Why Wait to Grow Up? Shorebirds' Delayed Maturity Tied to Coastal Living
Often seen roosting or foraging near coastlines, Oriental Pratincoles (Glareola maldivarum) are among the species analysed in the study. Their life-history strategies reflect the behavioural demands of complex habitats — an important factor in the timing of maturity. © Arkajit Chakraborty
Breeding and Life-cycles

Why Wait to Grow Up? Shorebirds' Delayed Maturity Tied to Coastal Living

Shorebirds that winter along dynamic coastlines delay their first return to breed, a strategy linked not to body size, but to the behavioural demands of tidal habitats — revealing new insights into how environment shapes avian life-history timing.

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Same Species, Different Clocks: Migration That Shapes Reproductive Timing in Birds
A Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis oreganus) in the fresh light of spring. While this species isn’t featured in the study, it serves as a reminder of how migration and seasonal timing weave together in the lives of birds across latitudes. © Ilya Povalyaev

Same Species, Different Clocks: Migration That Shapes Reproductive Timing in Birds

Why do some birds get ready to breed while others are still preparing to migrate—despite living in the same place? The answer lies in how they sense time.
Breeding and Life-cycles
The Ornithologist

The Ornithologist
Sound-based surveys uncover fine-scale habitat selection in the declining Crested Tit
Forest birds are often assumed to depend primarily on age and maturity, yet fine-scale structure and composition may shape habitat use long before breeding begins. © Steve Roach

Sound-based surveys uncover fine-scale habitat selection in the declining Crested Tit

New research from Finland suggests that Crested Tits respond more to fine-scale forest structure than to forest age in early spring, challenging assumptions about how habitat quality is defined in managed boreal forests.
Ecology and Behaviour
Gyorgy Szimuly

Gyorgy Szimuly
Choosing Survival: Habitat Shifts in Wintering Taiga Bean Geese
Winter landscapes can appear rich in food, yet a few degrees below zero can render familiar feeding grounds unusable. For Taiga Bean Geese, survival depends on recognising when to abandon frozen pastures and seek alternative refuges. © Lars Petersson

Choosing Survival: Habitat Shifts in Wintering Taiga Bean Geese

When frost locks grasslands out of reach, Taiga Bean Geese turn to winter cereal fields to survive. New research shows how these fields become lifelines during the coldest days of winter.
Ecology and Behaviour
Gyorgy Szimuly

Gyorgy Szimuly
Bound by Coastlines: Genetics and the Hidden Structure of Mexico’s American Oystercatchers
American Oystercatchers along the coast of north-western Mexico inhabit a landscape shaped by strong site fidelity, where breeding populations remain closely tied to specific bays and shorelines despite their ability to travel long distances.© Rain Saulnier

Bound by Coastlines: Genetics and the Hidden Structure of Mexico’s American Oystercatchers

Genetic evidence from Mexico’s coastlines reveals that American Oystercatchers are far less mobile than they appear, shaped by loyalty to place and hidden evolutionary boundaries.
Evolution and Taxonomy
Gyorgy Szimuly

Gyorgy Szimuly
Cormorants: Evolutionary Failure or Underwater Mastermind?
A Spotted Shag demonstrates the streamlined form typical of shags. The same low-drag profile that supports agile flight also contributes to the precise underwater manoeuvrability seen across the cormorant family. © Jeremiah Trimble

Cormorants: Evolutionary Failure or Underwater Mastermind?

Cormorants are often labelled evolutionary misfits for having partially wettable feathers – hardly ideal for a diving bird. Their design is far from flawed. It is a finely tuned adaptation that reveals an unexpected path in the evolution of underwater hunting.
Evolution and Taxonomy
Gyorgy Szimuly

Gyorgy Szimuly