Bird Biology w/ Dr. Zach Bell part 2! The Bird Brains Podcast Ep 69!

Part two out discussion with Biologist Dr. Zach Bell, on Okinawa, Japan. Dr. Bell formerly did zebra finch research, and is still deeply knowledgeable and interested in passerine biology!
He know works with rare terrestrial turtles at the Okinawa Kame Center, a non-profit. Please check out his work at this link and consider supporting his valuable conservation initiatives!
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Don’t forget to visit New Zooland for all your finch needs- seeds, nutrients, supplies, equipment, medicine and more! Truly a one stop shop for everything finch or hookbill!
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Use code “birdbrains” for 10% off your order!
#aviarybirds #aviary #cockatiel #birds #buttonquail #finch #parakeet #birdbreeder #finchbreeding #gouldianfinch #zebrafinch #zebrafinches #birdbehaviour #birdbiology #turtle #conservation #reasearch

[@lisaunderwood-u4f]

Interesting and educational . Dr. Bell does a great job explaining things.

[@thejayviary]

I agree! He’s such a great guest!

[@apendamen]

Also interesting to learn how your experience caring for the animals as pets enriches your research

[@thejayviary]

Absolutely! It’s a two-way street!

[@AviaryBirdsAndCo]

Great episode! Would love to continue to see more of Dr. Bell!

[@thejayviary]

He’s definitely coming back soon!

[@OkinawaKameCentre]

🤓 oh yeah!!

[@pauljanson9176]

WOW! These to podcast with DR Bell, have been so interesting. Well worth watching & sharing Congratulations on the scoop & thanks.

[@thejayviary]

Thanks! I agree, they have been really great!

[@OkinawaKameCentre]

Dr. Bell said he is happy to discuss songbird research anytime 🤓

[@johnornelas9741]

Very interesting episode. Learned quite a bit. Thanks guys.

[@thejayviary]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@apendamen]

Really great episodes guys & thackeray Zach! 1) when you're replicating studies in different labs, how much do you duplicate the flight configuration (# branches, nests, etc.)? 2) which agencies typically fund your work? 3) what groups do you present your work to & do you collaborate with scientists from other disciplines to help you extrapolate learnings from birds to humans? 4) what is the most significant discovery from your research?

[@thejayviary]

Would love to see his replies here!

[@OkinawaKameCentre]

Thank you for your questions. See replies below! 1) when you're replicating studies in different labs, how much do you duplicate the flight configuration (# branches, nests, etc.)? If I am purposely trying to replicate a study, or one of the study groups, I make every effort to match the environmental conditions. 2) which agencies typically fund your work? Under the Acknowledgement sections of my two songbird papers, the projects were funded by major agencies in the UK/EU (e.g., BBSRC and Leverhulme trust), Canada (e.g, CIFAR), and the USA (NIH). In general, the songbird model system is considered very powerful for biomedicine and for fundamental biological questions, thus most all, if not all, top government agencies and private grants fund songbird studies. 3) what groups do you present your work to & do you collaborate with scientists from other disciplines to help you extrapolate learnings from birds to humans? I no longer work directly in songbird research, but used to present at both neuroscience and songbird biology specific meetings. All groups working in ethology, neuroethology, learning and memory, language aquistion, motor learning/motor development, biomedicine, neuroscience, pharmacology, etc. are interested in songbirds as the model is powerful for asking a variety of deep biological, and behavioral questions. And yes, our lab collaborated with people outside of songbird neuroscience, like engineering and computer science/AI/ML to develop new technologies. There are many groups of scientists, engineers, and artists who work together to figure out how songbirds (and other vocal communicating animals) can inform human health and well-being. 4) what is the most significant discovery from your research? I would say discovering that the control conditions used in songbird research, nearly from the inception decades ago, is flawed and may have resulted in the misinterpretation of findings over the years, namely those related to molecular biology and endocrinology. In a nutshell, acute solo housing is common in behavioral experiments with songbirds and our team (my thesis question) revolved around how solo housing potentially impacted behavioral experiments. The main findings were that such an acute experience has dynamic effects on gene regulation throughout the brain and in circulating stress hormones, which were caused by the experience of social isolation; and that some of these effects could be ameliorated by just housing a bird with a familiar friend, at least with females. These findings likely have implications for how we humans should live. If you look at the top risk factors for human health, perceived loneliness (i.e., social isolation) is at the top.