ManyBirds Project
A Big-Team Open Science approach to avian cognition and behaviour research
Overview
The ManyBirds Project is a Big-Team Open Science approach that aims to provide new insight into the evolution of avian cognition and behaviour through multi-site comparative studies and large-scale collaboration. ManyBirds aims to increase accessibility, transparency, replicability and inclusivity, through openness to collaboration across countries, institutions and sites (e.g. labs, zoos, field) to broaden the representation of avian species, sample sizes and researchers internationally.
ManyBirds Project impact includes: 6 publications (see Google Scholar link), science dissemination through conference presentations, public engagement and media outputs, and securing £15,000 in research funding to support our work.
Follow for updates on BlueSky – @themanybirds.bsky.social
BlueSky LATEST UPDATES ON MANYBIRDS study 1
🐦 Exciting news! Our new paper is out in PLOS Biology: “A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia.” Led by the #ManyBirds Project – 129 researchers, 82 institutions, 24 countries 🌍 🔗 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/…
ManyBirds Approach
What guides us
Collaborative
Collaborative studies enable large-scale comparisons of species and individuals - a prerequisite to study how and why different cognitive abilities and behaviours may have evolved.
Open Science
Open Science practices ensure wide accessibility, as transparency and pre-registration is necessary for effective collaborations.
Comparative
Comparative studies allow for a wider focus on the evolution of cognition and behaviour in relation to evolutionary drivers as well as phylogenetic, developmental and longitudinal approaches.
How does it work ?
ManyBirds infrastructure and collaboration
In February 2021, Dr Rachael Miller and Dr Megan Lambert co-founded the ManyBirds Project. We established this network and infrastructure to facilitate avian cognitive and behavioural research, including our website, governance guidelines, mailing list, open repository and slack channels. This framework includes the use of pre-registrations, pre-prints, code of practice and project policies (e.g. ethics, authorship, data sharing), study protocols, coding guides, analysis plans and manuscript writing, with a focus on Open Science practices.
ManyBirds Study 1 : Neophobia in Birds (Complete)
ManyBirds Future Studies (In Progress)
The ManyBirds Core Leadership Team are currently working on securing funding for future studies and preparing study proposals.
If you are interested in potentially joining ManyBirds, please reach out via email to join our mailing list: manybirdsproject1@gmail.com
LEADERSHIP TEAMS
The ManyBirds Project is led by a Core Leadership Team of researchers, with separate specific Study Leadership Teams formed to lead on each study. If you are interested in collaborating or would like more information about ManyBirds, please review our project/ studies, sign up documents (when open) or contact us at: manybirdsproject1@gmail.com.