Presenting juvenile songbirds with sliding door foraging puzzles, we found that while the first learners of a sibling cohort did so from non-parental adults and partially from parents, subsequent siblings almost exclusively learned from their already knowledgeable sibling. (3/5)

Out today in @plosbiology.org (1/5)

Siblings and non-parental adults provide alternative pathways to cultural inheritance in juvenile great tits 🐦🧩

Link to study:
10.0.5.91/journal.pbio...

Co-authors:
@lucymaplin.bsky.social
@galarconnieto.bsky.social

We observed 74 events of squirrels hunting, killing, consuming and competing over voles at our long-term field site at Briones Regional Park. Squirrels of all age and sex classes engaged in the predatory behavior, highlighting their dietary and behavioral flexibility.

Vole hunting: novel predatory and carnivorous behavior by California ground squirrels

In our new video article in the Journal of Ethology we document the emergence of this exciting behavior following a population explosion of California voles doi.org/10.1007/s101...

Siblings... 🐿️ 🐿️ The first California ground squirrel pups of the year have emerged and are exploring the surroundings of their home burrow. Can't wait to kick off the 12th field season of the long-term research project at Briones Regional Park in June! #squirrel #research

Our new OA article is out in Behavioral Ecology! Tracking juvenile great tits across their first year of life, we document the dynamic changes in social strategies during transition to independence in a species with limited parental care. (1/2)

doi.org/10.1093/behe...

Time to start filling this space!
I’m a behavioural ecologist, broadly interested in questions revolving around sociality and learning in wild animals. I am currently working on California ground squirrels, who are too photogenic to not be shown to the world. Here: pups at play! 🐿️