Ben's Birds
@bensbirds.bsky.social
Screaming into the void and posting nature pics.
Boston-based PhD student and avid birder. Current setup is a Nikon D850 w/ 200-500mm Nikkor F/5.6
Boston-based PhD student and avid birder. Current setup is a Nikon D850 w/ 200-500mm Nikkor F/5.6
Pinned
People are asking a lot of questions about my moxie shrine that are already answered by the moxie shrine
First proper chases of the new year netted me both the female King Eider that's been hanging around Quincy and the overwintering Yellow-throated Warbler in Revere.
Both taken in MA, USA last weekend, and both county lifers! (For Norfolk & Suffolk respectively)
#BirdsSeenIn2026
Both taken in MA, USA last weekend, and both county lifers! (For Norfolk & Suffolk respectively)
#BirdsSeenIn2026
January 9, 2026 at 6:38 PM
First proper chases of the new year netted me both the female King Eider that's been hanging around Quincy and the overwintering Yellow-throated Warbler in Revere.
Both taken in MA, USA last weekend, and both county lifers! (For Norfolk & Suffolk respectively)
#BirdsSeenIn2026
Both taken in MA, USA last weekend, and both county lifers! (For Norfolk & Suffolk respectively)
#BirdsSeenIn2026
A completely unexpected treat this morning as this Short-eared Owl put in a phenomenal appearance at Millennium Park. Big thanks to Marshall Iliff for pointing it out. My first owl of the year, bringing me to 77 #BirdsSeenIn2026!
Taken at Millennium Park, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Taken at Millennium Park, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
January 6, 2026 at 5:08 PM
A completely unexpected treat this morning as this Short-eared Owl put in a phenomenal appearance at Millennium Park. Big thanks to Marshall Iliff for pointing it out. My first owl of the year, bringing me to 77 #BirdsSeenIn2026!
Taken at Millennium Park, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Taken at Millennium Park, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Ended 2025 with 250 species in Massachusetts, 339 globally. Final new bird of the year for both was this Short-eared Owl hunting above the Plum Island marshes on Christmas morning. Always a treat to see them in broad daylight!
January 3, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Ended 2025 with 250 species in Massachusetts, 339 globally. Final new bird of the year for both was this Short-eared Owl hunting above the Plum Island marshes on Christmas morning. Always a treat to see them in broad daylight!
People are asking a lot of questions about my moxie shrine that are already answered by the moxie shrine
January 1, 2026 at 12:07 AM
People are asking a lot of questions about my moxie shrine that are already answered by the moxie shrine
Reposted by Ben's Birds
Going to #SICB?
attend s4
www.xcdsystem.com/sicb/program...
Sex across origins: Questioning animal-centric assumptions & developing integrative frameworks
Organized by
M. Aramati Casper,
aramaticasper.weebly.com
Jay J. Falk
jayjinsing.github.io
Karen M. Warkentin,
sites.bu.edu/warkentinlab/
attend s4
www.xcdsystem.com/sicb/program...
Sex across origins: Questioning animal-centric assumptions & developing integrative frameworks
Organized by
M. Aramati Casper,
aramaticasper.weebly.com
Jay J. Falk
jayjinsing.github.io
Karen M. Warkentin,
sites.bu.edu/warkentinlab/
December 17, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Going to #SICB?
attend s4
www.xcdsystem.com/sicb/program...
Sex across origins: Questioning animal-centric assumptions & developing integrative frameworks
Organized by
M. Aramati Casper,
aramaticasper.weebly.com
Jay J. Falk
jayjinsing.github.io
Karen M. Warkentin,
sites.bu.edu/warkentinlab/
attend s4
www.xcdsystem.com/sicb/program...
Sex across origins: Questioning animal-centric assumptions & developing integrative frameworks
Organized by
M. Aramati Casper,
aramaticasper.weebly.com
Jay J. Falk
jayjinsing.github.io
Karen M. Warkentin,
sites.bu.edu/warkentinlab/
Reposted by Ben's Birds
Hey, fellow evolutionary biologists:
If you support trans rights, like, comment, or repost this. I want to show that transphobes like Richard Dawkins are a loud minority that does not represent our community
If you support trans rights, like, comment, or repost this. I want to show that transphobes like Richard Dawkins are a loud minority that does not represent our community
And that’s a follow.
