1 #BOU2022
Thank you and welcome – a wonderful honour to give this #BOU2022 #AlfredNewtonLecture talk. A sight for a curious naturalist: why is this warbler apparently so silly? Or, how does the cuckoo get away with this?
#ornithology
Thank you and welcome – a wonderful honour to give this #BOU2022 #AlfredNewtonLecture talk. A sight for a curious naturalist: why is this warbler apparently so silly? Or, how does the cuckoo get away with this?
#ornithology
2 #BOU2022
The talk celebrates Alfred Newton, founder of the BOU in 1858, the year of Darwin and Wallace’s papers proposing the theory of natural selection. Newton was an immediate early fan.
#ornithology
The talk celebrates Alfred Newton, founder of the BOU in 1858, the year of Darwin and Wallace’s papers proposing the theory of natural selection. Newton was an immediate early fan.
#ornithology
3 #BOU2022
Newton’s paper in 1869 suggested that egg-colour variation in different host-races of Common Cuckoos was a result of natural selection. He coined the term “gentes” (singular “gens”) for these host-races
Newton’s Nature paper: nature.com/articles/00107…
#ornithology
Newton’s paper in 1869 suggested that egg-colour variation in different host-races of Common Cuckoos was a result of natural selection. He coined the term “gentes” (singular “gens”) for these host-races
Newton’s Nature paper: nature.com/articles/00107…
#ornithology
4 #BOU2022
Common Cuckoos are our harbinger of spring. But, the poet Ted Hughes reminds us that their arrival heralds potential doom for thousands of small birds
🔊 volume up ⬇️
Photo: Artur Stankiewicz
#ornithology #cuckoo
Common Cuckoos are our harbinger of spring. But, the poet Ted Hughes reminds us that their arrival heralds potential doom for thousands of small birds
🔊 volume up ⬇️
Photo: Artur Stankiewicz
#ornithology #cuckoo
5 #BOU2022
It has been known since ancient times that Common Cuckoos lay in the nests of other birds and that the young #Cuckoo ejects the host’s eggs and young.
#ornithology
It has been known since ancient times that Common Cuckoos lay in the nests of other birds and that the young #Cuckoo ejects the host’s eggs and young.
#ornithology
6 #BOU2022
The first detailed description of the #Cuckoo chick’s ejection behaviour was by Edward Jenner in 1788. Though sadly, Jenner’s wonderful and accurate account was first met with widespread disbelief.
#ornithology
The first detailed description of the #Cuckoo chick’s ejection behaviour was by Edward Jenner in 1788. Though sadly, Jenner’s wonderful and accurate account was first met with widespread disbelief.
#ornithology
7 #BOU2022
Amazingly, the ejection often takes place while the host parent looks on, yet it does nothing to interfere. Watch what happens next…
#ornithology #cuckoo
Amazingly, the ejection often takes place while the host parent looks on, yet it does nothing to interfere. Watch what happens next…
#ornithology #cuckoo
8 #BOU2022
Having taken sole command of the nest, now three weeks old and about to fledge, the #Cuckoo chick is seven times the mass of the Reed Warbler foster parent. Early naturalists, such as John Ray and Gilbert White, were perplexed, even outraged.
#ornithology
Having taken sole command of the nest, now three weeks old and about to fledge, the #Cuckoo chick is seven times the mass of the Reed Warbler foster parent. Early naturalists, such as John Ray and Gilbert White, were perplexed, even outraged.
#ornithology
9 #BOU2022
They wondered if Cuckoos were badly designed by the Creator, either through faulty anatomy or faulty migration behaviour. Perhaps the hosts were only too pleased to give the poor Cuckoo a helping hand?
#ornithology #cuckoo
They wondered if Cuckoos were badly designed by the Creator, either through faulty anatomy or faulty migration behaviour. Perhaps the hosts were only too pleased to give the poor Cuckoo a helping hand?
#ornithology #cuckoo
10 #BOU2022
Darwin dismissed these quaint views. He pointed out that, freed from parental duties, brood parasites could lay more eggs. So, selection should favour the evolution of brood parasitism from parental ancestry.
#ornithology #evolution #cuckoo #broodparasitism
Darwin dismissed these quaint views. He pointed out that, freed from parental duties, brood parasites could lay more eggs. So, selection should favour the evolution of brood parasitism from parental ancestry.
