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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Jul 2

Where do immigrant great tits come from, and what consequences does immigration and dispersal have for genetic structure at fine scale? Read this thread from @andreaestandia.bsky.social describing new preprint on this topic

Andrea Estandía @andreaestandia.bsky.social · Jul 2

New preprint: Using pedigree data + genomics from 2,684 great tits in Wytham Woods, we explore spatial genetic structure and the role of dispersal, population turnover and immigration 🐦 With @sheldonbirds.bsky.social @nilomr.bsky.social @jon-slate.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Jul 1

Nice video explaining some of the Wytham tit fieldwork from @joewoodman.bsky.social. Anyone who has the good fortune to be taught by Joe will be lucky - he has a great gift for explanation

Joe Woodman @joewoodman.bsky.social · Jun 30

Really enjoying my new job teaching Biology in London, but the sunny weather has me missing the early Wytham mornings during the field season 🌳
An old video I made of the '23 field season working for @egioxford.bsky.social & @biology.ox.ac.uk takes me back: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-rm...

Wytham Woods: A Season in 3 Boxes

YouTube video by Joe Woodman

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Edward Grey Institute

David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · Jun 12

Happy to share our last work just published in @animalecology.bsky.social. With @claire-doutrelant.bsky.social and Peter Pearman. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @cnrs.fr @biology.ox.ac.uk

Global patterns of colouration complexity in the Paridae: Effects of climate and species characteristics across body regions

Variation in colour complexity in the Paridae is linked to climate, climate variability and several biotic factors. The strength of the associations is patch specific. Variables related to resource c...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Jun 5

After the usual Field Season hiatus, we will be having a few seminars this term, beginning with Dale Clayton from University of Utah talking about Ecology, Evolution and Endocrinology of Grooming in Birds. 4 pm today in the Board Room in Mansfield Road at @biology.ox.ac.uk

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Jun 4

Congratulations Denise on a great DPhil journey!

Denise Wawman @denisewawman.bsky.social · Jun 4

I passed my DPhil viva on Monday with minor corrections. Thank you to my examiners @jennycdunn.bsky.social and Sonya Clegg of @egioxford.bsky.social , and my supervisors @sheldonbirds.bsky.social and Adrian Smith of @biology.ox.ac.uk, and everyone else who has contributed...1/5

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Reposted by Edward Grey Institute

University of Oxford @ox.ac.uk · Jun 2

Researchers in @biology.ox.ac.uk and Wild Bioscience Ltd are to receive backing of a £6.7 million grant from the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) to pioneer a new synthetic biology approach which promises to improve yields in potato and wheat.

Read more ⬇️ #OxfordClimate

New ARIA award will aim to deliver a revolution in sustainable

Researchers in the University of Oxford’s Department of Biology and Wild Bioscience Ltd are to receive backing of a £6.7 million grant from the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) to

www.ox.ac.uk

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Reposted by Edward Grey Institute

Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Jun 2

Getting towards the end of the 2025 field season in Wytham, and will share some quantitative data on reproductive success etc, but one striking pattern is the current dominance of Blue Tits with a ratio of ~2:1, when as recently as 2005 the ratio was ~1:2

Histogram of the number of Blue Tit and Great Tit nests started in the standardised nestbox rounds at Wytham Woods from 1960-2025. Graph with blue bars for Blue Tit ranging from 140 to almost 500 pairs and with Great Tits ranging from 120 to 475 pairs.

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Jun 2

Getting towards the end of the 2025 field season in Wytham, and will share some quantitative data on reproductive success etc, but one striking pattern is the current dominance of Blue Tits with a ratio of ~2:1, when as recently as 2005 the ratio was ~1:2

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · May 29

As the Wytham tit (and drone, tree and winter moth) field season winds down (the end, like the start, gets earlier each year!) we posed for the traditional field team photo followed by an excellent lunch. A great team again. Some quantitative updates to follow next week... #suspense

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · May 26

Very useful stats from @davididiaquez.bsky.social, tracking ground covered checking nestboxes during a field season using Strava. If the estimates of 2.14km/box/season and 45.3 m elevation/box/season generalise, suggests that since 1960 fieldworkers have walked ~144,000 km, and climbed >3 million m

David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · May 26

Now that the field season is coming to an end (first day off since late April, I decided to compile some stats of what I have done during the last month.

To check the 208 (reduced a bit in mid-May), I have walked a total of 446km with an accumulated elevation gain of 9431m!

