Why passerine birds vary in eye colour

12 Jan 2017

Dr Gabrielle Davidson recently had two new papers published. The first article, published in Biology Letters investigates why passerine birds vary in eye colour by reconstructing the evolutionary history of these colour traits. Birds that did not nest in cavities (e.g. open-cup nesters) were under strong selection to evolve dark eyes. This suggests that the need to camouflage from predators may constrain the evolution of brightly coloured eyes in birds. Read more here: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/13/1/20160783 The second article, published in Scientific Reports shows that Juvenile Eurasian jays start to develop an understanding of how objects support one another by 6 months of age, independently of early life experiences. Read more here: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep40062   From Top Left to Right: Dicrurus adsimilis, Lamprotornis chloropterus, Parus guineensis © Tony Fulford. Garrulus glandarius © Julia Leijola. Corvus monedula © Gabrielle Davidson. Corvus frugilegus © Michael Lukas.