Joe Morford
@morfjoe.bsky.social
Into behavioural ecology / navigation / collective behaviour & more
Pinned
Joe Morford
@morfjoe.bsky.social
· Jun 24
The wisdom of crowds emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds
Larger flocks of migrating songbirds orient more accurately toward their population’s migratory direction than smaller flocks.
doi.org
The WISDOM OF CROWDS emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds!
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Reposted by Joe Morford
Excited to share my second published PhD chapter out now in Current Biology! @cellpress.bsky.social
🧵 below but tldr: birds are known to use the magnetic field to navigate. But is magnetism the whole story? We find that an amazing avian navigator doesn’t seem to rely on magnetic cues at all.
🧵 below but tldr: birds are known to use the magnetic field to navigate. But is magnetism the whole story? We find that an amazing avian navigator doesn’t seem to rely on magnetic cues at all.
Long-distance navigation is no easy feat, but for some seabirds it can involve traversing hundreds of kilometres of open ocean
New research led by @plewin.bsky.social shows that even if Manx shearwaters can sense the earth’s magnetism, they don't rely on it to get home 👇
New research led by @plewin.bsky.social shows that even if Manx shearwaters can sense the earth’s magnetism, they don't rely on it to get home 👇
Homing shearwaters don’t need magnetic sense to navigate
bit.ly
September 10, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Excited to share my second published PhD chapter out now in Current Biology! @cellpress.bsky.social
🧵 below but tldr: birds are known to use the magnetic field to navigate. But is magnetism the whole story? We find that an amazing avian navigator doesn’t seem to rely on magnetic cues at all.
🧵 below but tldr: birds are known to use the magnetic field to navigate. But is magnetism the whole story? We find that an amazing avian navigator doesn’t seem to rely on magnetic cues at all.
Reposted by Joe Morford
Long-distance navigation is no easy feat, but for some seabirds it can involve traversing hundreds of kilometres of open ocean
New research led by @plewin.bsky.social shows that even if Manx shearwaters can sense the earth’s magnetism, they don't rely on it to get home 👇
New research led by @plewin.bsky.social shows that even if Manx shearwaters can sense the earth’s magnetism, they don't rely on it to get home 👇
Homing shearwaters don’t need magnetic sense to navigate
bit.ly
September 10, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Long-distance navigation is no easy feat, but for some seabirds it can involve traversing hundreds of kilometres of open ocean
New research led by @plewin.bsky.social shows that even if Manx shearwaters can sense the earth’s magnetism, they don't rely on it to get home 👇
New research led by @plewin.bsky.social shows that even if Manx shearwaters can sense the earth’s magnetism, they don't rely on it to get home 👇
Reposted by Joe Morford
Day length may impose an ecological constraint on chick provisioning behaviour in a high-latitude #seabird. Read the full #RSOS paper: doi.org/10.1098/rsos... @katrina-siddiqi.bsky.social
August 21, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Day length may impose an ecological constraint on chick provisioning behaviour in a high-latitude #seabird. Read the full #RSOS paper: doi.org/10.1098/rsos... @katrina-siddiqi.bsky.social
Reposted by Joe Morford
Excited to publish the last paper from my PhD which explores how light can constrain chick provisioning behaviour in Manx shearwaters
Thanks so much to all my co-authors and to everyone who helped support this manuscript!
#seabird #science #research
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...
Thanks so much to all my co-authors and to everyone who helped support this manuscript!
#seabird #science #research
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...
Day length may impose an ecological constraint on chick provisioning behaviour in a high-latitude seabird
Abstract. Variation in daylight hours may shape light-dependent behaviours both across seasons and among latitudinally distinct breeding colonies. We inves
royalsocietypublishing.org
August 13, 2026 at 9:34 AM
Excited to publish the last paper from my PhD which explores how light can constrain chick provisioning behaviour in Manx shearwaters
Thanks so much to all my co-authors and to everyone who helped support this manuscript!
