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Danni Thompson

@scottishseabird.bsky.social

770 followers 520 following 21 posts

PhD researcher - drivers of individual specialisation in foraging behaviour with #FalklandsShags 🐦 | seabirds | photography | crafting

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Dec 6

I study the diet & foraging behaviour of #FalklandsShags, specifically looking at what might drive some birds to be specialists in these traits. A wonderful & understudied species!

A Falklands shag sitting on it's nest with rockhopper chicks in the background

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Reposted by Danni Thompson

PhULMaR @phulmar.bsky.social · Jul 9

Hello! We're now on #Bluesky! PhULMaR is a PhD lab group for those around the British and Irish Isles studying birds that use the #marine #environment. Currently headed by @bardseyben.bsky.social @dianepavat.bsky.social, we meet online on the last Friday of each month. Get in touch to join!

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Reposted by Danni Thompson

Paige Byerly, PhD @paigebyerly.bsky.social · Jun 3

A female Western Gull was recorded riding 150km in a garbage truck from San Francisco to a compost facility in Central CA, probably to forage. TWICE. An innovator, an icon, a genius.

This is one of my favorite @waterbirdsociety.bsky.social papers I've ever handled as managing editor #ornithology

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Reposted by Danni Thompson

Holly Niven @hollyniven.bsky.social · Apr 4

Out now:
A new predictive method: Towards biologically realistic estimates of home range and spatial exposure for colonial animals. With @jasonmatth.bsky.social, @jwejeglinski.bsky.social and others.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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Reposted by Danni Thompson

Robin Hayward 🌳 🏳️‍⚧️ @canopyrobin.com · Apr 10

The science behind the #SciArt!

Lots of flowers have colours that can't be seen within the human visible spectrum. So I made a pin badge that changes colour to reveal a (visible) rainbow using the uv in sunlight! canopyrobin.etsy.com/listing/1885...

A dandelion flower. Half is coloured as normal (yellow) and half is coloured based on the different way it is seen in the Ultraviolet spectrum. This half has a red centre and a white ring around the edge.

An enamel pin in the shape of a flower with six petals, two leaves, and a plant pot. It is shown twice to illustrate colour change. On the left, the petals are white and it is indoors. On the right, the petals are pastel shades of the LGBTQ+ pride flag and it is outdoors in sunshine.

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Apr 9

Thanks so much, Sophie ☺️ Really lovely to see you too!

Reposted by Danni Thompson

The Seabird Group @theseabirdgroup.bsky.social · Apr 8

If you haven't yet watched our recent panel discussion on #seabird careers & would like to, give us a DM & we'll send you the link 🍿

If you'd like access to events like this in the future, remember you can join the Seabird Group for only £15/ year as a student! 🕊️🎟️

Pic: @scottishseabird.bsky.social

Great Skua chick and egg being measured with calipers, taken by Danni Thompson.

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Reposted by Danni Thompson

Steffen Oppel @steffopp.bsky.social · Apr 7

NEW BLOG in #ornithology shows why we need dedicated people on #islands to count #seabirds - we can't do it from space: buff.ly/fmntPtk The corresponding paper is here: buff.ly/0D2gi1F

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Apr 7

What a great few days at #BOU2025. Loads of interesting & inclusive science, & a really supportive & friendly bunch of people. A great place to give the first talk of my PhD on #FalklandsShags & delighted to have been highly commended for my Bluesky thread 👇🏼

📸: @vulturecat.bsky.social

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Steffen Oppel @steffopp.bsky.social · Apr 5

NEW JOB in #ornithology to study the diet of #seabirds in Norway: buff.ly/vOjoAfc . Application deadline 7 April 2025.

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Alex Brighten @alexbrighten1.bsky.social · Apr 3

Uncovering Alpine swift foraging behaviour using GPS tracking & DNA metabarcoding! For the first time we describe Alpine swift foraging movements and what factors impact foraging trips, short-term range area size, & the prey diversity fed to nestlings #BOU2025 #ornithology 1/7

Presentation title slide showing Alpine swift in the foreground (photo credit: Reto Burri) and the Swiss town of Solothurn in the background with weather imminent.

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Reposted by Danni Thompson

Natalia (Nat) Zielonka @natbzielonka.bsky.social · Apr 4

Please please please fill this out 🙏 we are trying to understand people’s perspectives of hosting scientific conferences on Bluesky 🦋 and everyone’s viewpoint is super helpful

#BOU2025 #ornithology 🪶

Please share with your networks / feeds

BOU @bou.org.uk · Apr 3

Did you follow #BOU2025 on Bluesky?

💬 If so, how did you find it? If not, why not?

