Sparrows show increased stress when exposed to more numerous and more severe winter storms, says a Western study that tested the songbirds’ resilience to the effects of climate change.
Advanced Facility for Avian Research
Predator fear factor unlocks PTSD secrets
The fear predators inspire in their prey can leave long-lasting traces in the brains of wild animals, comparable to effects seen in humans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a Western-led study.
AFAR-filmed ‘The Messenger’ flies into theatres
Canadian Screen Award nominee The Messenger, which explores the uncertain fate of songbirds, and was partially filmed at Western’s Advanced Facility for Avian Research (AFAR), will show this weekend at London’s Hyland Cinema. Western Biology professor and AFAR...
Work takes flight with new idea on bird brains
Now that she’s here, Psychology graduate student Madeleine Brodbeck is ready to change gears.
Animal Care chair embraces new role as overseer
It’s not that its practices are particularly reticent – they’ve just been seldom discussed. That is, until now. Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry professors Nagalingam (Raj) Rajakumar and Timothy Regnault hope to engage members of the Western community – and...
Novel power source may take flight soon
The beating of a bird’s wings may soon be all the power Western Biology professor Chris Guglielmo needs to generate limitless data on his feathered friends.
AFAR researchers bring songbird plight to CBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-eKQMK0YwM Western researchers, in association with Canadian documentary filmmaker Su Rynard, are sounding the alarm about the mass depletion of songbirds in the Americas in a new film, debuting on CBC this week. SongbirdSOS debuts at...
Study: Battle of the sexes is for the birds
Tired jokes about men, women and sense of direction have existed since the dawn of time. A new study at Western, however, has shown female brown-headed cowbirds perform spatial tasks better than their male counterparts.
ORF announces backing for six projects
Six London-based research teams – five based at Western, one at the Lawson Health Research Institute – will share more than $7.4 million from the Ontario Research Fund-Research Infrastructure (ORF-RI) program to further their discoveries. London North Centre MPP Deb Matthews announced the grants this morning at Robarts Research Institute.
Advanced tech takes flight to track migratory birds
What exactly happens when migratory birds travel from Point A to Point B, and all the stops and starts along the way? Those are questions a new $3.4 million project led by Western’s Advanced Facility for Avian Research (AFAR) hopes to answer.
Researchers discover migratory birds burn protein as in-flight water source
Researchers from The University of Western Ontario have discovered that migratory songbirds burn their own muscles and organs to provide a water source during long, non-stop flights, which sometimes cover distances in the thousands of kilometres.