#ornithology #evolution #cuckoo #broodparasitism
11 #BOU2022 #alfrednewtonlecture
We now know that brood parasitism (shaded genera) has evolved independently three times from parental ancestry within the cuckoo family tree
#ornithology #evolution #cuckoo #broodparasitism
We now know that brood parasitism (shaded genera) has evolved independently three times from parental ancestry within the cuckoo family tree
#ornithology #evolution #cuckoo #broodparasitism
12 #BOU2022
Darwin proposed that hosts accept cuckoos through a mistaken instinct – they get tricked… So in theory there should be a ding-dong evolutionary battle as each party evolves in response to the other.
#ornithology #evolution #cuckoo
Darwin proposed that hosts accept cuckoos through a mistaken instinct – they get tricked… So in theory there should be a ding-dong evolutionary battle as each party evolves in response to the other.
#ornithology #evolution #cuckoo
13 #BOU2022
Yet, the sight of a host feeding a #Cuckoo chick begs the question: do hosts really have defences?
#ornithology
Yet, the sight of a host feeding a #Cuckoo chick begs the question: do hosts really have defences?
#ornithology
14 #BOU2022
We need to discover how the #Cuckoo lays her egg. The credit goes to Edgar Chance who, a hundred years ago, studied Common Cuckoos parasitizing Meadow Pipits on a heathland in central England.
#ornithology
We need to discover how the #Cuckoo lays her egg. The credit goes to Edgar Chance who, a hundred years ago, studied Common Cuckoos parasitizing Meadow Pipits on a heathland in central England.
#ornithology
15 #BOU2022
He studied 1 female (“Cuckoo A”) over 5 summers. [down arrow] here are his discoveries, which enabled him to film the laying of the egg by a #Cuckoo for the first time…
#ornithology
He studied 1 female (“Cuckoo A”) over 5 summers. [down arrow] here are his discoveries, which enabled him to film the laying of the egg by a #Cuckoo for the first time…
#ornithology
16 #BOU2022
Edgar Chance published two books. The second no longer had ‘MBOU” after his name. Collecting eggs of common species (which included Cuckoos) was not illegal back then. But Chance also collected eggs of rare species. He was forced to resign from the BOU.
#ornithology
Edgar Chance published two books. The second no longer had ‘MBOU” after his name. Collecting eggs of common species (which included Cuckoos) was not illegal back then. But Chance also collected eggs of rare species. He was forced to resign from the BOU.
#ornithology
17 #BOU2022
Chance’s brilliant field observations formed the basis for our field experiments, begun in 1985. We studied Common Cuckoos parasitizing Reed Warblers on Wicken Fen.
Paper: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
#ornithology #cuckoo
Chance’s brilliant field observations formed the basis for our field experiments, begun in 1985. We studied Common Cuckoos parasitizing Reed Warblers on Wicken Fen.
Paper: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
#ornithology #cuckoo
18 #BOU2022
We discovered that Reed Warblers rejected 20% of the Cuckoo eggs. By what cues did they detect a foreign egg? ⬇️
#ornithology #cuckoo
We discovered that Reed Warblers rejected 20% of the Cuckoo eggs. By what cues did they detect a foreign egg? ⬇️
#ornithology #cuckoo
19 #BOU2022 #alfrednewtonlecture
We tested this experimentally with model #cuckoo eggs of various colours and patterns and played the part of the cuckoo ourselves…
#ornithology
We tested this experimentally with model #cuckoo eggs of various colours and patterns and played the part of the cuckoo ourselves…
#ornithology
20 #BOU2022
Our nest searching attracted attention! Here, Mike is explaining to the policeman that we are not collecting eggs – rather putting extra eggs into nests.
#ornithology
Our nest searching attracted attention! Here, Mike is explaining to the policeman that we are not collecting eggs – rather putting extra eggs into nests.
#ornithology
21 #BOU2022
1⃣ why egg mimicry? The two beards had different ideas...
Darwin ➡️ to fool hosts, who would reject eggs unlike their own.
Wallace ➡️ convergent evolution - host and cuckoo eggs have independently evolved a similar cryptic pattern to reduce predation.
#ornithology
1⃣ why egg mimicry? The two beards had different ideas...
Darwin ➡️ to fool hosts, who would reject eggs unlike their own.
Wallace ➡️ convergent evolution - host and cuckoo eggs have independently evolved a similar cryptic pattern to reduce predation.