Map showing the tracks (yellow lights) followed to check my set of boxes (red dots) in Wytham Woods

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · May 26

I think we've all had days when we've felt like this...

Keith McMahon @mcmahok.bsky.social · May 26

One of our breeding females. She's lost practically every feather on her head. Not uncommon in our breeding birds. Could be due to a range of things; stresses and strains of raising a brood, feather mites could be involved too. She'll begin her annual moult soon and these feathers will be replaced

A balding female great tit, being held safely so as to be able to photograph it safely.

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Reposted by Edward Grey Institute

Keith McMahon @mcmahok.bsky.social · May 18

A rogues gallery of great tits captured today for crimes against research. The offence: breeding without proper ID. They've all been ringed (banded) and tagged (RFID ankle bracelets). They'll now be monitored as part of Wytham tit project. All released under caution. @egioxford.bsky.social #ukbirds

A selection of great tits captured in Wytham woods today as part of the Wytham tit project.
Top left: a male
Top right: a female
Middle left : a female
Middle right: a female
Bottom left : a female
Bottom right: a male

They are all being held safely with a woodland in the background

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · May 9

Congratulations Carys!! 🎉🥳

Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · May 8

Always one of the highlights of this job when a DPhil student passes their viva: Congratulations to Carys Jones (some of her work linked below, and here modeling an amazing @egioxford.bsky.social piñata) for a really special achievement!

academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

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Reposted by Edward Grey Institute

10th Hole-nesting Birds Conference @hnbirds2025.bsky.social · Apr 15

We’re pleased to announce the title of the plenary talk by Marta Maziarz @martamaziarz.bsky.social:

“Why do we need studies of hole-nesting birds from a primeval forest?”

We’re looking forward to finding out if the answer involves predation risk, cavity space, or something else! #ornithology

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Reposted by Edward Grey Institute

Andrea Estandía @andreaestandia.bsky.social · Apr 11

Proud mum to 936 hungry winter moth caterpillars 🐛 with 500 more on the way! Wish me luck

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Apr 9

March 4! Very early indeed

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Apr 9

Scottish Blue Tits build hairy nests!

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Apr 4

Many of us will be there - look forward to seeing you in September

10th Hole-nesting Birds Conference @hnbirds2025.bsky.social · Apr 1

Registration is now open for the Hole-nesting Birds Conference 2025! Researchers of all career stages are warmly invited to join us in the historic city of Olomouc, Czechia. #ornithology

[Link to register: registrace.rapl.upol.cz/Form/HoleNes...

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Apr 4

We love the occasional field trip - a favourite place is @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social where we spent a few days in March recharging batteries pre field season. Excellent food & company, cliff-top birding walks, a few early migrants like this Ring Ouzel & a bit of ringing training (here a Firecrest!)

Evening meal in the common room at Portland Bird Observatory

Walking along the West Cliffs on Portland, looking north towards the Dorset mainland

Male Ring Ouzel, Verne Common, Portland March 2025

Firecrest caught for ringing at Portland Bird Observatory, March 2025

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Apr 3

The first eggs have been laid in this, the 79th year of data collection in the Wytham Tit Project! First Blue Tit egg laid 2 April, first Great Tit 3 April. Looks like an early spring, with first oak leaves out, though the observed first egg dates fit the long-term pattern well
wythamtits.com#intro

A single Blue Tit egg in a complete nest inside a woodcrete nestbox in Wytham Woods, 3 April 2025

Early developing Oak in Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire, April 2025

Newly emerged Oak leaves, Wytham Woods, near Oxford, 3 April 2025

Figures showing the change in the date of the first egg in the Great Tit and Blue Tit populations at Wytham Woods, near Oxford 1960-2025, and the relationship between average March daily maximum temperature and date of the first egg in the population for each species. In each figure the line fitted is for the data for the 65 years from 1960-2024, with the value for 2025 shown as a green (Great Tit) or blue (Blue Tit) star. The two right hand panels compare the change over time and the response to March temperature in the two species; Great Tits show a slightly steeper response to temperature than Blue Tits, and are advancing the population first egg date slightly more quickly.

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · Apr 2

The woods are full of Great Tit song. A very appropriate time to read our recent paper on the demographic drivers of cultural evolution in Great Tit song work led by @nilomr.bsky.social with help from @andreaestandia.bsky.social, Ella Cole & Sara Keen
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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