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Andrew Iwaniuk

@evoneuro.bsky.social

2.6K followers 1.7K following 1.8K posts

neurobiologist, ornithologist, scruffy looking nerfherder, social distancing since 1974, currently at U Lethbridge, Treaty 7 lands 🇨🇦 🇦🇺 stuff open access link for our book: https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/6000/Bird-Brains-and-BehaviorA-Synthesis

direct.mit.edu

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · Jul 2

In celebration of me avoiding becoming department chair for the next 3 years and receiving a new research chair, please enjoy one of my favourite parrot photos from two years ago.
Crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans)
#birds #birding #academicsky #WildOz #parrots 🪶🦜🇨🇦🇦🇺

A bright red parrot with a silver beak, blue cheeks and blue wing patches is perched on the top of a shrub against a cloudless blue sky.

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 3h

It’s a group equipment grant that I didn’t have time to take the lead on. Nothing I can do at this stage other than try to fix it as my students will need to access the equipment. Fun times…

Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 13h

For example, we could all stop listening to researchers who proclaim “better ways” of studying brain size in primates and maybe focus on getting better comparative data on brain structure to advance the field beyond opinions. I am so sick of armchair biologists adding no data of their own 🤬

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Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk

The Breakdown AB @thebreakdownab.bsky.social · 19h

“a new report shows teachers in Alberta are the most stressed in the world, and their workload is among the most demanding.”

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...

Alberta teachers among the world's most stressed, new report shows

ATA president Jason Schilling said the report shows his agency’s findings that teachers feel stressed out, overworked and underappreciated.

edmontonjournal.com

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 16h

There is a special place in hell for the dept colleague who wants to take the lead on a group grant and then sends you a half-arsed version of it to you 72 hours before the deadline so you feel compelled to drop everything to fix it.
#academicsky

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 17h

As a former resident of Melbourne, better public transit would also help a lot too. The train-bus-tram system there sucks, especially if you are more than a couple of km from the CBD.

Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 17h

Although most birders see grouse as rather spherical (or "borb-like"_, they do have quite long necks. This typically occurs when perched in a tree and anxious about a predator and helps them look more "branch-like".
#birds #birding #Alberta #wildlife 🪶🇨🇦

A mottled brown, grey, and white chicken-like bird is perched on a bare branch with its neck extended and crest up. This Ruffed Grouse is likely a female based on the lack of dark ruff feathers and the relatively short crest.

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Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk

Gene Anderson @geneanderson.bsky.social · 21h

#CBC Alberta at Noon program with a guest representing (and defending obvs) private charter schools had me yelling at the radio. If you’re wanting a private choice for education, then YOU should be paying for it, not w/taxpayer $. I will vote yes on the petition to defund Alberta charter schools.

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 1d

@mark-carney.bsky.social you might want to take note of this. One of your nation building plans could be supporting research across Canada rather than another oil pipeline that contributes further to climate change.
#Canada

Nature @nature.com · 1d

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.

go.nature.com/4hj9NNV

Economics Nobel prize won by researchers who showed how science boosts growth

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.

go.nature.com

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 1d

Wishing I was here instead of working on grant applications and admin paperwork this long weekend.
Taken last year at Buck Lake, Alberta, 🇨🇦
(*note the two grebes paddling past along the lake)
#Canada #birds

A fall scene of yellow-orange poplars and a few scattered spruce trees along a lakeshore. The lake is mostly calm, reflecting the colours of the fall leaves. Across the surface of the lake, two western grebes are swimming past.

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Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk

Dr swift parrot @teamswiftparrot.bsky.social · 1d

Look at how greenly gorgeous this little regent parrot is💚💚💚

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 1d

And their “quartering” flight allows them to localize sounds better than other hawks. In fact they do it as accurately as owls and evolved changes to their brains that are similar owls to enable accurate sound localization.
see @evolsara.bsky.social for more!
#themoreyouknow #birds

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 1d

The Spanish bilingual program has been amazing. We have been extremely happy with all the teachers and the program as a whole.

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 1d

And don’t forget our Spanish bilingual program

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Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk

Jocelyn Anderson Photography @jocelynanderson.bsky.social · 1d

A Sora looking for tasty things to eat in the shallow waters. Those long toes disperse the Sora's weight and help the bird walk through the marsh without sinking into the mud.

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 1d

I understand all too well. You probably have another couple of years to visit the Rockies before our idiot premier tries to make Alberta into a Republic (or worse).

Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 1d

This sounds like me!
😔

Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 1d

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"Our findings confirm that those with a history of COVID-19 may be especially at risk for a weakened sense of smell, an issue that is already underrecognized among the general population":

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

Millions could be living with hidden smell loss after COVID without knowing

A massive NIH-backed study reveals that COVID-19’s toll on smell may be more widespread and lasting than most realize. Even patients without noticeable symptoms often performed poorly on scent tests, ...

www.sciencedaily.com

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 1d

No worries! Lethbridge does not offer much and any extra time is far better spent in Canmore-Banff-Lake Louise at this time of year.

Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk

McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 1d

"Thank you for gathering here at what will be a state-of-the-art condo building: Muwekma Gardens. See what we did there? We took an Indigenous name and put 'Gardens' after it. It’s called whitewashing, and we in the real estate business are obsessed with it."
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/as-...

As an Indigenous Person, Here Are Some Land Acknowledgments I Hope Never Happen

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for a Luxury Condominium Building in Palo Alto Thank you for gathering here at the site of a what will be a state-of-the-a...

www.mcsweeneys.net

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 2d

You raise a very valid point!

Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 2d

I just saw that a new edition of Evolution of Nervous Systems is coming out (shop.elsevier.com/books/evolut...).

Despite being my main area of research, I was excluded this time, likely because of one of the editors. Charming behaviour by someone many look up to as an expert.

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 2d

Fun fact: as far as scientists know, blue phase Ross's geese are all Ross-Snow hybrids. This helps explain why they are so rare compared with blue phase Snow geese.

Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk

Chris Fisher @fisherspeaks.bsky.social · 6d

In October 2025 you can actually watch flocks of North America's cranes - both Sandhills and Whooping, wing their way south #SK #birds.

About 30 adult and young Whooping Cranes gather on a cultivated field on migration.

A flock of Sandhill Cranes rise up over a cultivated field.

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Reposted by Andrew Iwaniuk

Canadian Paintings @canadianpaintings.bsky.social · 2d

Untitled (Blue Jays)
Emily Kewageshig ~ Anishinaabe
2025

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 2d

A female Ruffed Grouse trying to look inconspicuous in a lodgepole pine tree in the Alberta foothills. You can tell this is a female because she has a shorter crest, no long ruff feathers, and they tend to be more skittish than males.
Happy 🇨🇦 Thanksgiving!
#birds #birding #wildlife 🪶

A mostly grey, chicken-like bird has its crest erect as it stands on an open pine branch. Around the grouse are several bare branches.

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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 2d

Although there is a built in physiological signal to migrate, many waterfowl only get pushed onwards by the availability of open water and food. For divers, they can stick around long term as long as there is open water. We often get mergansers and goldeneye here all winter if there is open water

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