Voting guineafowl, and why robins speak robin and not thrush

Are there as many swifts darting over your head as there have been in past summers? What about the swallows, are they coming back to the old buildings around you and are you tripping over sparrows on the pavements? Still being woken up by the dawn chorus – or is it quieter than it was a few years back?

Understanding and conservation go hand in hand and our three guests, with the help of EU research and innovation funding, are researching birds – their behaviours and how to help them survive.

David Wheatcroft is a behavioural ecologist and anassociate professor at Stockholm University’s Department of Zoology. He is keen to establish how vocal learning in birds leads to song differences across populations and species.

Damien Farine is associate professor at the Australian National University, and an affiliated scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. He is intrigued by the interplay between collective behaviour and the environment.

Nastasja Scholzis a geophysicist and senior scientist at LUP, an SME which specialises in landscape planning, nature conservation and environmental remote sensing. She is particularly interested in collaborating with dedicated people from various disciplines to explore ways to improve protection and restoration measures benefiting birds.