Paul Dufour
@pauldufour80.bsky.social
Birder | Research Associate at Swiss Ornithological Institute @vogelwarte.bsky.social 🇨🇭
Interested in the evolution of bird movements and how they can influence evolutionary processes
https://pauldufour80.wordpress.com/
Interested in the evolution of bird movements and how they can influence evolutionary processes
https://pauldufour80.wordpress.com/
We visited plaine de Crau (S France) to catch Richard’s pipits last week and sample feathers for isotope tests. Numbers were low (~10), though more birds usually stop here at this time of year (up to 30/40) before they move south. Unclear if birds left early or had a poor breeding year.. #birds
November 20, 2025 at 2:02 PM
We visited plaine de Crau (S France) to catch Richard’s pipits last week and sample feathers for isotope tests. Numbers were low (~10), though more birds usually stop here at this time of year (up to 30/40) before they move south. Unclear if birds left early or had a poor breeding year.. #birds
Our last paper describes the spring-accelerated loop-migration of the Woodchat Shrike, tracked with light- and multi-sensor geolocators link.springer.com/article/10.1... #ornithology
November 13, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Our last paper describes the spring-accelerated loop-migration of the Woodchat Shrike, tracked with light- and multi-sensor geolocators link.springer.com/article/10.1... #ornithology
ebird.org/tripreport/4...
A short stay on Corvo finally turned into a long one due to a plane issue for almost a week.. While extra days were slow, first days were exciting: best was finding the 2nd Ruby-crowned Kinglet (8th WP), plus some nice extra species (Cape May, Protho & Magnolia Warblers) 🪶
A short stay on Corvo finally turned into a long one due to a plane issue for almost a week.. While extra days were slow, first days were exciting: best was finding the 2nd Ruby-crowned Kinglet (8th WP), plus some nice extra species (Cape May, Protho & Magnolia Warblers) 🪶
October 27, 2025 at 9:04 AM
ebird.org/tripreport/4...
A short stay on Corvo finally turned into a long one due to a plane issue for almost a week.. While extra days were slow, first days were exciting: best was finding the 2nd Ruby-crowned Kinglet (8th WP), plus some nice extra species (Cape May, Protho & Magnolia Warblers) 🪶
A short stay on Corvo finally turned into a long one due to a plane issue for almost a week.. While extra days were slow, first days were exciting: best was finding the 2nd Ruby-crowned Kinglet (8th WP), plus some nice extra species (Cape May, Protho & Magnolia Warblers) 🪶
🚨 2nd master’s project!
Interested in bird migration & genomics? 🧬🐦
Use whole-genome data to trace the recent colonization of Ouessant Island by Blue Tits and explore how irruptive migratory events can shape colonization dynamics. Please share! #ornithology
www.vogelwarte.ch/de/wir/mitar...
Interested in bird migration & genomics? 🧬🐦
Use whole-genome data to trace the recent colonization of Ouessant Island by Blue Tits and explore how irruptive migratory events can shape colonization dynamics. Please share! #ornithology
www.vogelwarte.ch/de/wir/mitar...
October 24, 2025 at 4:05 PM
🚨 2nd master’s project!
Interested in bird migration & genomics? 🧬🐦
Use whole-genome data to trace the recent colonization of Ouessant Island by Blue Tits and explore how irruptive migratory events can shape colonization dynamics. Please share! #ornithology
www.vogelwarte.ch/de/wir/mitar...
Interested in bird migration & genomics? 🧬🐦
Use whole-genome data to trace the recent colonization of Ouessant Island by Blue Tits and explore how irruptive migratory events can shape colonization dynamics. Please share! #ornithology
www.vogelwarte.ch/de/wir/mitar...
ebird.org/tripreport/4... Our last few days on Flores were epic as the westerlies finally kicked in. A RE Vireo almost on the ground in the village started the fall, and we got 5 Am. landbirds within 200 m of the coast that same day, finishing with a nice Black & white Warbler! Now it’s Corvo time!
October 15, 2025 at 9:22 PM
ebird.org/tripreport/4... Our last few days on Flores were epic as the westerlies finally kicked in. A RE Vireo almost on the ground in the village started the fall, and we got 5 Am. landbirds within 200 m of the coast that same day, finishing with a nice Black & white Warbler! Now it’s Corvo time!
What a stunning bird to come across today: the rare dark morph of the Atlantic Islands subspecies of the Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla heineken)!
October 13, 2025 at 9:22 PM
What a stunning bird to come across today: the rare dark morph of the Atlantic Islands subspecies of the Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla heineken)!
