Ben Sheldon
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sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon
@sheldonbirds.bsky.social
3.6K followers 450 following 4.2K posts

Ornithologist and Evolutionary Ecologist at the University of Oxford - natural history, science, cycling

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Ben C. Sheldon is the Luc Hoffmann Chair in Field Ornithology and Director of the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology of the University of Oxford's Department of Zoology. He was Head of the Department of Zoology between 2016 and 2021. .. more

Biology 32%
Environmental science 30%
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sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 2h
...though I was tempted to suggest (1) which came first, chicken or egg? and/or (2) why did the chicken cross the road? as spoof debates to kick things off

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 2h
Why are avian social and genetic mating systems so often discordant?

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 7h
Would think one of the most desirable species that could but haven’t yet occurred in Britain. The site in Norway is actually quite accessible…

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 7h
Stunning bird

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 9h
When one of your PhD students makes you very jealous… I believe the first Azure Tit for Norway this afternoon near Trondheim

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 11h
"Recently" = post 2000?

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 1d
Sorry to have missed out on this alignment as it moved steadily north at a rate of 0.51km/day - passed not far west of Oxford in Sept 2023

www.bgs.ac.uk/news/three-n...
‘Three norths’ set to leave England and not return for hundreds of years - British Geological Survey
The historic alignment of true, magnetic, and grid north is set to leave England, three years after they combined in the country for the first time since records began.
www.bgs.ac.uk

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 3d
Remembering a day back in May last year at Mai Po, Hong Kong, watching waders from the boardwalk hide when sudden torrential rain caused all the waders to stop foraging and this Terek Sandpiper to adopt this striking bill-upwards pose

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 4d
Happy 2026! Out at dawn on Otmoor with the prospect of more geese to watch a tempting prospect for the New Year. Widely scattered across Ashgrave were 69 Russian White-fronted Geese, 20 Tundra Bean Geese (too distant for photos) and 9 Barnacles among the normal masses of Canada and Greylags.
Mixed goose flock grazing on Ashgrave, Otmoor RSPB, Oxfordshire 1 Jan 2026. 12 Russian White-fronted Geese mingled with Greylag Geese in the foreground, with Canada Geese in the background.

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 5d
Same trend here - progressive slow decline in species recorded. 200 has been done once in Oxon 15 years ago - pretty full effort this year in what seemed like a good autumn at least yielded 194 as highest individual total

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 5d
Some enticing species from an Oxfordshire perspective. What would a good county yearlist in Cambs be?

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 5d
Traditional collage of record shots of a rewarding yr's local birding. Highlights: Red-foot, Savi's Warb, Marsh Sand, Bluethroat, Twite & Tundra Bean; most of all friendly year-listing with @conormackenzie.bsky.social @tmbirding.bsky.social Simon Myers & Peerawant Chiaranunt collectively 202 species
Highlights of Oxon birding in 2025, in roughly chronological order from top left to bottom right: Bewick's Swan, White-fronted Goose, Smew, Scaup, Long-eared and Short-eared Owl (all Jan); Ring-necked Duck, Merlin, Hawfinch, Med Gull & Woodlark (Feb); Whooper Swan & Little Gull (March); Grasshopper Warbler & Ring Ouzel (April); Nightingale sonogram, Temminck's Stint, Red-footed Falcon & Savi's Warbler (May); Redstart (July); Little Stint, Sandwich Tern, Osprey and Marsh Sandpiper (Aug); Wood Sandpiper, Manx Shearwater & Knot (Sept); Bluethroat, Pectoral Sandpiper & Twite (October); Water Pipit (Nov) & Tundra Bean Goose (December). All photos/recordings in Oxfordshire in 2025 by self, except Red-footed Falcon by Thomas Miller.