#seabird #science #research
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...
Thanks so much to all my co-authors and to everyone who helped support this manuscript!
#seabird #science #research
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...
Reposted by Joe Morford
Why live with your parents? Golden eagles 𝘤𝘢𝘯 be independent long before they actually 𝘢𝘳𝘦.
We tracked juvenile eagle flight in high detail and found that skill didn’t predict when they left home.
So what does? 🧵
📝 doi.org/10.1098/rsos.251574
@enourani.bsky.social @safilab.bsky.social
We tracked juvenile eagle flight in high detail and found that skill didn’t predict when they left home.
So what does? 🧵
📝 doi.org/10.1098/rsos.251574
@enourani.bsky.social @safilab.bsky.social
August 19, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Why live with your parents? Golden eagles 𝘤𝘢𝘯 be independent long before they actually 𝘢𝘳𝘦.
We tracked juvenile eagle flight in high detail and found that skill didn’t predict when they left home.
So what does? 🧵
📝 doi.org/10.1098/rsos.251574
@enourani.bsky.social @safilab.bsky.social
We tracked juvenile eagle flight in high detail and found that skill didn’t predict when they left home.
So what does? 🧵
📝 doi.org/10.1098/rsos.251574
@enourani.bsky.social @safilab.bsky.social
Reposted by Joe Morford
Why do some groups adopt a collective 'many-eyes' approach to vigilance, while in others sentinels keep watch for all? Our paper, led by @charliepilgrim.bsky.social, shows the shape of the cost function determines the optimal strategy.
@templetonworld.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@templetonworld.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Many-eyes and sentinels in selfish and cooperative groups | PNAS
Collective vigilance describes how animals in groups benefit from the predator detection
efforts of others. Empirical observations typically find e...
www.pnas.org
August 10, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Why do some groups adopt a collective 'many-eyes' approach to vigilance, while in others sentinels keep watch for all? Our paper, led by @charliepilgrim.bsky.social, shows the shape of the cost function determines the optimal strategy.
@templetonworld.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@templetonworld.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Joe Morford
Our (with @plewin.bsky.social) @currentbiology.bsky.social Dispatches is out today (doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...). Covering two recent papers about bird eye movements during flight, using homing pigeons as model species.
August 3, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Our (with @plewin.bsky.social) @currentbiology.bsky.social Dispatches is out today (doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...). Covering two recent papers about bird eye movements during flight, using homing pigeons as model species.
Reposted by Joe Morford
Excited to announce that my first paper is out now in @plosone.org! A huge thanks to my co-author @dorabiro.bsky.social. Check out our work on how conventions emerge in human dyads here: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Experimental emergence of conventions in human dyads
Conventions can be defined as arbitrary and self-sustaining practices that emerge in a population and facilitate solving coordination problems. A recent study traced the formation of simple convention...
journals.plos.org
July 29, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Excited to announce that my first paper is out now in @plosone.org! A huge thanks to my co-author @dorabiro.bsky.social. Check out our work on how conventions emerge in human dyads here: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Very excited to present this work tomorrow @isbe2026.bsky.social !!!
The WISDOM OF CROWDS emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds!
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
The wisdom of crowds emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds
Larger flocks of migrating songbirds orient more accurately toward their population’s migratory direction than smaller flocks.
doi.org
July 20, 2026 at 6:12 AM
Very excited to present this work tomorrow @isbe2026.bsky.social !!!
Reposted by Joe Morford
Big congrats to @morfjoe.bsky.social on this exciting new paper in Science Advances!
We provide evidence that larger flocks of migratory birds navigate more accurately toward their target direction than smaller ones
We provide evidence that larger flocks of migratory birds navigate more accurately toward their target direction than smaller ones
The WISDOM OF CROWDS emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds!