Still a few birds to find on Flores island (Bobolink, 2 Northern Harriers, American Black Duck and some waders), but the island has gradually emptied, the last few days have been very quiet. Now just waiting for new westerly winds 🤞
October 11, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Still a few birds to find on Flores island (Bobolink, 2 Northern Harriers, American Black Duck and some waders), but the island has gradually emptied, the last few days have been very quiet. Now just waiting for new westerly winds 🤞
Two great first days of birding on Flores (Azores) with the french/swiss team: Dickcissel, Ovenbird, YB Cuckoo, 5 RE Vireos and Subalpine Warbler(!). Plenty more to find, as good numbers seem to have arrived quite a while ago. The island is huge (and beautiful), and we have it all to ourselves.
October 7, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Two great first days of birding on Flores (Azores) with the french/swiss team: Dickcissel, Ovenbird, YB Cuckoo, 5 RE Vireos and Subalpine Warbler(!). Plenty more to find, as good numbers seem to have arrived quite a while ago. The island is huge (and beautiful), and we have it all to ourselves.
🚨 Master’s project!
Curious how birds find their way? 🧭🐦
Analyze decades of ringing data to study abnormal migratory routes and uncover what these deviations can reveal about the mechanisms guiding birds on their journeys. Drop me an email for details! #ornithology
www.vogelwarte.ch/de/wir/mitar...
Curious how birds find their way? 🧭🐦
Analyze decades of ringing data to study abnormal migratory routes and uncover what these deviations can reveal about the mechanisms guiding birds on their journeys. Drop me an email for details! #ornithology
www.vogelwarte.ch/de/wir/mitar...
October 3, 2025 at 7:11 AM
🚨 Master’s project!
Curious how birds find their way? 🧭🐦
Analyze decades of ringing data to study abnormal migratory routes and uncover what these deviations can reveal about the mechanisms guiding birds on their journeys. Drop me an email for details! #ornithology
www.vogelwarte.ch/de/wir/mitar...
Curious how birds find their way? 🧭🐦
Analyze decades of ringing data to study abnormal migratory routes and uncover what these deviations can reveal about the mechanisms guiding birds on their journeys. Drop me an email for details! #ornithology
www.vogelwarte.ch/de/wir/mitar...
#EOU2025 Come and join us for the symposium on the importance of vagrancy in ecology and evolution. Lots of great results in the talks from the different speakers!
LR4 - Friday 22 - 10:30
@alexanderlees.bsky.social @joewynnbirds.bsky.social #ornithology @vogelwarte.bsky.social
LR4 - Friday 22 - 10:30
@alexanderlees.bsky.social @joewynnbirds.bsky.social #ornithology @vogelwarte.bsky.social
August 20, 2025 at 9:46 AM
#EOU2025 Come and join us for the symposium on the importance of vagrancy in ecology and evolution. Lots of great results in the talks from the different speakers!
LR4 - Friday 22 - 10:30
@alexanderlees.bsky.social @joewynnbirds.bsky.social #ornithology @vogelwarte.bsky.social
LR4 - Friday 22 - 10:30
@alexanderlees.bsky.social @joewynnbirds.bsky.social #ornithology @vogelwarte.bsky.social
Great progress on the sib genoscape project with freshly collected reference samples of Little Buntings (and Red-flanked Bluetails) from the western part of their range. A very nice and successful fieldwork with @joewynnbirds.bsky.social ! #ornithology
June 16, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Great progress on the sib genoscape project with freshly collected reference samples of Little Buntings (and Red-flanked Bluetails) from the western part of their range. A very nice and successful fieldwork with @joewynnbirds.bsky.social ! #ornithology
A stunning Eurasian Dotterel on Ouessant (May 2025)
May 28, 2025 at 7:13 AM
A stunning Eurasian Dotterel on Ouessant (May 2025)
We analyzed feather hydrogen isotopes (δ²Hf) from 72 Nearctic vagrants captured in the Azores, Iceland, and France. Result? Some birds did come from the NE but others from NW and S populations too! (e.g., American Redstart, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Yellow-billed Cuckoo) 2/3
May 5, 2025 at 9:22 AM
We analyzed feather hydrogen isotopes (δ²Hf) from 72 Nearctic vagrants captured in the Azores, Iceland, and France. Result? Some birds did come from the NE but others from NW and S populations too! (e.g., American Redstart, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Yellow-billed Cuckoo) 2/3
Another birding paper! 🐦 Where do the Nearctic landbirds that show up in Europe each autumn come from? We usually assume they come from NE populations, pushed off course by bad weather - but is that the whole story? #ornithology 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
May 5, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Another birding paper! 🐦 Where do the Nearctic landbirds that show up in Europe each autumn come from? We usually assume they come from NE populations, pushed off course by bad weather - but is that the whole story? #ornithology 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ardea alba melanorhynchos (sub-Saharan Africa) and A. a. modesta (eastern Middle-East to north-eastern China and southern Japan to Australasia). Modesta is the most variable taxon and the most difficult taxon to separate from alba and egretta...