Actually I do have a question if you have a sec.
Without exception the most transphobic group of scientists I’ve run into online are evolutionary biologists. Every single one of them has expressed the same opinion: transness cannot be anything other than social contagion. Why?
Actually I do have a question if you have a sec.
Without exception the most transphobic group of scientists I’ve run into online are evolutionary biologists. Every single one of them has expressed the same opinion: transness cannot be anything other than social contagion. Why?
December 22, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Hey, fellow evolutionary biologists:
If you support trans rights, like, comment, or repost this. I want to show that transphobes like Richard Dawkins are a loud minority that does not represent our community
If you support trans rights, like, comment, or repost this. I want to show that transphobes like Richard Dawkins are a loud minority that does not represent our community
Good lord Noroi is fucking horrifying
December 16, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Good lord Noroi is fucking horrifying
Reposted by Ben's Birds
New paper out. If you like colorful birds, hybridization, and phylogenetics, read on! 🧵https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003501
A colorful legacy of hybridization in wood-warblers includes frequent sharing of carotenoid genes among species and genera
Introgression between species can shape evolutionary trajectories in important ways. This study of the entire family of the colorful wood-warblers (Parulidae) uses whole-genome sequencing to reveal fr...
doi.org
December 12, 2025 at 3:55 PM
New paper out. If you like colorful birds, hybridization, and phylogenetics, read on! 🧵https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003501
Reposted by Ben's Birds
BIG day for warbler genomes, with work led by @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social! Whole genomes nearly *every species* of warbler.
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
Warblers borrow color-related genes from evolutionary neighbors, study finds | Penn State University
A new study has uncovered several instances of wood warblers — some of the most colorful birds in North America — passing color-related genes to other wood warbler species, including those that are no...
www.psu.edu
December 11, 2025 at 7:18 PM
BIG day for warbler genomes, with work led by @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social! Whole genomes nearly *every species* of warbler.
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
Reposted by Ben's Birds
The new Enabling Discovery through GEnomics (EDGE) Program page is posted. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have questions. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
Enabling Discovery Through Genomics (EDGE)
www.nsf.gov
December 8, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The new Enabling Discovery through GEnomics (EDGE) Program page is posted. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have questions. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
Reposted by Ben's Birds
Sorry, who is this? 🤨 @electrolemon.bsky.social
December 5, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Sorry, who is this? 🤨 @electrolemon.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben's Birds
December 6, 2025 at 3:53 PM
After dipping on basically every rarity chase in the past month I finally managed to have some success this morning. This Chestnut-collared Longspur popped up in Fitchburg 2 days ago and thankfully stuck around until I could get out there! Only the 6th state record and a full on lifer!
December 6, 2025 at 3:28 PM
After dipping on basically every rarity chase in the past month I finally managed to have some success this morning. This Chestnut-collared Longspur popped up in Fitchburg 2 days ago and thankfully stuck around until I could get out there! Only the 6th state record and a full on lifer!
Reposted by Ben's Birds
Check out our cover article by @timjanicke.bsky.social and colleagues about the role of sexual selection in animal speciation. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic.... The beautiful illustration is by Katharina Bóth.
December 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Check out our cover article by @timjanicke.bsky.social and colleagues about the role of sexual selection in animal speciation. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic.... The beautiful illustration is by Katharina Bóth.
Reposted by Ben's Birds
Your daily Avian Hybrids story!
How many rosy-finch species are there in North America?
avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2021/06/19/h...
#ornithology
How many rosy-finch species are there in North America?
avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2021/06/19/h...
#ornithology
How many rosy-finch species are there in North America?
Phylogenomic analyses try to solve this taxonomic puzzle.
avianhybrids.wordpress.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Your daily Avian Hybrids story!
How many rosy-finch species are there in North America?
avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2021/06/19/h...
#ornithology
How many rosy-finch species are there in North America?
avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2021/06/19/h...
