In summer 2018 we started a new project entitled ‘Learning to be attractive’. The aim is to understand if and how Australian spotted bowerbirds learn aspects of their courtship display from other males.

Besides birdsong, little is known about the role of social learning in the make of elaborate display. Thanks to the generous funding of the FWF Doctoral College ‘Cognition and Communication 2‘, Giovanni Spezie could start his PhD project on courtship learning in spotted bowerbirds in collaboration with Joha Madden at Exeter. More information about the project are available here.