Peter Santema
@petersantema.bsky.social
Ornithology / Behavioural Ecology / Natural History. Researcher at dept. of Ornithology at Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence.
Reposted by Peter Santema
Interested in a PhD in ornithology? Funding available for projects at the interface of ecology, behaviour & evolution from Oct '26 working on long-term population studies of tits at Wytham, based in @biology.ox.ac.uk in the new Life & Mind Building in Oxford
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
October 20, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Interested in a PhD in ornithology? Funding available for projects at the interface of ecology, behaviour & evolution from Oct '26 working on long-term population studies of tits at Wytham, based in @biology.ox.ac.uk in the new Life & Mind Building in Oxford
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
New paper led by Jinggang Zhang just out in @royalsocietypublishing.org! We show that nestling redstarts learn to respond to calls of other species if hear them together with alarm calls of their own species doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
July 16, 2025 at 5:58 AM
New paper led by Jinggang Zhang just out in @royalsocietypublishing.org! We show that nestling redstarts learn to respond to calls of other species if hear them together with alarm calls of their own species doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
Reposted by Peter Santema
Honeyguides lead you to 🍯, but if you don't reward the bird, next time it will guide you to a lion 🦁! So goes the story, but do honeyguides actually guide to dangerous animals, and is it punishment? New research suggests they do, but it's more "oops" than "revenge!" doi.org/10.1002/ece3...
To Bees or Not to Bees: Greater Honeyguides Sometimes Guide Humans to Animals Other Than Bees, but Likely Not as Punishment
We show that greater honeyguides guide humans to nonbee destinations (snakes and a dead mammal); yet this is a rare occurrence, happening in only 3.7% of human-honeyguide interactions in 1 year and 0...
doi.org
April 30, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Honeyguides lead you to 🍯, but if you don't reward the bird, next time it will guide you to a lion 🦁! So goes the story, but do honeyguides actually guide to dangerous animals, and is it punishment? New research suggests they do, but it's more "oops" than "revenge!" doi.org/10.1002/ece3...
New paper on breeding site fidelity in pectoral sandpipers out in @asab.org! The pectoral sandpiper is a highly nomadic polygynous shorebird, but a very small proportion of individuals is nevertheless faithful to their breeding site between years 1/6 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
March 24, 2025 at 8:49 AM
New paper on breeding site fidelity in pectoral sandpipers out in @asab.org! The pectoral sandpiper is a highly nomadic polygynous shorebird, but a very small proportion of individuals is nevertheless faithful to their breeding site between years 1/6 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Peter Santema
New paper on the demographic drivers of cultural evolution in Great Tit song published today - epic work led by @nilomr.bsky.social with help from @andreaestandia.bsky.social Ella Cole & Sara Keen. Why did we do this, and what did we find? 🧵 follows: 1/n
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The demographic drivers of cultural evolution in bird song
Social learning can give rise to shared behavioral patterns that persist as culture within animal communities,1,2 such as bird and whale songs and cet…
www.sciencedirect.com
March 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
New paper on the demographic drivers of cultural evolution in Great Tit song published today - epic work led by @nilomr.bsky.social with help from @andreaestandia.bsky.social Ella Cole & Sara Keen. Why did we do this, and what did we find? 🧵 follows: 1/n
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Peter Santema
How much effort have you put in this Valentine's Day?
Research has revealed that male Ruff travel thousands of kilometres in search of mating opportunities over the course of the breeding season:
Research has revealed that male Ruff travel thousands of kilometres in search of mating opportunities over the course of the breeding season:
Male Ruff travel thousands of kilometres in lekking season
A new study on Ruff movements has defied traditional ideas about bird migration and breeding, with some males covering up to 9,000 km in search of a mate during the nesting season.
bit.ly
February 14, 2025 at 3:57 PM
How much effort have you put in this Valentine's Day?
Research has revealed that male Ruff travel thousands of kilometres in search of mating opportunities over the course of the breeding season:
Research has revealed that male Ruff travel thousands of kilometres in search of mating opportunities over the course of the breeding season:
I am a sucker for natural history books, and occasionally find a really good offer for a book that I already have (see www.amazon.co.uk/dp/185310566X). Very tempted to buy this one as a 2nd copy, but that would open the floodgates. Someone please buy this fabulous book for less than a cup of coffee!
The Lost Birds of Paradise
Buy The Lost Birds of Paradise First Edition by Fuller, Errol (ISBN: 9781853105661) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
February 13, 2025 at 11:24 AM
I am a sucker for natural history books, and occasionally find a really good offer for a book that I already have (see www.amazon.co.uk/dp/185310566X). Very tempted to buy this one as a 2nd copy, but that would open the floodgates. Someone please buy this fabulous book for less than a cup of coffee!
Reposted by Peter Santema
Large-scale sampling of potential breeding sites in male ruffs | royalsocietypublishi... | Proceedings of the Royal Society B | #ornithology 🪶
January 9, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Large-scale sampling of potential breeding sites in male ruffs | royalsocietypublishi... | Proceedings of the Royal Society B | #ornithology 🪶
New paper out in @rsocpublishing.bsky.social! Research from our group shows that males of the polygynous ruff visit many potential breeding sites within a breeding season, travelling up to 9000 km and visiting up to 23 different sites! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 1/7
January 8, 2025 at 7:07 AM
New paper out in @rsocpublishing.bsky.social! Research from our group shows that males of the polygynous ruff visit many potential breeding sites within a breeding season, travelling up to 9000 km and visiting up to 23 different sites! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 1/7