Will Smith
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willjsmith.bsky.social
Will Smith
@willjsmith.bsky.social
Evolution at the wild-domestic interface ⛰️🏙️

I study Rock Doves in the Outer Hebrides.

@uniofnottingham.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UW64SScAAAAJ&hl

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/William-Smith-134
Third and final Uist trip finished! That's 481 individual Rock Doves ringed/recaptured/resighted during 2025, providing great data to help us understand this population. It's been nice to also get the opportunity to update the community on our project progress. @jezierskimt.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 9:21 AM
We've been catching lots of Rock Doves in Uist 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 this week. @jezierskimt.bsky.social and I are here for our ongoing monitoring work. Hoping for lots of reports of colour-ringed birds to generate survival + movement data 🤓 🤞@uniofnottingham.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 10:28 AM
A very kind interpretation of a baby pigeon! Here are some wild Rock Dove chicks, who may not be winning beauty contests... 🫠

(nests visited for ongoing @uniofnottingham.bsky.social research in the Outer Hebrides, and for @btobirds.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #NestRecordScheme)
September 28, 2025 at 11:06 AM
A little write up @leverhulme.ac.uk summarising my research plans @uniofnottingham.bsky.social for the next few years: media.leverhulme.ac.uk/feature/wsmith. 🧬🐦🤓
September 11, 2025 at 10:07 AM
It's always exciting to get reports of the wild Rock Doves that @jezierskimt.bsky.social and I study in Uist. 'Green SI' is one of my favourites. It has been re-sighted 53 times since being ringed in 2022. It is a big fan of garden bird-feeders, and sees meadow-based foraging as too much effort.
September 2, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reed Warbler range expansion paper just out, led by the amazing Nora Bergman 🧬🪶 with @informedbirds.bsky.social @katjaronka.bsky.social @fishcongen.bsky.social @rytikerttunen.bsky.social @frodefossoy.bsky.social and others

doi.org/10.1111/mec.70077
August 21, 2025 at 9:02 AM
The breeding season is now in full swing around Helsinki, with long days out in the reedbeds trying to better understand behavioural evolution in this species 🔬
July 4, 2025 at 8:27 AM
We've just had a brief visit to Uist to check in on the Rock Dove study population. A few (cute?) squabs ringed, and a nice selection of adults re-encountered through colour ring sightings. They seem to be having a good breeding season this spring 🐦🧬 @jezierskimt.bsky.social
May 3, 2025 at 2:29 PM
This March, we've ringed the 1000th Rock Dove since @jezierskimt.bsky.social and I began monitoring them in Uist in July 2019. We also re-captured a (now a bit elderly, but thriving) dove first ringed during that trip. Lots of great data collected on overwinter survival and individual condition. 🕊️🪶
March 27, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Studies of domestic pigeons have taught us lots about cognition, navigation, and genetics. If you’d like to learn why their wild cousins are also worthy of scientific attention, I’ve written a Rock Dove @currentbiology.bsky.social ‘quick guide’: doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.065
March 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM
The new @ibisjournal.bsky.social British List update formalises the fact that UK Golden Pheasants are extinct as a self-sustaining wild entity (doi.org/10.1111/ibi....). This follows our recent study, and lots of time spent in the woods with these beautiful birds: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
January 5, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Much of our knowledge about bird movements comes from studies of domestic pigeons. With funding from @britishbirds.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social, we carried out a small pilot study, GPS tracking their wild Rock Dove cousins. #ornithology. doi.org/10.1093/orni...
December 10, 2024 at 7:07 AM
Hi, I’m Will and I'm a biologist mainly working with Rock Doves (the wild form of the domestic/feral pigeon) in the Outer Hebrides 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. I’m currently a post-doc in Helsinki, where I study Reed Warbler genomics 🧬 and Cuckoo brood parasitism. I am also very interested in the UK’s non-native birds.
November 27, 2024 at 7:13 AM