Welcome to the website of the bird behavioural ecology research group at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge. Over the last ten years our group has pursued behavioural, ecological and evolutionary work on birds and other animals on all seven continents (five at present!), as well as numerous oceanic islands.

Please click on the names below for personal homepages with details of individual research and publications.

Click here for a group photo (May 2007)
Click here for a list of recent publications from the group

 

More behaviour and ecology at Cambridge:

See also the
Behaviour and Evolution Group,
led by Rufus Johnstone, the
Large Animal Research Group,
led by Tim Clutton-Brock, the Evolutionary Ecology Group led by by Andrea Manica, and the Conservation Science Group







Principal Investigators
 
Mike Brooke Conservation, seabird biology and island birds
Nick Davies Behavioural ecology, cuckoo-host co-evolution, mating systems
Camilla Hinde Parent-offspring interactions
Rebecca Kilner Social evolution, co-evolution, sensory ecology and communication
Claire Spottiswoode Co-evolution, life history evolution, African ornithology
Martin Stevens Sensory ecology, visual perception and signalling
 
Post-docs
 
Sheena Cotter Ageing and reproductive investment in burying beetles
 
PhD Students
   
Martina Boerner Brood prarasitism in Jacobin Cuckoos, plumage polymorphism in the Common Buzzard
Lucy Browning Individual variation in cooperative behaviour
Savrina Carrizo Modelling extinction risk
Mike Finnie Family conflicts in hornbills
Tom Flower Deceptive vocal mimcry in drongos
Mary Caswell Stoddard The evolution of eggshell colour and pattern
Rose Thorogood Begging behaviour and paternal care in the Hihi
Jo Venables Adult sex ratios in birds
Leila Walker Avian plumage colouration
 
Graduate Research Assistants
 
Susanna Cox Bird vision and adaptive coloration
 

Recent Members
   
Martin Brammah (PhD) Speciation in lizards
Daniela Canestrari (PhD) Cooperative breeding in crows
Caroline Dingle (PhD) Duetting in Neotropical wrens
Patrick Fitze (Post-doc) Population dynamics, dispersal and reproductive systems
Vicky Jones (PhD) Ecology and conservation of Cyprus Warblers
Oliver Krüger (URF) Raptor life history strategies, cuckoo-host co-evolution
Nick Macgregor (PhD) Bird colouration
Joah Madden (Post-doc) Brood parasitism, evolution of sexual ornaments in bowerbirds
Helen Markland (PhD) Maternal effects and the resolution of family conflicts in Blackbirds
Ben Mines (PhD) Brood parasitism in South African whydahs
Kat Munro (PhD) Sexual conflict in the Grey Fantail
Rob Pople (PhD) Conservation of the White-winged Nightjar in Paraguay
Suhel Quader (Post-doc) Brood parasitism, sexual selection, and ecology of invasive species
Andy Radford  (Post-doc) Conflict resolution in group-living species
Jane Reid (Post-doc) Ecology and genetics of bird populations
Nat Seddon (Post-doc) Bird song and speciation in the Neotropics
Helen Temple (PhD) Ecology and conservation of a West Indian thrasher
Nikolaus von Engelhardt (Post-doc)  Maternal effects, sex allocation and behavioural endocrinology
Richard Ward (PhD) Parental care in burying beetles
Justin Welbergen (Post-doc) Coevolutionary arms-races; social organisation;climatic extremes
Helen Withers (PhD) Parental food calls and chick behaviour
   
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, U. K.
Behavioural Ecology Group site maintained by C. Spottiswoode (cns26 at cam.ac.uk)