#ornithology
22 #BOU2022
Our experiments supported Darwin. Reed Warblers were more likely to reject model eggs unlike their own than mimetic eggs. ⬇️Arnon Lotem showed that hosts imprint on their first clutch and then reject eggs that differ from this learnt set.
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
Our experiments supported Darwin. Reed Warblers were more likely to reject model eggs unlike their own than mimetic eggs. ⬇️Arnon Lotem showed that hosts imprint on their first clutch and then reject eggs that differ from this learnt set.
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
23 #BOU2022 #AlfredNewtonLecture
Why does the female #Cuckoo remove a host egg? And why not remove all the host eggs? Again, experiments provide the answers ⬇️
Our ‘Cuckoos versus Reed Warblers’ paper: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
#ornithology
Why does the female #Cuckoo remove a host egg? And why not remove all the host eggs? Again, experiments provide the answers ⬇️
Our ‘Cuckoos versus Reed Warblers’ paper: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
#ornithology
24 #BOU2022 #AlfredNewtonLecture
Why such rapid laying? Reed #Warblers were more likely to reject eggs if they saw a #Cuckoo at their nest. Why, then, the need to be alerted?
#ornithology
Why such rapid laying? Reed #Warblers were more likely to reject eggs if they saw a #Cuckoo at their nest. Why, then, the need to be alerted?
#ornithology
25 #BOU2022
Reed Warblers make recognition errors. An over-fussy host would suffer unnecessary costs, as most nests are not parasitized.
#ornithology #cuckoo #nestparasitism
Reed Warblers make recognition errors. An over-fussy host would suffer unnecessary costs, as most nests are not parasitized.
#ornithology #cuckoo #nestparasitism
26 #BOU2022 So hosts seek additional cues for likely parasitism – both personal information (observing a cuckoo at their own nest) and social information about local cuckoo activity (from neighbour mobbing) 🔊
1: science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
2: science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
#ornithology
1: science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
2: science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
#ornithology
27 #BOU2022
Since 1980 on Wicken Fen, Reed #Warbler egg rejection has 📉 as have #Cuckoo numbers 📉 = a behavioural response to reduced parasitism risk. Cuckoo mobbing has also [down arrow] as this is potentially costly, as Cuckoos resemble hawks.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ev…
Since 1980 on Wicken Fen, Reed #Warbler egg rejection has 📉 as have #Cuckoo numbers 📉 = a behavioural response to reduced parasitism risk. Cuckoo mobbing has also [down arrow] as this is potentially costly, as Cuckoos resemble hawks.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ev…
28 #BOU2022 #AlfredNewtonLecture
The female #Cuckoo’s chuckle (“bubble”) call, often given as she leaves the host nest, might enhance hawk resemblance.
#ornithology #evolution
The female #Cuckoo’s chuckle (“bubble”) call, often given as she leaves the host nest, might enhance hawk resemblance.
#ornithology #evolution
29 #BOU2022 🔊
Playback experiments – ♀️ #Cuckoo’s hawk-like chuckle diverts host defences from the nest to self-protection. Reed Warblers are alerted by hawk & ♀️ Cuckoo calls (not by controls) and are less likely to reject model eggs
@Jenny_E_York nature.com/articles/s4155…
Playback experiments – ♀️ #Cuckoo’s hawk-like chuckle diverts host defences from the nest to self-protection. Reed Warblers are alerted by hawk & ♀️ Cuckoo calls (not by controls) and are less likely to reject model eggs
@Jenny_E_York nature.com/articles/s4155…
@Jenny_E_York 30 #BOU2022
Hosts have many defences & Common Cuckoos have evolved specialist host-races. Cuckoo host choice likely develops by imprinting - as shown for brood-parasitic #indigobirds in Africa. #Cuckoo egg-type is likely determined by the W chromosome … (??)
#ornithology
Hosts have many defences & Common Cuckoos have evolved specialist host-races. Cuckoo host choice likely develops by imprinting - as shown for brood-parasitic #indigobirds in Africa. #Cuckoo egg-type is likely determined by the W chromosome … (??)