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
The wisdom of crowds emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds
Larger flocks of migrating songbirds orient more accurately toward their population’s migratory direction than smaller flocks.
doi.org
June 26, 2026 at 3:37 AM
Big congrats to @morfjoe.bsky.social on this exciting new paper in Science Advances!
We provide evidence that larger flocks of migratory birds navigate more accurately toward their target direction than smaller ones
We provide evidence that larger flocks of migratory birds navigate more accurately toward their target direction than smaller ones
Reposted by Joe Morford
Really pleased to see this paper out!
We show that collective intelligence emerges in wild birds, using radar traces from flocks of migratory hirundines.
Many wild social animals might benefit from similar processes, but we could also see Allee effects as migratory populations decline.
We show that collective intelligence emerges in wild birds, using radar traces from flocks of migratory hirundines.
Many wild social animals might benefit from similar processes, but we could also see Allee effects as migratory populations decline.
The WISDOM OF CROWDS emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds!
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
The wisdom of crowds emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds
Larger flocks of migrating songbirds orient more accurately toward their population’s migratory direction than smaller flocks.
doi.org
June 24, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Really pleased to see this paper out!
We show that collective intelligence emerges in wild birds, using radar traces from flocks of migratory hirundines.
Many wild social animals might benefit from similar processes, but we could also see Allee effects as migratory populations decline.
We show that collective intelligence emerges in wild birds, using radar traces from flocks of migratory hirundines.
Many wild social animals might benefit from similar processes, but we could also see Allee effects as migratory populations decline.
Reposted by Joe Morford
Great to see this one published! Worth a read if you’re into the role of collective behaviour in migration 🦅🌍 Very pleased how it came out, glad to be a (very) small part of it.
The WISDOM OF CROWDS emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds!
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
The wisdom of crowds emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds
Larger flocks of migrating songbirds orient more accurately toward their population’s migratory direction than smaller flocks.
doi.org
June 24, 2026 at 8:06 PM
Great to see this one published! Worth a read if you’re into the role of collective behaviour in migration 🦅🌍 Very pleased how it came out, glad to be a (very) small part of it.
The WISDOM OF CROWDS emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds!
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
The wisdom of crowds emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds
Larger flocks of migrating songbirds orient more accurately toward their population’s migratory direction than smaller flocks.
doi.org
June 24, 2026 at 6:31 PM
The WISDOM OF CROWDS emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds!
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Check out this work on navigation in shearwaters! These seabirds navigate long distances to forage and migrate, but here we focus on their navigation around their breeding islands, finding that birds could distinguish shorter routes home despite relatively small differences in travel distances!
🥳 New paper alert 🥳
The first of the data chapters from my DPhil, and the works from my first few field seasons on Skomer, is out!
"Shearwaters make efficient navigational decisions, even at very fine scales" - doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
A huge thank you to everyone involved 🩵
The first of the data chapters from my DPhil, and the works from my first few field seasons on Skomer, is out!
"Shearwaters make efficient navigational decisions, even at very fine scales" - doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
A huge thank you to everyone involved 🩵
Shearwaters make efficient navigational decisions, even at very fine scales
Summary: A fine-scale displacement of Manx shearwaters, a wide-ranging pelagic seabird, reveals that they preferentially adopt shorter homing routes following release at proximal sites, demonstrating ...
doi.org
April 30, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Check out this work on navigation in shearwaters! These seabirds navigate long distances to forage and migrate, but here we focus on their navigation around their breeding islands, finding that birds could distinguish shorter routes home despite relatively small differences in travel distances!
Reposted by Joe Morford
🥳 New paper alert 🥳
The first of the data chapters from my DPhil, and the works from my first few field seasons on Skomer, is out!
"Shearwaters make efficient navigational decisions, even at very fine scales" - doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
A huge thank you to everyone involved 🩵
The first of the data chapters from my DPhil, and the works from my first few field seasons on Skomer, is out!
