Articles about 'Nick Davies'

The reed warbler and the cuckoo: an escalating game of trickery and defence

22 February 2016

Professor Nick Davies, who gives this week’s Darwin Lecture, has been studying reed warblers for more than 30 years – and has unlocked many of the secrets of their interactions with the cuckoo. His work shines light on the evolutionary games played out in nature as species compete with environmental pressures, with other species, and with the opposite sex, to pass on their genes.

A cuckoo chick ejects a reed warbler egg from a nest

Neighbourhood watch and more: how reed warblers watch out when there’s a cuckoo about

22 January 2016

A study of reed warbler behaviour reveals for the first time that in assessing the risks posed by cuckoos the birds combine information from multiple sources. An ‘information highway’ provides one set of clues and personal encounters another. Only when both add up, do the birds take defensive action.