Libby Chapman

Libby Chapman

@libbychaps.bsky.social

PhD student researching rabbit social behaviour in Exeter • previously blue tit nests in St Andrews and Soay sheep in Edinburgh • (she/her) 🌿 https://linktr.ee/libbychaps

488 followers174 following9 posts

Libby Chapman reposted

Thank you to everyone who signed our open letter, who sent individual letters, and supported us in many other ways. We feel incredibly privileged to be part of such an active and strong scientific community and we've written you a letter to express our thanks and to give an update on the outcome 🧡🦀

Exciting to see our paper on nest building in wild blue tits as the editor's choice in this issue! doi.org/10.1093/behe... 🪺

Behavioral Ecology@behavecol.bsky.social

📢 New Issue of Behavioral Ecology just dropped! 📢 Volume 37, Issue 4, July/August 2026 Read about all the new research here ⬇️ academic.oup.com/beheco/issue... Cover by Kirstin Gaffney. Clark’s anemonefish sheltering among the tentacles of a bubble-tip anemone.

Libby Chapman reposted

Thanks to our colleagues from around the world who signed the Open Letter against redundancies in CRAB. The letter surpassed 700 signatures in just over 1 wk. We hope execs will now see the harm they are doing to the University of Exeter's global reputation. sites.google.com/view/save-cr...

sites.google.comHomeAs of 2026-07-14, this open letter has been signed by 754 people Signatories include 198 Professors and members of 11 National Academies, including 12 Fellows of the Royal Society (FRS) Signatories a...

Libby Chapman reposted

@crab-exeter.bsky.social are a fantastic group of researchers, and a real beacon of excellence for Exeter. What a huge and deeply sad act of self sabotage this would be. Please consider signing their open letter👇🏻

Stu West@stuwest.bsky.social

The University of Exeter have announced a programme of academic staff cuts, including all of www.exeter.ac.uk/research/gro... Sign the open letter of support at docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... @crab-exeter.bsky.social

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This work adds to our understanding of the role of experience in avian nestbuilding. The effect of reproductive experience previously shown in captive birds is strong enough to be detected in a wild population and the changes birds make can improve their fitness.

We found that females who failed to fledge chicks in one year used less plant material in their next nest, instead focusing on mammal fur and feathers which insulate developing eggs and chicks. This change improved their fledging success in the following year! 🌿🪶

We also found that unsuccessful females were more likely to move to a different nestbox the following year, a change that was also associated with mating with a different male.

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