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 5d
Ok - happy to have a look

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 5d
For species of which we normally just see a handful each year, it's been a real treat to have so many wild geese around locally just now. This afternoon's flock of White-fronted Geese near Chimney Meadows totalled 185 birds - I think the largest flock seen in the county for some decades.
Part of a flock of White-fronted Geese, Chimney Meadows, Oxfordshire. 31 Dec 2025 "In habitat" picture of part of a flock of 185 White-fronted Geese, Chimney Meadows, Oxfordshire. 31 Dec 2025

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 7d
Over Christmas I've been binge-listening to this podcast which is great on deconstructing the junk claims made in pop science/politics/airport bestseller books (e.g. Gladwell, Pinker, Fukuyama etc) Done with a winning combination of righteous indignation and laugh out loud humour www.ifbookspod.com
If Books Could Kill Pod
The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds
www.ifbookspod.com

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 7d
Popped out to look at Farmoor this morning - pleasantly surprised to find, first, a female Scaup, and then a first winter male Common Scoter that had seemingly just dropped in onto the centre of F1
Female Greater Scaup, Farmoor, Oxon, 29 Dec 2025 First winter male Common Scoter, Farmoor, Oxon, 29 Dec 2025

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 9d
Can look quite small-bibbed at times, e.g: macaulaylibrary.org/asset/287435...
ML287435881 - Gray-headed Chickadee - Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML287435881; © Sami Tuomela; Uusimaa, Finland
macaulaylibrary.org

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 9d
Think looking quite Siberian-like in this picture. Bib looks like it extends to flanks

artportalen.se/MediaLibrary...

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 9d
With the various feral species, and if you count Egyptian as a goose, we had 10 species of goose in Oxfordshire today...

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 9d
We're lucky if we get more than a single family party of White-fronts each winter here; the last gettable Beans were in 2017, & Pink-foot probably the hardest of the three to see genuinely wild. Probably at least 250 WFG & 24 Beans in the county today 🤯

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 9d
The superb Christmas 2025 goose-fest continued today with 2 Pink-footed Geese on a murky late afternoon by the Thames at Tadpole Bridge, in a mixed flock with c. 110 White-fronted Geese and a further 3 Tundra Bean Geese. Unprecedented numbers for Oxfordshire.
A mixed flock of grey geese feeding in a damp meadow by the River Thames. Mostly (facing left) Eurasian White-fronted Geese with the odd Greylag Goose. A single Pink-footed Goose at the back of the field facing right. Tadpole Bridge, Oxfordshire, 27 Dec 2025. Two Pink-footed Geese feeding in a damp meadow by the River Thames. Tadpole Bridge, Oxfordshire, 27 Dec 2025.

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 9d
Shows from multiple angles artportalen.se/Mobile/Image...
Lappmes?
1 ex. födosökande Morby, Lövstaslätten, Upl 27 dec 2025 - Media: Hans Andersson
artportalen.se

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 9d
Further photos suggest that more likely - hard to see how you’d get the cap/bib contrast in a Willow Tit plumage variant

artportalen.se/MediaLibrary...

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 9d
It’s in Uppland so would be well south of normal range (though not unprecedented) for a Siberian

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 9d
A photo from a Swedish bird news feed - an ID puzzle. Is this a partially leucistic Siberian Tit? Or a Willow Tit with some form of erythrism? Any thoughts @richardkbroughton.bsky.social?

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 10d
Hmm - I may have misremembered slightly. It’s described in Brucker et al 1992 “Birds of Oxfordshire” as already declining. A former (1966) avifauna described it as a regular visitor to Thames and Cherwell water meadows.

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 10d
More of the current wild goose influx today with @tmbirding.bsky.social's flock of 21 Russian White-fronted Geese on Port Meadow a rare chance to see undoubtedly wild birds at this urban site. Inevitably disturbed by dogs off lead - hard to conceive that there was once a regular wintering flock here
Part of a flock of 21 White-fronted Geese (18 visible here) flying northwards over Port Meadow, Oxfordshire, with trees in background, 26 Dec 2025. Flock of 21 White-fronted Geese flying northwards over Port Meadow, Oxfordshire, with trees in background, 26 Dec 2025.

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 11d
Out first thing on a chilly Christmas morning to see the 15 Tundra Bean Geese that arrived at Otmoor yesterday afternoon: part of the widespread influx of wild geese across the South of England. A rare bird locally - these the first for quite a few years. Also 10 Russian White-fronted Geese here.
Flock of 15 Tundra Bean Geese grazing on meadows at Otmoor RSPB reserve, Oxfordshire, 25 December 2025

Reposted by Ben C. Sheldon, Shan Kothari

biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social
bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 12d
Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies an ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.22.695989v1

sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 14d
Hi Molly - fascinating stuff, but the pedantic ornithologist in me spotted a small typo in the figure - it is Great REED warbler not Great Weed Warbler....