Andrew Iwaniuk
LightNews LightNews
banner
evoneuro.bsky.social
Andrew Iwaniuk
@evoneuro.bsky.social
2.7K followers 1.8K following 2K posts
neurobiologist, ornithologist, scruffy looking nerfherder, social distancing since 1974, currently at U Lethbridge, Treaty 7 lands
🇨🇦 🇦🇺 stuff
open access link for our book: https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/6000/Bird-Brains-and-BehaviorA-Synthesis
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
evoneuro.bsky.social
Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · Jul 2
In celebration of me avoiding becoming department chair for the next 3 years and receiving a new research chair, please enjoy one of my favourite parrot photos from two years ago.
Crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans)
#birds #birding #academicsky #WildOz #parrots 🪶🦜🇨🇦🇦🇺
A bright red parrot with a silver beak, blue cheeks and blue wing patches is perched on the top of a shrub against a cloudless blue sky.
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
andpru.bsky.social
A great day in Lethbridge with @evoneuro.bsky.social and others at the CCBN. Amazing to see the Lethbridge viaduct in real life.
November 25, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
henneypenny2020.bsky.social
"In BC’s Great Bear Rainforest, a study by CREST and Stanford University found that bear-viewing tourism generated 12 times more revenue than trophy hunting, supporting 510 jobs compared to just 11 from hunting. Protecting one bear creates a renewable source of income for a community."
exposedwildlife.bsky.social Exposed Wildlife Conservancy @exposedwildlife.bsky.social · 11d
Our latest piece, ‘Rewilding the Economy: Can Ecotourism Reconnect People and Planet?’, discusses how shifting even a fraction of public funding away from extraction and toward ecosystem protection would yield enormous social and economic returns.
www.exposedwildlifeconservancy.org/news/rewildi...
A graphic with an image of a wolf that reads "Weekend Read: Rewilding the Economy: Can Ecotourism Reconnect People & Planet?"
November 25, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
quietlynow.bsky.social
@alan678.bsky.social 's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #warblers. This one was in galveston, texas - pretty sure its a warbler but have no idea which one. #EastCoastKin #photography #birds
a small yellow bird with black stripes on its belly standing on a branch watches a bee fly over its head
November 24, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
minibubbly.bsky.social
#NewBrunswick
Saint John bird observatory marks 30 years and 1.7 million seabirds
Point Lepreau Bird Observatory provides early warning sign for changes in the Arctic

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Saint John birders marking 30 years of monitoring seabird migration | CBC News
The Point Lepreau Bird Observatory is marking 30 years of monitoring the seabird migration in a location perfectly positioned to capture the entire migration pattern of more than 100 different species...
www.cbc.ca
November 24, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
stevebrusatte.bsky.social
🚨🦜🐧Cover reveal! Thrilled to show off the cover of my upcoming book: The Story of Birds!

Coming April 28. The whole history of birds, from their dinosaur origins to colossal extinct penguins & terror birds, to the 10,000+ species today. From @marinerbooks.bsky.social

Preorder 👇
November 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
evoneuro.bsky.social
Calgary airport: my semi regular reminder that I should give up on checked luggage. Every flight I wait forever for my bag, assuming it even shows up
#yyc
November 24, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
lucyparkerpaul.bsky.social
A new owlet! Even if you think an area looks promising for owls it's always a nice surprise when you follow a creek around a bend and see one. It was a hot day and this one was roosting open and low over the creek catching cool breezes in a conservation park yesterday. #birds #wildoz #brisbane
November 22, 2025 at 11:20 PM
evoneuro.bsky.social
Great day giving a talk at Christ’s College for the Cambridgeshire Bird Club as well as checking out specimens collected by Darwin in the Cambridge Museum. Special thanks to Dan Field for organizing everything!
A courtyard of a college in the rain with a footpath that forks. A greenish egg in a box held in place by styrofoam held by someone wearing blue nitrile gloves Taxidermied grey duck with very short wings
November 22, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
fisherspeaks.bsky.social
While most songbirds have left the Rocky Mountains for the freezing times ahead - one special exception remains. The antics of American Dippers are so enjoyable, they make up for the lack of many other #birds.
November 22, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
mikemelton.bsky.social
I'm not sure if I'm legally allowed to post two #birdoftheday posts for #birdonawire

But here's a closer view of the male Black-headed Trogon, showing his darker head and iridescent back.

#CostaRica #birds #trogon #nature
Black-and-yellow bird with a blue eye ring perched on a strand of barbed wire against a soft green background.
November 22, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
ebablab.bsky.social
🚨RA/PhD position available in evolutionary neurobiology 🚨

Working on a deep dive into circuit changes during mushroom body expansion in Heliconius butterflies @camzoology.bsky.social

