From Erasmus exchange to summer internships

Two internships on the Hihi project (part of Information Ecology & Coevolution) have just been completed by Erasmus exchange students Mathilde Baudat and Francois Lazarus.

Mathilde and Francois came to University of Helsinki on an Erasmus exchange from the Université de Lausanne and Université du Strasbourg. After taking EEB-107 Sensory Ecology course, they made the most of their remaining time in Helsinki by helping out collecting data over 6 weeks. The Hihi project is based in New Zealand, but Francois and Mathilde were able to "travel" there by scoring videos of juvenile hihi behaviour. The videos were collected during a translocation of hihi from the main study site, Tiritiri Matangi Island, to establish a new population at Rotokare Scenic Reserve. Mathilde and Francois have helped us learn that the way the birds are held in aviaries before moving appears to affect their behaviour - vocalisation rates and incidences of "play" behaviour varied depending on whether individuals were held with close affiliates or not.  Thank you both!