April 22, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Ardea alba melanorhynchos (sub-Saharan Africa) and A. a. modesta (eastern Middle-East to north-eastern China and southern Japan to Australasia). Modesta is the most variable taxon and the most difficult taxon to separate from alba and egretta...
Ardea alba alba (Palearctic from Europe to Russian Far East and Japan) and A. a. egretta (North and South America)
April 22, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Ardea alba alba (Palearctic from Europe to Russian Far East and Japan) and A. a. egretta (North and South America)
Birding paper! In the last Dutch Birding issue, we published a detailed paper on the ID of Great Egret taxa in non-breeding plumage. We analyzed photos of hundreds of individuals to find key criteria distinguishing the four taxa. A short illustrated summary can be found in this thread. #birding
April 22, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Birding paper! In the last Dutch Birding issue, we published a detailed paper on the ID of Great Egret taxa in non-breeding plumage. We analyzed photos of hundreds of individuals to find key criteria distinguishing the four taxa. A short illustrated summary can be found in this thread. #birding
We have just returned from La Janda, S Spain, where we sampled some of the wintering Siberian buntings (1 Rustic, 5 Little Buntings) to uncover their birth/breeding origins. Huge thanks to the Cigüeña Negra ringing group for the warm welcome! @pdvsky.bsky.social #ornithology
January 28, 2025 at 2:39 PM
We have just returned from La Janda, S Spain, where we sampled some of the wintering Siberian buntings (1 Rustic, 5 Little Buntings) to uncover their birth/breeding origins. Huge thanks to the Cigüeña Negra ringing group for the warm welcome! @pdvsky.bsky.social #ornithology
Some pics of our trip to Kuwait this winter. A nice diversity of shorebirds, raptors, and wintering songbirds, offering the chance to find some, more or less expected, vagrants: Indian Pond Heron, Thick-billed Warbler (!), Purple Sunbird, Zitting Cisticola... ebird.org/tripreport/3... #birding
January 15, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Some pics of our trip to Kuwait this winter. A nice diversity of shorebirds, raptors, and wintering songbirds, offering the chance to find some, more or less expected, vagrants: Indian Pond Heron, Thick-billed Warbler (!), Purple Sunbird, Zitting Cisticola... ebird.org/tripreport/3... #birding
Identifying tristis can be been challenging, complicating efforts to trace its status in Europe. To confirm their identity, we genotyped a significant number of birds captured in southern France: all of them (in grey) were composed of largely dominant tristis ancestry 5/
December 11, 2024 at 1:42 PM
Identifying tristis can be been challenging, complicating efforts to trace its status in Europe. To confirm their identity, we genotyped a significant number of birds captured in southern France: all of them (in grey) were composed of largely dominant tristis ancestry 5/
Results for tristis were different: we found similar % of adult Siberian Chiffchaffs and the control (collybita), suggesting tristis may winter in southern Europe, using a migration route unlike those previously known 4/
December 11, 2024 at 1:42 PM
Results for tristis were different: we found similar % of adult Siberian Chiffchaffs and the control (collybita), suggesting tristis may winter in southern Europe, using a migration route unlike those previously known 4/
YBWs in Europe remain an enigma: of >320 aged birds, 98.1% were juveniles (only 1 confirmed and 4 probable adults). This suggests YBWs in Europe are mostly, if not exclusively, vagrants and confirms the species doesn’t migrate regularly in Europe 3/
December 11, 2024 at 1:42 PM
YBWs in Europe remain an enigma: of >320 aged birds, 98.1% were juveniles (only 1 confirmed and 4 probable adults). This suggests YBWs in Europe are mostly, if not exclusively, vagrants and confirms the species doesn’t migrate regularly in Europe 3/
Both YBW and Sib Chiffchaff occurrences have increased in Europe in recent decades, but their status remains unclear: are they just vagrants, regular migrants using a new route, or both? We assessed the age of hundreds of birds across Europe to clarify this, using collybita as a control 2/
December 11, 2024 at 1:42 PM
Both YBW and Sib Chiffchaff occurrences have increased in Europe in recent decades, but their status remains unclear: are they just vagrants, regular migrants using a new route, or both? We assessed the age of hundreds of birds across Europe to clarify this, using collybita as a control 2/
For my first post here, I’m happy to share our new paper just published in @ibisjournal.bsky.social Thanks to a great team effort, we made a small step forward in the study of Siberian vagrants in Europe and clarified the status of two (pseudo) vagrants: the YBW & the Sib Chiffchaff. Some results 🧵
December 11, 2024 at 1:42 PM
For my first post here, I’m happy to share our new paper just published in @ibisjournal.bsky.social Thanks to a great team effort, we made a small step forward in the study of Siberian vagrants in Europe and clarified the status of two (pseudo) vagrants: the YBW & the Sib Chiffchaff. Some results 🧵