- employment benefits
- 4 years funding
- 1000% fun

Deadline: 14/1/2026

Details:
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Shades of blue and red in a slice through an immuno stained brain showing some deliciously lovely looking mushroom body lobes - ripe for investigation during a funded PhD - and the central complex. Image credit: Dr Max Farnworth
November 21, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
cbcstephenquinn.bsky.social
The Rubber Duck Museum in Point Roberts, Washington is moving across the border to Tsawwassen Mills, BC.
The owners say Canadians have stopped coming, and tariffs have driven up the cost of ducks.
Listen Here: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
November 21, 2025 at 5:19 PM
evoneuro.bsky.social
Brilliant morning walk, including some good birds, along the Cam and Coe Fen this morning.
A fall scene of a flat river with a shed on the left and leafless trees on the right
November 21, 2025 at 10:19 AM
evoneuro.bsky.social
A teaser for my talk this Saturday. Can't go wrong with a parrot on the title slide...🪶🦜🧠🧪
A landscape image of a multicoloured small parrot with a long tail and the end of a long dead branch. The top of the slide reads: Why study bird brains?
November 20, 2025 at 4:57 PM
evoneuro.bsky.social
In Cambridge today looking forwarding to talking about birds and brains, including a talk at the Cambridgeshire Bird Club this Saturday.
A footpath along side a road with shops on the left and large grandiose university buildings on the right. Also on the right are two dignified looking pigeons
November 20, 2025 at 3:03 PM
evoneuro.bsky.social
A reminder to anyone interested in #brains #birds or behaviour, our new book is available for FREE as an ebook in addition to print copies.
#neuroethology #neuroskyence #ornithology 🧪🧠🪶

direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...
Bird Brains and Behavior: A Synthesis
From two avian neurobiologists, a captivating deep dive into the mechanisms that control avian behavior.The last few decades have produced extensive resear
direct.mit.edu
November 20, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
secondnaturemb.bsky.social
Polar bear moms are fierce. This mom watched three different males approaching her nap spot, posing a threat to her cub. They retreated with Mom stopping to assess the situation regularly. You can see a pretty serious scar on her face, indicating that she was quick to defend her cubs. #mammals 🌿
A mother polar bear watches intently as her cub wakes up in the snowy willows next to her. A mother and cub run away in the snowy grasses of a dry lake bed. A polar bear mom and cub look back to where they came from in the snowy dry lake bed on the tundra. A mom polar bear and cub stand in a snowy dry lake bed and look off into the distance watching some polar bear males off camera. A light snow floats around them.
November 20, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
explanimals.bsky.social
Hello! My name is Gabriella and in April '26 l will graduate with my PhD in compcog from VetMedUni Vienna🤩👩🏻‍🎓🦜🐒🐕🇦🇹

With this in mind, I am excited to soon extend my passion for animal behavior/cognition in a post-doc/job position, so any recs/ connections would be greatly appreciated!!
Website below☺️
November 9, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
draliceclement.bsky.social
Investment in R&D in Australia is at a historic low. If this recent / current trend continues, within five years Australia will be among the lowest of OECD countries....
www.science.org.au/news-and-eve...
November 19, 2025 at 2:12 AM
evoneuro.bsky.social
Thank you to @thelabandfield.bsky.social @nhm.org and @bou.org.uk for the opportunity to talk about bird brains and participate in a great meeting!
#BOUasm25
🪶🧠🧪
bou.org.uk BOU @bou.org.uk · 7d
Our speakers at the #NaturalHistoryMuseum @nhm.org for #BOUasm25 !!
November 19, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
mikehendley.com
Blue jays are always around here but I don’t always observe them. This one found a corn niblet and posed for my reference photo. Sketched it fast with 0.5mm 4B + 0.3mm 2B Pentel Graphgear, plus a blender to bring the forest floor into focus at the end. Jays mimic hawks. Wild. #birds #sciart #drawing
Realistic graphite drawing of a blue jay on sketchbook paper, perched on forest ground, with fine shading and detail, drawn using mechanical pencils and blending tools.
November 19, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
secondnaturemb.bsky.social
Polar bears a BIG. This one had pass through only a few hours prior. #mammals 🌿
The large snowshoe-footprints of a polar bear coming down a snowy hill. A front paw-print of a polar bear in the snow. My black-gloved hand for reference. It's about a quarter of the size of the print. The back paw-print of a polar bear in the snow. My hiking booted foot for comparison. It is about 1/4 the size of the print.
November 18, 2025 at 8:48 PM
evoneuro.bsky.social
All aspects of bird behaviour are a product of the anatomy and physiology of their brains. Brain anatomy can therefore provide new insights into bird behaviour.

Today at #BOU2025, I will discuss how museum specimens can potentially be used to study bird brains.

#ornithology #neuroskyence
1/6
A slide entitled Neuroscience at the Museum with two bullet points and three images. The first bullet point states that all behaviour is a product of the physiology and anatomy of the brain. The images below are photos of: a sharp-tailed grouse in a courtship display posture with its purple throat sacs and yellow eyebrows flared; a bright red and green king parrot perched on the back of a chair and holding a nut in its left foot that it is chewing on; and a flock of snow geese on an early morning with dozens of geese standing on a field and flying across. Below those images is the second bullet point" brain anatomy can provide novel insights into bird behavior.
November 18, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk
wild-minds.bsky.social
PhD scholarship alert! Are you interested in cognitive evolution? Do you want to know how development influences cognitive traits? Do you love hanging out with birds in the forest? If the answer to these questions is yes, please apply to work with us! 1/2 🧪
www.wgtn.ac.nz/scholarships...
Ella holds a fluffy and sleepy looking toutouwai chick during banding and fits an orange band to its leg
November 17, 2025 at 9:47 PM
evoneuro.bsky.social
A mute swan channelling my feelings about my various admin duties (taken today at Kensington Gardens).
#birds #birding #swans 🪶
A portrait of a mute swan who appears to be looking at me with a decidedly unimpressed expression on its face.
November 17, 2025 at 9:16 PM