#ornithology
31 #BOU2022
Indirect evidence suggests only female Common #Cuckoo have distinct host-races. Hiroshi Nakamura’s brilliant field work in Japan combined tracking Common Cuckoos with parentage analysis of Cuckoo chicks
Marchetti et al. 1998 : science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
#ornithology
Indirect evidence suggests only female Common #Cuckoo have distinct host-races. Hiroshi Nakamura’s brilliant field work in Japan combined tracking Common Cuckoos with parentage analysis of Cuckoo chicks
Marchetti et al. 1998 : science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
#ornithology
32 #BOU2022
He found that ♀️ Cuckoos are host-specific while ♂️ Cuckoos often cross mate with several female types. Genetic analysis supports the view of female host-races within the one species – #Cuckoo host races differ in mtDNA but not nDNA
Paper: nature.com/articles/35025…
He found that ♀️ Cuckoos are host-specific while ♂️ Cuckoos often cross mate with several female types. Genetic analysis supports the view of female host-races within the one species – #Cuckoo host races differ in mtDNA but not nDNA
Paper: nature.com/articles/35025…
33 #BOU2022
Egg mimicry must be assessed through bird’s eyes, which have four colour cones, including UV. Colours can be plotted as clouds of points in tetrahedral colour space
Mary Stoddard & @SensoryEcology paper: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.10…
#ornithology
Egg mimicry must be assessed through bird’s eyes, which have four colour cones, including UV. Colours can be plotted as clouds of points in tetrahedral colour space
Mary Stoddard & @SensoryEcology paper: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.10…
#ornithology
34 #BOU2022 #AlfredNewtonLecture
Mary Stoddard & @SensoryEcology found that the more discriminating the hosts (assessed by experiments with model eggs), the better the egg mimicry by their respective host-race of #Cuckoo
#ornithology
Mary Stoddard & @SensoryEcology found that the more discriminating the hosts (assessed by experiments with model eggs), the better the egg mimicry by their respective host-race of #Cuckoo
#ornithology
35 #BOU2022 #AlfredNewtonLecture
Hosts don’t only evolve egg discrimination. Their egg patterns evolve too. The poet John Clare likened egg markings to “writing scrawls”. But this is no poetic whimsy…
#ornithology
Hosts don’t only evolve egg discrimination. Their egg patterns evolve too. The poet John Clare likened egg markings to “writing scrawls”. But this is no poetic whimsy…
#ornithology
36 #BOU2022
A hundred years ago, Charles Swynnerton proposed that host eggs evolved distinctive signatures to facilitate easier detection of cuckoo eggs, and cuckoos then evolved forgeries. Another arms race
(described in a 1918 @IBIS_journal paper!)
#ornithology #evolution
A hundred years ago, Charles Swynnerton proposed that host eggs evolved distinctive signatures to facilitate easier detection of cuckoo eggs, and cuckoos then evolved forgeries. Another arms race
(described in a 1918 @IBIS_journal paper!)
#ornithology #evolution
37 #BOU2022
The ideal signature should be:
➡️ individually distinct (different females have different egg patterns)
➡️ replicable (little variation within a female’s clutch).
✅Both features are characteristic of species that are #cuckoo hosts
#ornithology #evolution
The ideal signature should be:
➡️ individually distinct (different females have different egg patterns)
➡️ replicable (little variation within a female’s clutch).
✅Both features are characteristic of species that are #cuckoo hosts
#ornithology #evolution
38 #BOU2022
naturepatternmatch.org quantified egg markings (size, shape, orientation) and scored the number of matches between a given egg and other eggs ➡️ more individually distinct signatures produce better matching between eggs of the same clutch
#ornithology
naturepatternmatch.org quantified egg markings (size, shape, orientation) and scored the number of matches between a given egg and other eggs ➡️ more individually distinct signatures produce better matching between eggs of the same clutch
#ornithology
39 #BOU2022
Comparing across host species, as Common #Cuckoo host-races evolve better host-egg mimicry, their hosts evolve better signatures (their eggs are more likely assigned by the computer program to the correct clutch)
➡️nature.com/articles/ncomm…
#ornithology #evolution
Comparing across host species, as Common #Cuckoo host-races evolve better host-egg mimicry, their hosts evolve better signatures (their eggs are more likely assigned by the computer program to the correct clutch)
➡️nature.com/articles/ncomm…
#ornithology #evolution
40 #BOU2022
The most remarkable signatures belong to the Tawny-flanked Prinia, a host of the #Cuckoo Finch, studied by Claire Spottiswoode et al. Each egg ⬇️is from a different ♀️ within one study site. In theory, distinct signatures would fade if parasitism ceased…
The most remarkable signatures belong to the Tawny-flanked Prinia, a host of the #Cuckoo Finch, studied by Claire Spottiswoode et al. Each egg ⬇️is from a different ♀️ within one study site. In theory, distinct signatures would fade if parasitism ceased…
41 #BOU2022
#Weaverbirds were introduced in 1780s from a parasitized population to cuckoo-free Hispaniola in the Caribbean. Their signature diversity has indeed 📉. Not simply the Founder Effect as intra-clutch variation 📈= poorer signatures
Paper: pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…
#Weaverbirds were introduced in 1780s from a parasitized population to cuckoo-free Hispaniola in the Caribbean. Their signature diversity has indeed 📉. Not simply the Founder Effect as intra-clutch variation 📈= poorer signatures
Paper: pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…
42 #BOU2022
So, now a puzzle ⁉️. Why accept the Common #Cuckoo chick?
