Frigg Speelman
@friggspeelman.bsky.social
Postdoc at @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social working on eco-evolutionary dynamics of migration in blackbirds 🐦⬛. Previously at @rug.nl Macquarie Uni (AUS) studying partnerships in birds 💕.
Pinned
How 'inseparable' are partners? 📍🐦 Using fine-scale automated radiotracking we found that chirruping wedgebill breeding partners stick extremely close — they occupy almost identical spaces and follow each other continuously during AND after breeding. Check it out ➡️ doi.org/10.1093/behe...
The last data chapter of my PhD is out now! 🤩 A highly collaborative effort with Chris Tyson, @marcnaguib.bsky.social, and Simon Griffith.
November 25, 2025 at 11:56 PM
The last data chapter of my PhD is out now! 🤩 A highly collaborative effort with Chris Tyson, @marcnaguib.bsky.social, and Simon Griffith.
How 'inseparable' are partners? 📍🐦 Using fine-scale automated radiotracking we found that chirruping wedgebill breeding partners stick extremely close — they occupy almost identical spaces and follow each other continuously during AND after breeding. Check it out ➡️ doi.org/10.1093/behe...
November 25, 2025 at 11:41 PM
How 'inseparable' are partners? 📍🐦 Using fine-scale automated radiotracking we found that chirruping wedgebill breeding partners stick extremely close — they occupy almost identical spaces and follow each other continuously during AND after breeding. Check it out ➡️ doi.org/10.1093/behe...
🥳😇
Congratulations to Dr @friggspeelman.bsky.social who was awarded a PhD yesterday 🎉 @rug.nl on 'Socially monogamous partnerships in birds: Causes, consequences, and pair-bond strength' research.rug.nl/en/publicati... A fantastic achievement!
October 21, 2025 at 12:17 PM
🥳😇
Just got back from Ny-Ålesund, the northernmost town in the world, to catch and track Arctic terns for @seatrackscience.bsky.social in collaboration with @maartenloonen.bsky.social.
I love coming to this place, and I love the terns. They probably did not like me so much though...
I love coming to this place, and I love the terns. They probably did not like me so much though...
July 3, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Just got back from Ny-Ålesund, the northernmost town in the world, to catch and track Arctic terns for @seatrackscience.bsky.social in collaboration with @maartenloonen.bsky.social.
I love coming to this place, and I love the terns. They probably did not like me so much though...
I love coming to this place, and I love the terns. They probably did not like me so much though...
🔊🔊 What's important in a duet? In a new paper, we tested whether duet coordination in pairs has a function in their territoriality, using fine-scale and coarse measures of duet coordination in response to playback in chirruping wedgebills.
See 👉 doi.org/10.1111/eth.... @marcnaguib.bsky.social
See 👉 doi.org/10.1111/eth.... @marcnaguib.bsky.social
June 17, 2025 at 1:34 PM
🔊🔊 What's important in a duet? In a new paper, we tested whether duet coordination in pairs has a function in their territoriality, using fine-scale and coarse measures of duet coordination in response to playback in chirruping wedgebills.
See 👉 doi.org/10.1111/eth.... @marcnaguib.bsky.social
See 👉 doi.org/10.1111/eth.... @marcnaguib.bsky.social
Broken families can have huge effects on children, even later in life. But is that the case in species other than humans?
Read my latest article in the @aunz.theconversation.com on mate switching effects in offspring of the @seychelleswarbler.bsky.social 👇
theconversation.com/the-chicks-a...
Read my latest article in the @aunz.theconversation.com on mate switching effects in offspring of the @seychelleswarbler.bsky.social 👇
theconversation.com/the-chicks-a...
The chicks are alright: what songbirds can teach us about divorce and moving on
Parental separation in humans can deeply affect children. But in another monogamous pair-bonding species, it has no such effect.
theconversation.com
June 4, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Broken families can have huge effects on children, even later in life. But is that the case in species other than humans?
Read my latest article in the @aunz.theconversation.com on mate switching effects in offspring of the @seychelleswarbler.bsky.social 👇
theconversation.com/the-chicks-a...
Read my latest article in the @aunz.theconversation.com on mate switching effects in offspring of the @seychelleswarbler.bsky.social 👇
theconversation.com/the-chicks-a...
Check out the latest paper on the dramas of Seychelles warbler family life here! 👇👇
Ever wondered how divorce affects offspring fitness? @seychelleswarbler.bsky.social Check out our new paper: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... @friggspeelman.bsky.social @terryburke.bsky.social @david-s-richardson.bsky.social
May 31, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Check out the latest paper on the dramas of Seychelles warbler family life here! 👇👇
Reposted by Frigg Speelman
Most Relatable Paper Title 2025?
Stewart & Kelley find in chestnut-backed antbirds that acoustic features + duet coordination correlate w/body & territory size
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Interesting to compare w/quoted @friggspeelman.bsky.social study
#prattle 💬
#bioacoustics
Stewart & Kelley find in chestnut-backed antbirds that acoustic features + duet coordination correlate w/body & territory size
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Interesting to compare w/quoted @friggspeelman.bsky.social study
#prattle 💬
#bioacoustics
May 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Most Relatable Paper Title 2025?
Stewart & Kelley find in chestnut-backed antbirds that acoustic features + duet coordination correlate w/body & territory size
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Interesting to compare w/quoted @friggspeelman.bsky.social study
#prattle 💬
#bioacoustics
Stewart & Kelley find in chestnut-backed antbirds that acoustic features + duet coordination correlate w/body & territory size
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Interesting to compare w/quoted @friggspeelman.bsky.social study
#prattle 💬
#bioacoustics
Reposted by Frigg Speelman
Duetting do what now?
@friggspeelman.bsky.social etc al. (incl. @marcnaguib.bsky.social) ask in chirruping wedgebills.
Authors measure response to playbacks of duets, coordinated or un-
Results do not support role for precise coordination
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/o...
#prattle 💬
#bioacoustics
@friggspeelman.bsky.social etc al. (incl. @marcnaguib.bsky.social) ask in chirruping wedgebills.
Authors measure response to playbacks of duets, coordinated or un-
Results do not support role for precise coordination
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/o...
#prattle 💬
#bioacoustics
ecoevorxiv.org
April 22, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Duetting do what now?
@friggspeelman.bsky.social etc al. (incl. @marcnaguib.bsky.social) ask in chirruping wedgebills.
Authors measure response to playbacks of duets, coordinated or un-
Results do not support role for precise coordination
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/o...
#prattle 💬
#bioacoustics
@friggspeelman.bsky.social etc al. (incl. @marcnaguib.bsky.social) ask in chirruping wedgebills.
Authors measure response to playbacks of duets, coordinated or un-
Results do not support role for precise coordination
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/o...
#prattle 💬
#bioacoustics
Reposted by Frigg Speelman
1/11
New preprint out with @hannahdugdale.bsky.social, @lummaalab.bsky.social, and @erikpostma.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Why do we age? And can a “natural experiment” during the Great Finnish Famine with long-term data help provide some answers?
New preprint out with @hannahdugdale.bsky.social, @lummaalab.bsky.social, and @erikpostma.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Why do we age? And can a “natural experiment” during the Great Finnish Famine with long-term data help provide some answers?
February 13, 2025 at 3:46 PM
1/11
New preprint out with @hannahdugdale.bsky.social, @lummaalab.bsky.social, and @erikpostma.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Why do we age? And can a “natural experiment” during the Great Finnish Famine with long-term data help provide some answers?
New preprint out with @hannahdugdale.bsky.social, @lummaalab.bsky.social, and @erikpostma.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Why do we age? And can a “natural experiment” during the Great Finnish Famine with long-term data help provide some answers?
A lovely feature in iflscience on the causes of divorce 💔 in Seychelles warblers! 👇👇👇
www.iflscience.com/why-these-li...
www.iflscience.com/why-these-li...
Why These Little Birds Divorce Despite The Risks
Ditching your partner doesn’t seem to work all that well for Seychelles warblers, even if they keep the house, which may be why not many do it.
www.iflscience.com
January 13, 2025 at 4:26 AM
A lovely feature in iflscience on the causes of divorce 💔 in Seychelles warblers! 👇👇👇
www.iflscience.com/why-these-li...
www.iflscience.com/why-these-li...
New paper: causes and short & long-term consequences of divorcing 💔. This papers highlights the shortcomings of studying divorce to date and provides methods to address them. Plus some new insights on divorcing in birds! See 👇 doi.org/10.1111/ele....
Causes and consequences of divorce in a long‐lived socially monogamous bird
In socially monogamous species, sexual selection involves both initial mate choice and mate switching. We found that divorce in Seychelles warblers occurs most among young and old males, and in pairs...
doi.org
January 6, 2025 at 12:57 AM
New paper: causes and short & long-term consequences of divorcing 💔. This papers highlights the shortcomings of studying divorce to date and provides methods to address them. Plus some new insights on divorcing in birds! See 👇 doi.org/10.1111/ele....
Reposted by Frigg Speelman
We humbly interrupt your scroll to bring you the news that Wisdom—the world's oldest known wild bird—is breeding again, age 74.
Go on girl. 😍
Go on girl. 😍
December 4, 2024 at 11:49 AM
We humbly interrupt your scroll to bring you the news that Wisdom—the world's oldest known wild bird—is breeding again, age 74.
Go on girl. 😍
Go on girl. 😍
Reposted by Frigg Speelman
🌧️💔🐦 Climate impacts on bird relationships
A new @animalecology.bsky.social study shows high & low rainfall impacts divorce rates in monogamous Seychelles warblers.
Could this signal broader ecological impacts due to #ClimateChange?
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🧪 #SciComm
A new @animalecology.bsky.social study shows high & low rainfall impacts divorce rates in monogamous Seychelles warblers.
Could this signal broader ecological impacts due to #ClimateChange?
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🧪 #SciComm
Rainfall is associated with divorce in the socially monogamous Seychelles warbler
To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to show that extreme rainfall increases the prevalence of divorce in a socially monogamous population. Our findings add to the growing literature ...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 27, 2024 at 12:49 PM
🌧️💔🐦 Climate impacts on bird relationships
A new @animalecology.bsky.social study shows high & low rainfall impacts divorce rates in monogamous Seychelles warblers.
Could this signal broader ecological impacts due to #ClimateChange?
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🧪 #SciComm
A new @animalecology.bsky.social study shows high & low rainfall impacts divorce rates in monogamous Seychelles warblers.
Could this signal broader ecological impacts due to #ClimateChange?
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🧪 #SciComm
Reposted by Frigg Speelman
Listen to Frigg Speelman speaking on ABC radio national drive about the love life of the Seychelles warblers: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Extreme weather driving songbirds to 'divorce' - ABC listen
The early bird gets the worm, the bird in a heavy rainstorm gets divorced.
www.abc.net.au
November 27, 2024 at 7:54 AM
Listen to Frigg Speelman speaking on ABC radio national drive about the love life of the Seychelles warblers: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Reposted by Frigg Speelman
Want to know how divorce in birds is associated with rainfall? 💔🌧️ Frigg Speelman wrote a piece (in non-scientific jargon!) theconversation.com/divorce-in-s... about our recent paper doi.org/10.1111/1365...
‘Divorce’ in songbirds: extreme weather pushes couples past breaking point
New research examines the link between extreme weather and divorce in a small monogamous tropical songbird, the Seychelles warbler. Concerningly, extreme rain and dry spells increased divorce rates.
theconversation.com
November 25, 2024 at 7:46 AM
Want to know how divorce in birds is associated with rainfall? 💔🌧️ Frigg Speelman wrote a piece (in non-scientific jargon!) theconversation.com/divorce-in-s... about our recent paper doi.org/10.1111/1365...