#ornithology
Reposted by Ben's Birds
the annual snowfall required for me to take your city seriously is like 11” minimum. nobody is using 300 days of sun to serve the lord
December 3, 2023 at 4:18 PM
the annual snowfall required for me to take your city seriously is like 11” minimum. nobody is using 300 days of sun to serve the lord
Reposted by Ben's Birds
Also there was this Rusty Blackbird, posing beautifully in the early morning light
November 29, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Also there was this Rusty Blackbird, posing beautifully in the early morning light
A benefit of heading north for Thanksgiving this year was that it gave me an opportunity to chase this Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at Spencer Peirce Little Farm in Newbury. My second for both Massachusetts and Essex County
November 29, 2025 at 8:01 PM
A benefit of heading north for Thanksgiving this year was that it gave me an opportunity to chase this Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at Spencer Peirce Little Farm in Newbury. My second for both Massachusetts and Essex County
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
North Atlantic Right Whale
Elfin-woods Warbler
White-tailed Ptarmigan
Bicknell's Thrush
Long-wattled Umbrellabird
North Atlantic Right Whale
Elfin-woods Warbler
White-tailed Ptarmigan
Bicknell's Thrush
Long-wattled Umbrellabird
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Serval
Caiman
Grey wolves
Whooping crane
African rock python
Serval
Caiman
Grey wolves
Whooping crane
African rock python
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Caribou
Ravens
Seals
Kea
Turkeys
Caribou
Ravens
Seals
Kea
Turkeys
November 29, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
North Atlantic Right Whale
Elfin-woods Warbler
White-tailed Ptarmigan
Bicknell's Thrush
Long-wattled Umbrellabird
North Atlantic Right Whale
Elfin-woods Warbler
White-tailed Ptarmigan
Bicknell's Thrush
Long-wattled Umbrellabird
Reposted by Ben's Birds
I love the Dropkick Murphys because "Irish-American" + "gen X" + "punk rocker who's been at it for 30 years" should be the formula for the most racist guy alive but instead Ken Casey is constantly giving interviews where he's like "fascists are demons from hell and that's where they belong"
November 19, 2025 at 3:50 PM
I love the Dropkick Murphys because "Irish-American" + "gen X" + "punk rocker who's been at it for 30 years" should be the formula for the most racist guy alive but instead Ken Casey is constantly giving interviews where he's like "fascists are demons from hell and that's where they belong"
Reposted by Ben's Birds
Join us! 🧬🪰🎉🔬
We are currently advertising two #PhD projects to study the #evolution, #development and #genomics of sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies.
Deadline for applying is Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Get in touch for more info!
We are currently advertising two #PhD projects to study the #evolution, #development and #genomics of sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies.
Deadline for applying is Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Get in touch for more info!
November 17, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Join us! 🧬🪰🎉🔬
We are currently advertising two #PhD projects to study the #evolution, #development and #genomics of sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies.
Deadline for applying is Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Get in touch for more info!
We are currently advertising two #PhD projects to study the #evolution, #development and #genomics of sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies.
Deadline for applying is Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Get in touch for more info!
Reposted by Ben's Birds
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Reposted by Ben's Birds
1/9 Metagenomics lets us read microbiomes in nature without cultivation, but writing (editing) them in their native context is still a major challenge.
Meet MetaEdit: a platform for pathway-scale metagenomic editing inside the gut microbiome. science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Meet MetaEdit: a platform for pathway-scale metagenomic editing inside the gut microbiome. science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Metagenomic editing of commensal bacteria in vivo using CRISPR-associated transposases
Although metagenomic sequencing has revealed a rich microbial biodiversity in the mammalian gut, methods to genetically alter specific species in the microbiome are highly limited. Here, we introduce ...
science.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:25 PM
1/9 Metagenomics lets us read microbiomes in nature without cultivation, but writing (editing) them in their native context is still a major challenge.
Meet MetaEdit: a platform for pathway-scale metagenomic editing inside the gut microbiome. science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Meet MetaEdit: a platform for pathway-scale metagenomic editing inside the gut microbiome. science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Ben's Birds
Happy partially muscled skeleton screaming by the perimeter fence day to all who celebrate. A solemn 30 second screaming before vanishing will take place at 11am.
November 14, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Happy partially muscled skeleton screaming by the perimeter fence day to all who celebrate. A solemn 30 second screaming before vanishing will take place at 11am.
Aurora! Naked eye and everything from Newton right now!
November 12, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Aurora! Naked eye and everything from Newton right now!