Arjun Amar
@arjundevamar.bsky.social
Associate Professor | FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology | @Fitztitute | University of Cape Town - Ornithology - Raptors - NFFC - surfing - HumanWildlifeConflicts #RaptorResearch feed
he/him
https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=Ryl9kMIAA
he/him
https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=Ryl9kMIAA
Red Kite nesting in Sherwood Forest! I grew up about 30mins away from there. I could never of dreamt of being able to see them when I was a kids. So amazing that kids around there will now be able to experience them. Well done to all involved with there recovery.
October 26, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Red Kite nesting in Sherwood Forest! I grew up about 30mins away from there. I could never of dreamt of being able to see them when I was a kids. So amazing that kids around there will now be able to experience them. Well done to all involved with there recovery.
A friendly visitor to our outdoor kitchen in Costa Rica (white faced/nose Coati). Lovely creature.
October 22, 2025 at 12:51 PM
A friendly visitor to our outdoor kitchen in Costa Rica (white faced/nose Coati). Lovely creature.
Raptor Research Foundation conference in Costa Rica kicks off. Looking forward to a Great program of talks put together by Sophie Garcia-Heras and Becca McCabe #RaptorResearch #Ornithology #RRF25 #costarica
October 15, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Raptor Research Foundation conference in Costa Rica kicks off. Looking forward to a Great program of talks put together by Sophie Garcia-Heras and Becca McCabe #RaptorResearch #Ornithology #RRF25 #costarica
Exciting news🗞️ - The FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology 🎓 has joined BlueSky 👍 and has set up the 'African Ornithology' feed - please follow @africanornithology.bsky.social and please tag your papers 📝 or other relevant posts with #AfricanOrnithology to appear in that feed.
May 9, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Exciting news🗞️ - The FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology 🎓 has joined BlueSky 👍 and has set up the 'African Ornithology' feed - please follow @africanornithology.bsky.social and please tag your papers 📝 or other relevant posts with #AfricanOrnithology to appear in that feed.
Delighted to promote this year's African Raptor Leadership Grant - an amazing opportunity for an African National to undertake an MSc on #RaptorResearch. Including on the FitzPatrick Institute's Conservation Biology MSc course.
#Ornithology 🪶
raptorresearchfoundation.org/grants-award...
#Ornithology 🪶
raptorresearchfoundation.org/grants-award...
April 15, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Delighted to promote this year's African Raptor Leadership Grant - an amazing opportunity for an African National to undertake an MSc on #RaptorResearch. Including on the FitzPatrick Institute's Conservation Biology MSc course.
#Ornithology 🪶
raptorresearchfoundation.org/grants-award...
#Ornithology 🪶
raptorresearchfoundation.org/grants-award...
Today at #BOU2025, I will be presenting our work on methods to explore raptor diet using web-sourced images. This includes work in these papers:
academic.oup.com/condor/artic...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
academic.oup.com/condor/artic...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
April 2, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Today at #BOU2025, I will be presenting our work on methods to explore raptor diet using web-sourced images. This includes work in these papers:
academic.oup.com/condor/artic...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
academic.oup.com/condor/artic...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Pheasant carnage - video sent to me by my 92 year old Auntie’s carer in Deeside, Scotland. Luckily my Auntie wasn’t sitting in her usual chair when it happened. Yet another reason why we should be questioning the release of over 50 million pheasants into the countryside each year. #alienspecies
January 24, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Pheasant carnage - video sent to me by my 92 year old Auntie’s carer in Deeside, Scotland. Luckily my Auntie wasn’t sitting in her usual chair when it happened. Yet another reason why we should be questioning the release of over 50 million pheasants into the countryside each year. #alienspecies
Having a wonderful time in Kruger. Particularly pleased with this male Nyala this morning on the way back from playing golf at Skukuza
December 31, 2024 at 10:04 AM
Having a wonderful time in Kruger. Particularly pleased with this male Nyala this morning on the way back from playing golf at Skukuza
Observations of Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) Mortality Along a Commuter Railway in New York, USA
doi.org/10.3356/jrr2...
