Winner of the 2020 Journal of Zoology ‘Paper of the Year’ award: Sleeping Eurasian oystercatchers adjust their vigilance in response to the behaviour of neighbours, human disturbance and environmental conditions

We congratulate the winners of the 2020 Journal of Zoology ‘Paper of the Year’ award Meaghan McBlain, Katherine Jones and Graeme Shannon, at Bangor University, UK, with their paper entitled:

Sleeping Eurasian oystercatchers adjust their vigilance in response to the behaviour of neighbours, human disturbance and environmental conditions

This impressive study related field recordings of oystercatcher peeking behaviour, indicating their vigilance during sleep, with simultaneous observations of three different factors in their surroundings to discover whether oystercatcher vigilance was affected by the behaviour of their neighbouring conspecifics, human disturbance such as boat traffic or weather conditions. Watch this video abstract, and read the paper for free, to find out more about this award-winning study: