seminar
Reposted by Edward Grey Institute
Our new paper is out today in Journal of the Royal Society Interface (link below). All about eggshell roughness: "Scratching beyond the surface: examining macroecological patterns in avian eggshell texture". Congrats first author Marie Attard, and thank you @leverhulme.ac.uk for the funding.
November 26, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Our new paper is out today in Journal of the Royal Society Interface (link below). All about eggshell roughness: "Scratching beyond the surface: examining macroecological patterns in avian eggshell texture". Congrats first author Marie Attard, and thank you @leverhulme.ac.uk for the funding.
Reposted by Edward Grey Institute
Interested in how life history may shape the gut microbiome of a wild mammal? Keen on getting to work with an iconic long-term study system in Scotland?
Check out this PhD opportunity with me, Josephine Pemberton and @gfalbery.bsky.social
Reach out to chat more!
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Check out this PhD opportunity with me, Josephine Pemberton and @gfalbery.bsky.social
Reach out to chat more!
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
November 24, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Interested in how life history may shape the gut microbiome of a wild mammal? Keen on getting to work with an iconic long-term study system in Scotland?
Check out this PhD opportunity with me, Josephine Pemberton and @gfalbery.bsky.social
Reach out to chat more!
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Check out this PhD opportunity with me, Josephine Pemberton and @gfalbery.bsky.social
Reach out to chat more!
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
This week’s seminar will be given by Prof Daniel Field of @zoologymuseum.bsky.social & @cambridge-earthsci.bsky.social on the origins of modern birds. 3.30pm Friday 28 Nov in LT1 in the Life & Mind Building @biology.ox.ac.uk - all welcome & see below for live streaming joining information
November 24, 2025 at 9:20 AM
This week’s seminar will be given by Prof Daniel Field of @zoologymuseum.bsky.social & @cambridge-earthsci.bsky.social on the origins of modern birds. 3.30pm Friday 28 Nov in LT1 in the Life & Mind Building @biology.ox.ac.uk - all welcome & see below for live streaming joining information
A great seminar from @mmoiron.bsky.social walking us through how to disentangle the causes of similarity among partners & the estimation & implications of indirect effects in natural populations
November 21, 2025 at 4:53 PM
A great seminar from @mmoiron.bsky.social walking us through how to disentangle the causes of similarity among partners & the estimation & implications of indirect effects in natural populations
This week's EGI seminar is being given by Dr Maria Moiron @mmoiron.bsky.social of the University of Bielefeld at 3.30pm on Friday 21 Nov in LT1 in the Life & Mind Building @biology.ox.ac.uk. See below for online joining details - all welcome!
November 17, 2025 at 9:11 AM
This week's EGI seminar is being given by Dr Maria Moiron @mmoiron.bsky.social of the University of Bielefeld at 3.30pm on Friday 21 Nov in LT1 in the Life & Mind Building @biology.ox.ac.uk. See below for online joining details - all welcome!
🎄🎄🎄 Delighted to announce that this year's EGI Christmas Seminar will be given by Prof Tim Birkhead at 3pm on Friday 12 December - in LT1 in the Life & Mind Building in @biology.ox.ac.uk 🎄🎄🎄
November 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
🎄🎄🎄 Delighted to announce that this year's EGI Christmas Seminar will be given by Prof Tim Birkhead at 3pm on Friday 12 December - in LT1 in the Life & Mind Building in @biology.ox.ac.uk 🎄🎄🎄
Welcome to this week's EGI seminar in @biology.ox.ac.uk when Prof Craig White @craig-white.bsky.social from @monashbiol.bsky.social will talk on The Evolution of Metabolic Rate and Life History: 3.30pm Fri 14 Nov in Lecture Theatre 2 in the Life & Mind Building. Also live-streamed: instructions ⬇️
November 10, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Welcome to this week's EGI seminar in @biology.ox.ac.uk when Prof Craig White @craig-white.bsky.social from @monashbiol.bsky.social will talk on The Evolution of Metabolic Rate and Life History: 3.30pm Fri 14 Nov in Lecture Theatre 2 in the Life & Mind Building. Also live-streamed: instructions ⬇️
Reposted by Edward Grey Institute
The date is set for the next EOU Fledglings Meeting 🐥 in Gdansk, Poland! Share the news with your peers! 🦆
November 9, 2025 at 6:56 PM
The date is set for the next EOU Fledglings Meeting 🐥 in Gdansk, Poland! Share the news with your peers! 🦆