"Shearwaters make efficient navigational decisions, even at very fine scales" - doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
A huge thank you to everyone involved 🩵
Shearwaters make efficient navigational decisions, even at very fine scales
Summary: A fine-scale displacement of Manx shearwaters, a wide-ranging pelagic seabird, reveals that they preferentially adopt shorter homing routes following release at proximal sites, demonstrating ...
doi.org
April 30, 2026 at 5:27 PM
🥳 New paper alert 🥳
The first of the data chapters from my DPhil, and the works from my first few field seasons on Skomer, is out!
"Shearwaters make efficient navigational decisions, even at very fine scales" - doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
A huge thank you to everyone involved 🩵
The first of the data chapters from my DPhil, and the works from my first few field seasons on Skomer, is out!
"Shearwaters make efficient navigational decisions, even at very fine scales" - doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
A huge thank you to everyone involved 🩵
Reposted by Joe Morford
Can chimpanzees prepare for mutually exclusive possibilities individually or collectively?
Check out our new paper in Phil Trans @royalsociety.org, led by @drelizabethwarren.bsky.social, and funded by @templetonworld.bsky.social!
And stay tuned for the next paper, clarifying the mechanism!
Check out our new paper in Phil Trans @royalsociety.org, led by @drelizabethwarren.bsky.social, and funded by @templetonworld.bsky.social!
And stay tuned for the next paper, clarifying the mechanism!
New paper alert! 📢 Out now, fully #openaccess, in a special issue of Phil Trans on the evolution of collective intelligence (1/4) royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...
Chimpanzees spontaneously prepare for mutually exclusive possibilities, and collective context strengthens this behaviour
Abstract. In both humans and non-human animals, collectives can sometimes overcome individual cognitive biases or shortcomings to execute more rational beh
royalsocietypublishing.org
April 17, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Can chimpanzees prepare for mutually exclusive possibilities individually or collectively?
Check out our new paper in Phil Trans @royalsociety.org, led by @drelizabethwarren.bsky.social, and funded by @templetonworld.bsky.social!
And stay tuned for the next paper, clarifying the mechanism!
Check out our new paper in Phil Trans @royalsociety.org, led by @drelizabethwarren.bsky.social, and funded by @templetonworld.bsky.social!
And stay tuned for the next paper, clarifying the mechanism!
Check out our new paper on logical reasoning in chimpanzees, led by @drelizabethwarren.bsky.social!!
Chimpanzees spontaneously prepare for mutually exclusive possibilities, and collective context strengthens this behaviour
Abstract. In both humans and non-human animals, collectives can sometimes overcome individual cognitive biases or shortcomings to execute more rational beh
royalsocietypublishing.org
April 17, 2026 at 2:23 PM
Check out our new paper on logical reasoning in chimpanzees, led by @drelizabethwarren.bsky.social!!
Reposted by Joe Morford
New paper alert! 📢 Out now, fully #openaccess, in a special issue of Phil Trans on the evolution of collective intelligence (1/4) royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...
Chimpanzees spontaneously prepare for mutually exclusive possibilities, and collective context strengthens this behaviour
Abstract. In both humans and non-human animals, collectives can sometimes overcome individual cognitive biases or shortcomings to execute more rational beh
royalsocietypublishing.org
April 16, 2026 at 8:32 PM
New paper alert! 📢 Out now, fully #openaccess, in a special issue of Phil Trans on the evolution of collective intelligence (1/4) royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...
Reposted by Joe Morford
April 16, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Joe Morford
Intelligent agents can still take irrational actions and, sometimes, groups of animals are better at making good decisions than their constituent individuals.
Read the latest article from the TWCF-funded project, “Rationality and Reason beyond the Individual“ project below.
Read the latest article from the TWCF-funded project, “Rationality and Reason beyond the Individual“ project below.
Does being in a collective buffer against individual forgetting, when it comes to navigation?