Please take 5 minutes 🕰️ to complete our survey: forms.gle/dVNDYs8wg5...

Your views will inform the future of our Bluesky conferences!

#ornithology 🪶🧪 #conservationscience 🌎

Please repost!

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Apr 3

7/7 Huge thanks to @thomasbodey.bsky.social @bescott-abdn.bsky.social Ana Payo-Payo, Al Baylis, @raorben.bsky.social Amandine Gamble, @isotopesuk.bsky.social @ronamcgill10.bsky.social @jasonisotopes.bsky.social @quadratdtp.bsky.social @saerifi.bksy.social @uniofaberdeen.bsky.social

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Apr 3

6/7 Key takeaway: it’s important to remember that all populations are made up of unique individuals & this ultimately affects the results & conclusions of our research; we especially need to consider this when making inferences from studies at the population or even species level.

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Apr 3

5/7 Repeatability is really useful for comparing populations & addressing wider Qs, & indeed, we found specialists within our generalist spp. But only when considering multiple traits at the individual level can we start to identify nuance in variation, even for colonies with little repeatability.

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Apr 3

4/7 Using Kvalseth’s Coefficient of Variation to study individual repeatability, we found evidence of repeatability & variation among individuals & traits at all colonies.

If only studying one colony/trait we'd reach different conclusions about how repeatable individuals are within a population.

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Apr 3

3/7 We deployed GPS & TDR tags to explore foraging behaviour & collected feather & blood samples to explore diet through stable isotope analysis (d13C & d15N).

We extracted metrics & analysed repeatability using rptR, finding differences in repeatability both among & within colonies.

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Apr 3

2/7 By studying breeding #FalklandsShags at several colonies we asked: Are specialist birds consistently specialist across a range of traits such as diet & foraging behaviour, or does it simply depend on the trait being studied?

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Apr 3

1/7 Variation between individuals is important as it determines how adaptable to change a population might be. Even generalist spp are often comprised of specialist individuals, but specialisation is often only studied across single traits which is limiting.
#BOU2025 #ornithology #seabirds #ecology

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Apr 2

Really great first day & a half at #BOU2025. Lots of interesting & superbly presented science so far - looking forward to hearing more tomorrow & sharing some of my own work on #FalklandsShags.

A pair of Canada geese resting in the sunshine at the University of Nottingham

Reposted by Danni Thompson

Leah Gray @leahgray.bsky.social · Apr 2

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🔍Investigating drivers of wader chick survival on Orkney

Lapwing chicks face high mortality—our radiotracking study in 2024 explored survival rates, habitat effects & predation risks. What did we find? 🧵#BOU2025 #ornithology

Picture of a lapwing chick with a small radiotag attached to the back. Map of mainland Orkney above showing the location of study sites, which are in various areas across the island.

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Reposted by Danni Thompson

Jared Wilson @wilsonjaredm.bsky.social · Mar 27

Two Senior Marine Ornithologist posts at the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government. Deadline for applications is 21/04/2025, 23:59 #seabirds #ornithology #renewables
fa-evxn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Senior Marine Ornithologist

Do you want to use your scientific and research expertise to play an important role in decisions made on the sustainable delivery of marine renewables and the marine environment?

fa-evxn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com

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Danni Thompson @scottishseabird.bsky.social · Mar 6

Rose-ringed parakeet hanging around Larbert Loch nr Falkirk this week. Never seen one in the area before. #BirdingScotland

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Alice Risely @alice-risely.bsky.social · Mar 4

We're getting some cracking photo submissions to the Gulls Eating Stuff project! Here are a few showing gulls predating a coot chick, a vole, a mole (!) and a GBBG that has just killed an adult moorhen. Keep 'em coming! Submit your photos of gulls eating stuff to citsci.org/projects/gul....

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Reposted by Danni Thompson

Cecilia Nilsson @cnilsson.science · Mar 5

Weather radars continuously register the movements of billions of animals in the air! We have now published datasets covering large parts of Europe, providing an overview of the aerial habitat in a way no other method can.

Data is available on Alofdata.eu , see our blogpost:
go.nature.com/3F0wQ0L

European data on animals aloft now publicly available

Weather radars detect more than weather, they also continuously register the movements of billions of animals (birds, bats, insects) in the air. Those data are now publicly available for large parts o...

go.nature.com

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Rob van Bemmelen @robvanbemmelen.bsky.social · Mar 5

New #OA paper in the #seabird journal (@theseabirdgroup.bsky.social)! We GPS-tracked Black-legged #Kittiwakes breeding on an offshore platform in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. In short, we show that they have a short foraging range compared to coastal... 1/6
www.seabirdgroup.org.uk/seabird-37

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