Genetics Archives - British Ornithologists' Union

Scattering genes in Xantus’s Hummingbird

By Jente Ottenburghs (he/him)|2023-11-15T10:10:44+00:0016 Nov 2023|bird movements, connectivity, dispersal, DNA sequencing, gene flow, Genetics, hummingbirds, population structure|

Genetic analyses reveal female-mediated gene flow from north to south.

Why do birds have different eye colours?

By Eamon Corbett|2023-10-16T07:17:53+00:0016 Oct 2023|colour mutations, colouration, early-career researcher, evolution, Genetics|

Bird irises come in a rainbow of colours – but what are the causes behind them?

The genetic tale of Aquatic Warblers

By Justyna Kubacka|2023-07-26T12:48:29+00:0031 Jul 2023|birds of conservation concern, gene flow, genetic diversity, Genetics, passerines, wetlands|

A rare songbird harbours low diversity but excels in gene flow

How different is a subspecies?

By Cheryl Dykstra|2023-04-16T19:28:07+00:0024 Apr 2023|avian biology, DNA sequencing, fieldwork, gene flow, Genetics, population structure, raptors|

Researchers find genetic differences in a distinctive subspecies of a common raptor

Doves of a feather flock together

By Will Smith|2023-04-12T10:20:50+00:0013 Apr 2023|bird assemblages, citizen science, colouration, connectivity, distribution, early-career researcher, ECR, feathers, fieldwork, Genetics, hybridization, hybrids, IBIS, island birds, plumage, population structure, range expansion|

Can we distinguish Rock Doves from feral pigeons using plumage?

Do shrub-steppe passerines share food?

By Julia Zurdo|2023-03-10T18:26:50+00:0013 Mar 2023|diet, diet composition, DNA barcoding, early-career researcher, ecology, ECR, fieldwork, Genetics, IBIS, invertebrates, passerines|

Using DNA metabarcoding to describe diet and niche overlap in a steppe passerine assemblage

Robins on East Asian islands

By Shin-Ichi Seki|2023-03-01T10:38:05+00:002 Mar 2023|alpine birds, distribution, diversity, DNA barcoding, DNA sequencing, evolution, fieldwork, forest birds, Genetics, IBIS, island birds, migrant, passerines, population structure, populations|

Genetic differentiation in volcanic islands branching off from the mainland

No parental supervision required

By Jente Ottenburghs (he/him)|2023-02-16T15:17:35+00:0023 Feb 2023|annual cycle, bio-logging, fledglings, Genetics, Migration, movement, overwintering, Seabirds, tracking|

How do Manx Shearwaters develop their migration routes?

The Hidden Past of the Macleay Kākāpō

By Lindsey Gray|2023-01-17T09:51:56+00:0016 Jan 2023|avian biology, forest birds, Genetics, island birds, museum collections, natural history, parrot, population divergence, Psittaciformes|

Can 21st century science decipher the murky origins of a collection of 19th century endangered parrots?

Genes of a feather flock together?

By Kurt Burnham|2022-12-18T10:58:09+00:002 Jan 2023|avian biology, bird assemblages, colonial birds, Genetics, global change, IBIS, island birds, phenotypic variation, physiology, population structure, puffins, Seabirds, Tundra, waterbirds|

An unexpected correlation between body size and subspecies designation within a single puffin colony in High Arctic Greenland. A result of climate change?