Welcome
Our group's research focuses on behavioural and ecological aspects of animal navigation and spatial cognition, using a number of different species and a variety of state-of-the-art sensor technologies. We study the contribution of individual cognitive capabilities and navigational strategies, and of the ecological, sensory, and social environments to animal movement.
We are based at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, and are part of the Animal Behaviour Research Group. Please use the tabs at the top to navigate the website and to find out more about our research, members, publications and funding.
Research assistant position
We are looking for a research assistant to join our seabird team on Skomer Island for the 2012 spring and summer field season. More details here.
Recent Publications
"Migratory navigation in birds: new opportunities in an era of fast-developing tracking technology." Journal of Experimental Biology 214 (2011): 3705-3712.
"A dispersive migration in the Atlantic Puffin and its implications for migratory navigation." PLoS One (2011).
"No role for direct touch using the pectoral fins, as an information gathering strategy in a blind fish." Journal of Comparative Physiology A 197, no. 4 (2011): 321-327.
"Three-dimensional spatial cognition: information in the vertical dimension overrides information from the horizontal." Animal Cognition (2011).
"Objectively identifying landmark use and predicting flight trajectories of the homing pigeon using Gaussian processes." Journal of The Royal Society Interface (2010).
"Hierarchical group dynamics in pigeon flocks." Nature 464, no. 7290 (2010): 890-893. UPDATE: visit the "PigeonFlocks" website