I study the genetics of color patterns (#colsci). Birder, herper, naturalist, and pics of my cat, Finch. He/Him
Ithaca, NY
Joined August 2020
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The 2nd paper from my postdoc work on yellowthroat genomics is now online at Molecular Ecology!
Populations of Common Yellowthroats in eastern North America have notable differences in sexual selection on similar plumage ornaments ... 1/4
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/…
Nicholas Sly retweeted
The 2025 U.S. #StateOfTheBirds report was released today. The report finds that birds continue to decline unabated across most habitats—habitats that are also vital to human well-being.
Read the report & take action! stateofthebirds.org/2025/
#bringbirdsback
Nicholas Sly retweeted
The Birds of the World team wants to meet you! Visit the booth and ask what’s new (hint: a lot is new!) and grab a cool #sticker. They are seeking NEW submissions to the esteemed ornithology publication @birdsoftheworld and would love to see all previous/current authors.
I’m heading to #AOS24 with the BOW team. I hope to see many of my fellow bird nerds soon!
Nicholas Sly retweeted
Out in ME!
New work in the common yellowthroat describes a putative Z-chromosome inversion associated with geographic differences in male ornaments and female choice despite gene flow.
@WileyEcolEvol
Read More: buff.ly/3ML7VPs
📷: Glenn Bartley
In honor of fall migration, the moon has dressed up as a Wilson’s Warbler
ALT A poor photo of a partial lunar eclipse, with a small cap of dark on top of a full moon
ALT A male Wilson’s warbler, yellow with a small dark cap
Nicholas Sly retweeted
The 2nd paper from my postdoc work on yellowthroat genomics is now online at Molecular Ecology!
Populations of Common Yellowthroats in eastern North America have notable differences in sexual selection on similar plumage ornaments ... 1/4
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/…
... that the Wisconsin and New York populations show little divergence except for a major putative inversion on the Z chromosome. This inversion contains vision-related genes as well as several genes we previously found to be associated with mask or bib size. ... 3/4
ALT A manhattan plot showing Fst across the Z chromosome for five pairwise population comparisons. There is a large region of elevated divergence in several of the comparisons, indicating a potential inversion.
Thus, structural variants on sex chromosomes could be a mechanism for maintaining divergence in sexual selection between populations with high gene flow. Pretty neat! 4/4
Also check out our prior work on genomics of mask and bib size, published in PNAS: pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pna…
Nicholas Sly retweeted
Going official with the release of something we've been cooking up for the last 3.5 years--a complete phylogeny of the world's birds! We = @snacktavish, @Avibase, and other great collaborators from @opentreeoflife and @CornellBirds. Why is this such a big deal? A few reasons.
Snow Goose / Ross’s Goose
Canada Goose / Cackling Goose
Greater White-fronted Goose / Lesser White-fronted Goose
Bean Geese / Pink-footed Goose
Why does this pattern keep happening in Arctic breeding geese?
And where is the Greater Red-breasted Goose?
Who wants to come work with me?
Birds of the World is hiring! We seek a Communications Assistant to support a global team of editors, consultants, and contributors who work together to make BOW the most comprehensive and up-to-date avian database in the world. Read more and apply here: bit.ly/4agzlXR
Nicholas Sly retweeted
Birds of the World will be open access all week - today through Feb 20th. Maybe you'd like to browse the world's vulture species? Here's a splendid start (toggle the species carousel back and forth). Share!
birdsoftheworld.org/.../slbv…
Nicholas Sly retweeted
The Witt Lab website is live! And I'm excited to announce that I'm looking for 2 PhD students and a postdoc interested in pop gen, computational biology, ancient DNA, and more! You can learn more about the positions here: wittlabgenomics.com/join-us.…
I had a multi-year daily observation streak going in #iNaturalist and yesterday for no good reason I just kinda… forgot. Please keep me in your thoughts in this difficult time.
Nicholas Sly retweeted
Happening now! A group of scientists attending @OrnCon_Americas are learning how their data and insights about birds can be shared worldwide by contributing to Birds of the World. For more information visit birdsoftheworld.org.