Three cues Reed Warblers could potentially use (as they do to discriminate Cuckoo eggs)
1⃣size
2⃣colour
3⃣spotting
#ornithology #nestparasitism
So, now a puzzle ⁉️. Why accept the Common #Cuckoo chick?
Three cues Reed Warblers could potentially use (as they do to discriminate Cuckoo eggs)
1⃣size
2⃣colour
3⃣spotting
#ornithology #nestparasitism
43 #BOU2022
Four ideas for why chick rejection might not evolve…
1⃣ Can’t compare chicks
2⃣ Charming chicks
3⃣ Hard to recognise
4⃣ Reject early instead – “strategy blocking”
#ornithology #nestparasitism
Four ideas for why chick rejection might not evolve…
1⃣ Can’t compare chicks
2⃣ Charming chicks
3⃣ Hard to recognise
4⃣ Reject early instead – “strategy blocking”
#ornithology #nestparasitism
44 #BOU2022 #ornithology
An elegant idea by Arnon Lotem - “accept all chicks” is a better strategy. Unlucky hosts of Common #Cuckoos, parasitized in their first clutch, could imprint only on a Cuckoo chick and so reject their own young from later broods
nature.com/articles/36274…
An elegant idea by Arnon Lotem - “accept all chicks” is a better strategy. Unlucky hosts of Common #Cuckoos, parasitized in their first clutch, could imprint only on a Cuckoo chick and so reject their own young from later broods
nature.com/articles/36274…
45 #BOU2022
But this can’t be a general constraint, because in Australia hosts of Bronze-cuckoos do sometimes reject cuckoo chicks. Either by abandonment or by ejection
abandonment paper: nature.com/articles/natur…
ejection paper: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.10…
#ornithology
But this can’t be a general constraint, because in Australia hosts of Bronze-cuckoos do sometimes reject cuckoo chicks. Either by abandonment or by ejection
abandonment paper: nature.com/articles/natur…
ejection paper: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.10…
#ornithology
46 #BOU2022
In response, cuckoos have evolved host-chick mimicry. Hosts use several cues: visual & acoustic (chicks unlike their own more likely to be rejected) and perceived parasitism risk (more rejection if adult cuckoos present)
Paper: nature.com/articles/natur…
#ornithology
In response, cuckoos have evolved host-chick mimicry. Hosts use several cues: visual & acoustic (chicks unlike their own more likely to be rejected) and perceived parasitism risk (more rejection if adult cuckoos present)
Paper: nature.com/articles/natur…
#ornithology
47 #BOU2022 #AlfredNewtonLecture
Might the domed nests of these hosts make egg defences harder, and hence favour chick rejection instead? Perhaps the dark eggs of bronze-cuckoos escape host detection?
#ornithology #nestparasitism
Might the domed nests of these hosts make egg defences harder, and hence favour chick rejection instead? Perhaps the dark eggs of bronze-cuckoos escape host detection?
