The Blog
Keep up to date with everything we’re doing and our latest conference news here and read articles written by other students about their animal behaviour research.
If you’d like to write an article for us, fill out the contact form here to submit your article proposal.
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The amazing lyrebirds
Lyrebirds are one of the most fascinating and unique bird species in the world. These birds, native to Australia, are known for their incredible vocal mimicry skills and striking appearance. Lyrebirds have the ability to imitate a wide range of sounds, including other bird species, cars, dogs, chainsaws, and even camera shutters. In this article, we will explore the latest scientific findings about lyrebird mimicry behaviour and what makes these birds so special.All rights reserved to: Mike Gaworecki (https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/audio-the-superb-lyrebirds-song-and-dance-and-incredible-vocal-mimicry/)First of all, it's important to understand the anatomy of a lyrebird. These birds are medium-sized, with long tails and distinctive, lyre-shaped tail feathers. The males are particularly striking, with their long, curved tail feathers and brownish-black plumage. This impressive appearance is just the tip of the iceberg, however, as lyrebirds are best known for their vocal abilities....
Human activity leads to bee-wilderment
The impact of human activity on the sensory environment is undeniable. This can have drastic impacts on interspecific communication. In this article, I will explore how human activity can influence one of the most ecologically important examples of interspecific communication: Plant-pollinator interactions.The impact which human activity has on the local sensory environment is undeniable. One need only compare the quiet tranquillity of a forest to the hustle and bustle of the inner city and the difference becomes stark. It is important that we understand the effects of this noise on animal behaviour as it can lead to perturbations in activity patterns (Bunkley et al. 2015) and communication disruptions (Díaz et al. 2011). An example of communication that can be affected by human activity and vital to the local ecosystem is the interspecific communication between plants and their pollinators. This communication is mediated by flowers which act as “billboards” advertising a high-energy...
Plenary updates and photo competition!
Hello and welcome to the 3rd International Student Symposium on Animal Behaviour and Cognition! We are excited to announce our first plenary speaker, Dr. Sonja Wild. Dr. Wild is a leading behavioural ecologist whose research focuses on the drivers of behavioural diversity in wild animal populations, with a focus on social learning processes. She uses a combination of observational data and behavioural experiments with remote sensing techniques to study how social network structure influences the transmission of new behaviours through populations, the learning strategies employed by different groups of individuals, and how these strategies change over an individual's lifetime and in response to their physical and social environment. We are thrilled to have Dr. Wild join us and can't wait to hear about her groundbreaking work. In addition to our plenary speaker, we are also excited to announce our wildlife photography competition! Are you a passionate wildlife photographer with a story...
Early-bird registration is open!
We are extremely pleased that ECRs and more established researchers from more than 30 countries all over the world are keen on joining us in Mexico. Our team has been working hard these past months and we are excited to announce that Early-bird registrations for ISSABC 2023 are now open! In-person registration starts at only $15 USD, while if you can’t make it to Mexico you can join us online for only $5 USD! You can find more information on the registration fees and deadlines on our website or on our Open Collective page. At ISSABC, we believe that transparency is a big deal, especially when it comes to handling money. So we are very happy to announce that all of the payments for the conference will be made through Open Collective with the support of All For Climate DAO. This way, everybody can be aware of how the funds we collect are handled. On our website, you can also find a (very early!) outline of our programme. As you can see, we are planning to have a lot of interesting...
Plenary speaker selection / Selección de ponentes plenarios
[ENGLISH] We are now in the process of selecting the Early-career (Postdoc) plenary speakers. If you are interested in being a plenary speaker or you would like to propose a candidate for it, you still have time to do so by contacting us! You can also propose your candidate using this form. The deadline is the 31st of October 2022. If you have any queries don’t hesitate to contact us. [ESPAÑOL] Ahora estamos en el proceso de seleccionar a investigadores nóveles (Postdoc) como ponentes. Si estás interesado/a en ser ponente o te gustaría proponer a un candidato para ello, ¡todavía tienes tiempo de hacerlo contactándonos! También puedes proponer un ponente a través de este formulario. La fecha límite es el 31 de Octubre de 2022. Si tienes cualquier pregunta no dudes en contactarnos.
Upping the ant-e for builders everywhere
Ants are famous for their collective behaviour. They will often work together to build amazing structures which help make their local environment more favourable for them. In this blog post, I’ll be going over a few of my favourite examples.April Nobile / © AntWeb.org / CC BY-SA 3.0 When it comes to architecture in the insect world, ants are true artisans. For decades, researchers have marvelled at the intricate structures which allow them to control the environment around them and make even potentially hostile environments suitable for them to thrive in. One of the most striking examples of this is built by a species of leafcutter ant (Atta vollenweideri). This species builds its nests in dense, clay-rich soils which is potentially problematic since air cannot easily permeate through this type of soil and thus could lead to either a lack of oxygen or a build-up of carbon dioxide within the nest, both of which would be detrimental to the survival of the colony. To avoid this, these...
Hello animal behaviour enthusiasts!
DO YOU WANT TO SHARE YOUR RESEARCH STORIES WITH OTHER ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR STUDENTS? We are looking for animal behaviour students at any level, to write a small summary of their research project, to share with a growing community of early career researchers. This is a great way to show off your achievements, to network with like-minded students, and to participate in the wider research community in a friendly and constructive environment. NOT INVOLVED IN ANY RESEARCH YET? WRITE AN ARTICLE ABOUT AN ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR TOPIC YOU ARE PASSIONATE INSTEAD! Fill out this form and we'll be in touch with more information! Animal Behaviour articles - Google Forms The ISSABC 2023 team