#RaptorResearch
December 8, 2024 at 6:43 AM
Observations of Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) Mortality Along a Commuter Railway in New York, USA
doi.org/10.3356/jrr2...
#RaptorResearch
Here is my Google Scholar output in a word cloud - Interesting exercise and I am not sure I would have predicted this exactly
I made it here - shiny.rcg.sfu.ca/u/rdmorin/sc...
I made it here - shiny.rcg.sfu.ca/u/rdmorin/sc...
December 3, 2024 at 7:45 AM
Here is my Google Scholar output in a word cloud - Interesting exercise and I am not sure I would have predicted this exactly
I made it here - shiny.rcg.sfu.ca/u/rdmorin/sc...
I made it here - shiny.rcg.sfu.ca/u/rdmorin/sc...
which publishing house/journal will be the first to provide a link to share papers onto Bluesky automatically - are there any yet? - or is the race on.......
November 27, 2024 at 8:46 AM
which publishing house/journal will be the first to provide a link to share papers onto Bluesky automatically - are there any yet? - or is the race on.......
NEW PAPER📝
Plumage polymorphism in the black sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus) is strongly associated with expression level of agouti signalling protein
J. of Heredity. 2nd Chapter from Ed Rodseth's PhD, co-supervised by Rob Ingle
doi.org/10.1093/jher...
#RaptorResearch #ornithology #colsci
Plumage polymorphism in the black sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus) is strongly associated with expression level of agouti signalling protein
J. of Heredity. 2nd Chapter from Ed Rodseth's PhD, co-supervised by Rob Ingle
doi.org/10.1093/jher...
#RaptorResearch #ornithology #colsci
November 25, 2024 at 7:27 AM
NEW PAPER📝
Plumage polymorphism in the black sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus) is strongly associated with expression level of agouti signalling protein
J. of Heredity. 2nd Chapter from Ed Rodseth's PhD, co-supervised by Rob Ingle
doi.org/10.1093/jher...
#RaptorResearch #ornithology #colsci
Plumage polymorphism in the black sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus) is strongly associated with expression level of agouti signalling protein
J. of Heredity. 2nd Chapter from Ed Rodseth's PhD, co-supervised by Rob Ingle
doi.org/10.1093/jher...
#RaptorResearch #ornithology #colsci
Your regularly reminder that it’s all going on over at BlueSky. Come over quick. It’s much better and leaves you feeling less dirty!
November 20, 2024 at 4:24 PM
Your regularly reminder that it’s all going on over at BlueSky. Come over quick. It’s much better and leaves you feeling less dirty!
Saw this posted on @irvinewelsh.bsky.social Twitter page. Some useful stuff in here for us new arrivals
November 12, 2024 at 6:58 AM
Saw this posted on @irvinewelsh.bsky.social Twitter page. Some useful stuff in here for us new arrivals
This just popped up on my Facebook feed from 7 years ago. I had forgotten about the amazing answer from a herp friend Bryan Maritz: ‘
‘They are bits of tortoise shell. Essentially modified ribs.’
Which is crazy!
‘They are bits of tortoise shell. Essentially modified ribs.’
Which is crazy!
November 11, 2024 at 10:13 AM
This just popped up on my Facebook feed from 7 years ago. I had forgotten about the amazing answer from a herp friend Bryan Maritz: ‘
‘They are bits of tortoise shell. Essentially modified ribs.’
Which is crazy!
‘They are bits of tortoise shell. Essentially modified ribs.’
Which is crazy!
I had built up a good following on Twitter (ca. 6000). so I am sorry to be moving away, but I'm pleased to say that my followers on bluesky are rising rapidly - I'm already at 105 on only my 2nd day. And lots of the folk (+journals) that I like on Twitter are there. come join us!
November 20, 2024 at 4:24 PM
I had built up a good following on Twitter (ca. 6000). so I am sorry to be moving away, but I'm pleased to say that my followers on bluesky are rising rapidly - I'm already at 105 on only my 2nd day. And lots of the folk (+journals) that I like on Twitter are there. come join us!