New paper by Joe Morford: we find that collectives of homing pigeons remember their routes better than individuals
@dorabiro.bsky.social @richardpmann.bsky.social
Thanks to @templetonworld.bsky.social !
New paper by Joe Morford: we find that collectives of homing pigeons remember their routes better than individuals
@dorabiro.bsky.social @richardpmann.bsky.social
Thanks to @templetonworld.bsky.social !
Collective wisdom emerges in pigeons through forgetting randomly-different information over time doi.org/10.1038/s415...
March 19, 2026 at 11:44 AM
Intelligent agents can still take irrational actions and, sometimes, groups of animals are better at making good decisions than their constituent individuals.
Read the latest article from the TWCF-funded project, “Rationality and Reason beyond the Individual“ project below.
Read the latest article from the TWCF-funded project, “Rationality and Reason beyond the Individual“ project below.
Migrated to Bluesky as I'm excited to share our new paper on collective route memories in homing pigeons: rdcu.be/e73Qk
We found flocks remembered old routes better than pigeons flying alone, likely because different birds remembered different parts of the route!
We found flocks remembered old routes better than pigeons flying alone, likely because different birds remembered different parts of the route!
March 18, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Migrated to Bluesky as I'm excited to share our new paper on collective route memories in homing pigeons: rdcu.be/e73Qk
We found flocks remembered old routes better than pigeons flying alone, likely because different birds remembered different parts of the route!
We found flocks remembered old routes better than pigeons flying alone, likely because different birds remembered different parts of the route!
Reposted by Joe Morford
Does being in a collective buffer against individual forgetting, when it comes to navigation?
New paper by Joe Morford: we find that collectives of homing pigeons remember their routes better than individuals
@dorabiro.bsky.social @richardpmann.bsky.social
Thanks to @templetonworld.bsky.social !
New paper by Joe Morford: we find that collectives of homing pigeons remember their routes better than individuals
@dorabiro.bsky.social @richardpmann.bsky.social
Thanks to @templetonworld.bsky.social !
Collective wisdom emerges in pigeons through forgetting randomly-different information over time doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Collective route memories emerge through differential forgetting of navigational information in homing pigeons - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Collective route memories emerge through differential forgetting of navigational information in homing pigeons
doi.org
March 18, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Does being in a collective buffer against individual forgetting, when it comes to navigation?
New paper by Joe Morford: we find that collectives of homing pigeons remember their routes better than individuals
@dorabiro.bsky.social @richardpmann.bsky.social
Thanks to @templetonworld.bsky.social !
New paper by Joe Morford: we find that collectives of homing pigeons remember their routes better than individuals
@dorabiro.bsky.social @richardpmann.bsky.social
Thanks to @templetonworld.bsky.social !
Reposted by Joe Morford
Collective wisdom emerges in pigeons through forgetting randomly-different information over time doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Collective route memories emerge through differential forgetting of navigational information in homing pigeons - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Collective route memories emerge through differential forgetting of navigational information in homing pigeons
doi.org
March 15, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Collective wisdom emerges in pigeons through forgetting randomly-different information over time doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Joe Morford
You’ve probably heard of collective intelligence but what about collective memory? 🧠🐘
New paper in press, led by Joe Morford! We investigated whether collective decision making in pigeons can rescue long-term memory of learned homing routes 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New paper in press, led by Joe Morford! We investigated whether collective decision making in pigeons can rescue long-term memory of learned homing routes 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Collective route memories emerge through differential forgetting of navigational information in homing pigeons - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Collective route memories emerge through differential forgetting of navigational information in homing pigeons
www.nature.com
March 17, 2026 at 5:32 PM
You’ve probably heard of collective intelligence but what about collective memory? 🧠🐘
New paper in press, led by Joe Morford! We investigated whether collective decision making in pigeons can rescue long-term memory of learned homing routes 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New paper in press, led by Joe Morford! We investigated whether collective decision making in pigeons can rescue long-term memory of learned homing routes 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...