#ornithology #nestparasitism
48 #BOU2022
Surprisingly, hosts don’t reject even conspicuous foreign eggs. But cuckoos are selective when they remove an egg before they lay. Cryptic eggs are an effective defence against other #cuckoos ⬇️
➡️sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
➡️royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.10…
#ornithology
Surprisingly, hosts don’t reject even conspicuous foreign eggs. But cuckoos are selective when they remove an egg before they lay. Cryptic eggs are an effective defence against other #cuckoos ⬇️
➡️sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
➡️royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.10…
#ornithology
49 #BOU2022
If parasitism by ♀️ #cuckoo is high, it pays hosts to accept cuckoo eggs as the chance of own-egg removal is then diluted. This leads to the #evolution of cryptic #cuckoo eggs that aren't removed by other cuckoos
Paper: bioone.org/journals/ornit…
#ornithology
If parasitism by ♀️ #cuckoo is high, it pays hosts to accept cuckoo eggs as the chance of own-egg removal is then diluted. This leads to the #evolution of cryptic #cuckoo eggs that aren't removed by other cuckoos
Paper: bioone.org/journals/ornit…
#ornithology
50 #BOU2022
Examples when cost to reject > accept
1⃣ #cuckoo doesn’t eject host eggs
2⃣ cuckoo egg (white) is too large and thick-shelled to eject
3⃣ Desertion is costly (low chance to re-nest). So better to accept & raise some own young
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.10…
#ornithology
Examples when cost to reject > accept
1⃣ #cuckoo doesn’t eject host eggs
2⃣ cuckoo egg (white) is too large and thick-shelled to eject
3⃣ Desertion is costly (low chance to re-nest). So better to accept & raise some own young
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.10…
#ornithology
51 #BOU2022
Coots reject conspecific parasitic eggs but accept a large Cuckoo Duck egg! Why?
❌ Costly to eject (crack own eggs)
✔️ Hatched cuckoo duckling requires no care
So cost of #cuckoo duck egg < a foreign coot chick
Paper: nature.com/articles/natur…
#ornithology
Coots reject conspecific parasitic eggs but accept a large Cuckoo Duck egg! Why?
❌ Costly to eject (crack own eggs)
✔️ Hatched cuckoo duckling requires no care
So cost of #cuckoo duck egg < a foreign coot chick
Paper: nature.com/articles/natur…
#ornithology
52 #BOU2022 #AlfredNewtonLecture
Finally, a case where a non-ejecting cuckoo chick brings a net benefit ‼️ Its faecal secretions deter both avian and mammalian predators
Paper: science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
#ornithology
Finally, a case where a non-ejecting cuckoo chick brings a net benefit ‼️ Its faecal secretions deter both avian and mammalian predators
Paper: science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
#ornithology
53 #BOU2022
So…not all cases of #nestparasitism lead to an arms race with the #evolution of host-egg mimicry
✅Many selection pressures are involved
🪶 Only a few cuckoo species have been studied
⁉️ Many surprises surely await future curious naturalists
#ornithology
So…not all cases of #nestparasitism lead to an arms race with the #evolution of host-egg mimicry
✅Many selection pressures are involved
🪶 Only a few cuckoo species have been studied
⁉️ Many surprises surely await future curious naturalists
#ornithology
54 #BOU2022 #alfrednewtonlecture
To echo Alfred Newton: how lucky we are to be inspired by evolutionary ideas. We are just four handshakes from Darwin- perhaps Newton met Darwin’s granddaughter Gwen Raverat who lived in Cambridge, so close to our #cuckoos…
#ornithology
To echo Alfred Newton: how lucky we are to be inspired by evolutionary ideas. We are just four handshakes from Darwin- perhaps Newton met Darwin’s granddaughter Gwen Raverat who lived in Cambridge, so close to our #cuckoos…
#ornithology
55 #BOU2022
If you’re fascinated by the extraordinary behaviours & stories about cuckoos, see my book for more “Cuckoo – Cheating by Nature”. Thank you for reading – Nick Davies
Thanks to @Nat_B_Zielonka for wonderful help with this Twitter presentation
#ornithology
If you’re fascinated by the extraordinary behaviours & stories about cuckoos, see my book for more “Cuckoo – Cheating by Nature”. Thank you for reading – Nick Davies
Thanks to @Nat_B_Zielonka for wonderful help with this Twitter presentation
#ornithology
56 #BOU2022 #AlfredNewtonLecture
If you have any questions for Prof Nick Davies, please post them as comments to this thread and we’ll pass them to Nick ☺️
Thanks for joining us!
If you have any questions for Prof Nick Davies, please post them as comments to this thread and we’ll pass them to Nick ☺️
Thanks for joining us!
A this new #ornithology paper links perfectly with yesterday evening’s #AlfredNewtonLecture by Nick Davies | #BOU2022
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