Katja Kochvar

(1/6) I had the great honor and pleasure of working with #Atlanticpuffins for my master’s thesis at @MemorialU. The driving question behind my research was: what is the adaptive function of their conspicuously colorful bill? #AnimBehav2023

The Stoddard Lab @Princeton is recruiting one or more postdocs to work on diverse topics related to avian structural color, color vision, advanced imaging, and/or hummingbird-plant dynamics. For details: puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/apply… marycstoddard.com

Sign my petition to alleviate toll burdens on commuting students!! I appreciate your support :) chng.it/c7SyyCfY9J

The votes have been tallied! Tune in to the latest Warblers Podcast to find out which bird won the Battle of the Beaks! #WarblersPodcast @gotcha__katja @UntamedBirding  @andresjimo @halibirdnerd @WPCWild911 Listen here: birdscanada.org/warblerspodcast

6 beaks enter the ring, only 1 will be crowned BEST BEAK! Explore some of the weirdest & most fascinating bird beaks with experts around the world. Listen to Part 1: birdscanada.org/warblers-podca… @WPCWild911 @TheTorontoZoo  @ncc_cnc  @CouchConserv @gotcha__katja  @cpaws  @VisEcolMun

Absolutely no reason for the Biden admin to do this. It is indefensible and embarrassing. The admin can still walk this back, and they should. It’s a disgrace

@BigBirdMegan AW scamp i miss u

I love my little Scamp ♥️

@todd_obrien @MemorialU @Naturalist_Sam @TheBroadcastCBC Cool!! Dm me

@gotcha__katja @MemorialU @Naturalist_Sam @TheBroadcastCBC would live to chat with you about this…!

(1/6) I had the great honor and pleasure of working with #Atlanticpuffins for my master’s thesis at @MemorialU. The driving question behind my research was: what is the adaptive function of their conspicuously colorful bill? #AnimBehav2023

@BRapai @VisEcolMun I only looked at color change during the chick reading period, so it's hard to say what color might function as earlier in the breeding season I definitely think there's some pair communication going on though, since that's the individual they interact most with!

@ran777no Sure! Dm me

@gotcha__katja Can I contact you via email

You know it’s cold outside when you go outside and it’s cold.

@MuktaWatve @VisEcolMun And especially within a breeding season! Our lab is also exploring whether morphological features of the bill might be more stabile across years and could play a role in individual/mate recognition. There's certainly lots more to explore here!

@BirdSongLab Thank you! Hoping to combine some visual and acoustic signaling in my future work 😄

@gotcha__katja Thanks! I love your paper on song maturation in song sparrows! Keep up the good work

@Cassie_Raby @VisEcolMun It was an incredible experience, but came with it's challenges! Since I didn't find a link to body condition (with a dataset of hundreds of individuals!), foraging ability might be the next quality indicator to test, especially as it relates to the fleshy rosette.

@gotcha__katja @VisEcolMun I love puffins. It must be super cool to work with them. If colouration has a link to body condition, do you think parasite burden might play a role?

@Naturalist_Sam @RaulZabBelen Especially because puffin burrows are like swiss cheese...they all end up connecting to another burrow at some point!

@gotcha__katja @RaulZabBelen Interesting! Guillemots take 2 weeks (if I remember correctly) to relay an egg after losing the first one, but will incubate a dead egg for aaaaaages before realising nothing will happen. I think a second bird being involved is probably more likely.

@MuktaWatve @VisEcolMun Puffins begin reproducing at age 4-5 and generally form life-long pair bonds, so mate choice is unlikely to be the only reason why the colorful bill is continually produced year after year.

@MuktaWatve @VisEcolMun A great question! It's difficult to study because puffins tend to be vulnerable to disturbance early in the breeding season, but I wouldn't be surprised if it played a role in choosing a mate and/or maintaining the pair bond.

@BirdSongLab Peak offspring mass was most broadly influenced by maternal color, with hue VIS of the cere and rosette, along with the achieved saturation of the mandible all being retained in my final model!

@gotcha__katja Nice! What aspects of maternal bill color predicted chick growth?

@Naturalist_Sam @RaulZabBelen Honestly not sure! Would be super interesting to sex them and see who they're from.. I think it's possible females could lay a second 🥚 if the first didn't work out, but who knows!

@gotcha__katja @RaulZabBelen Presumably from a random female that abandoned/was kicked out?

@Naturalist_Sam @RaulZabBelen Wild right?! We've seen it a couple of times, but usually one is cool (and thus unlikely to hatch)

@gotcha__katja @RaulZabBelen Two eggs?!?