Science Twitter was great - but over the last few years it went downhill rapidly, and now using Twitter just feels a bit wrong with the events of the week. I went over to BlueSky yesterday and I have to say it has everything that twitter has without that 'unclean' feeling! join!
November 20, 2024 at 4:24 PM
Science Twitter was great - but over the last few years it went downhill rapidly, and now using Twitter just feels a bit wrong with the events of the week. I went over to BlueSky yesterday and I have to say it has everything that twitter has without that 'unclean' feeling! join!
The events this week in the US have made me feel pretty low. So, I've decided to make one very small change myself and move away from Twitter and onto http://Blue.sky - so please find me there @arjundevamar.bsky.social. It was very easy by the way!
November 20, 2024 at 4:24 PM
The events this week in the US have made me feel pretty low. So, I've decided to make one very small change myself and move away from Twitter and onto http://Blue.sky - so please find me there @arjundevamar.bsky.social. It was very easy by the way!
Interesting talk by @merynomsa on decolonisation of conservation in Africa @BioSciUCT
November 20, 2024 at 4:24 PM
Interesting talk by @merynomsa on decolonisation of conservation in Africa @BioSciUCT
Another stunning piece by wildlife collage artist Zoe Mafham - feel free to follow her on Insta (which is where all the cool artists hang out apparently).
https://www.instagram.com/mafhamzoe?igsh=MXQ0ZHZ1aXE2djhoeQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
https://www.instagram.com/mafhamzoe?igsh=MXQ0ZHZ1aXE2djhoeQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
November 20, 2024 at 4:36 PM
Another stunning piece by wildlife collage artist Zoe Mafham - feel free to follow her on Insta (which is where all the cool artists hang out apparently).
https://www.instagram.com/mafhamzoe?igsh=MXQ0ZHZ1aXE2djhoeQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
https://www.instagram.com/mafhamzoe?igsh=MXQ0ZHZ1aXE2djhoeQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Conclusions: data on AF use came from a wide range of species, across the globe. Most AF came from human food discards. Most studied species consumed no AF. Exploitation of AF is not a pre-requisite to being an ‘urban bird’ – clearly other feeding opportunities exist #BOU2024
November 21, 2024 at 4:28 PM
Conclusions: data on AF use came from a wide range of species, across the globe. Most AF came from human food discards. Most studied species consumed no AF. Exploitation of AF is not a pre-requisite to being an ‘urban bird’ – clearly other feeding opportunities exist #BOU2024
Dietary guild was the only trait associated with anthropogenic food consumption, with aquatic feeders, granivores, generalists and scavengers consuming the most AF - Frugivores, insectivore, carnivores & nectivores were consumed the least AF #BOU2024
November 21, 2024 at 4:21 PM
Dietary guild was the only trait associated with anthropogenic food consumption, with aquatic feeders, granivores, generalists and scavengers consuming the most AF - Frugivores, insectivore, carnivores & nectivores were consumed the least AF #BOU2024
We found no evidence of a phylogenetic relationship between the % of anthropogenic food in urban-inhabiting birds included in this review. With closely related species being no more likely to consume high levels of AF than more distantly related species
November 21, 2024 at 4:14 PM
We found no evidence of a phylogenetic relationship between the % of anthropogenic food in urban-inhabiting birds included in this review. With closely related species being no more likely to consume high levels of AF than more distantly related species
Out of 132 species, it was somewhat surprising that only 48 (36%) species of urban living birds had some AF in their diet. Thus, 64% of urban-dwelling species consumed no anthropogenic food. For those which did values ranged from 0.35% (Burrowing owls) to 92.5% (Pacific Gulls).
November 21, 2024 at 4:06 PM
Out of 132 species, it was somewhat surprising that only 48 (36%) species of urban living birds had some AF in their diet. Thus, 64% of urban-dwelling species consumed no anthropogenic food. For those which did values ranged from 0.35% (Burrowing owls) to 92.5% (Pacific Gulls).