
Latest publications
- 2020 Journal of Comparative Physiology B Ontogeny of leukocyte profiles in a wild altricial passerine
- 2020 in: T. Aubin, N. Mathevon (eds.), Coding Strategies in Vertebrate Acoustic Communication, Animal Signals and Communication 7, pp.45-90. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. The dawn chorus revisited
- 2019 Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 73: 160 Age-related patterns of yolk androgen deposition are consistent with adaptive brood reduction in spotless starlings
- 2019 Journal of Evolutionary Biology 32(1): 111-125 Harsh conditions during early development influence telomere length in an altricial passerine: links with oxidative stress and corticosteroids.
- 2018 Parasitology Research, 117(3): 919-928 Molecular characterization of avian malaria in the spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor)
- 2017 Oecologia, 185(4):629-639. The role of the mating system and intraspecific brood parasitism in the costs of reproduction in a passerine bird.
- 2017 Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 90(1), 106-117. Sex-Specific Effects of High Yolk Androgen Levels on Constitutive and Cell-Mediated Immune Responses in Nestlings of an Altricial Passerine
- 2016 Animal Behaviour 115: 29-34 Great tits, Parus major, increase vigilance time and reduce feeding effort during peaks of aircraft noise
- 2015 Journal of Evolutionary Biology 28:1476–1488 Context-dependent effects of yolk androgens on nestling growth and immune function in chicks of a multi-brooded passerine
- 2015 Journal of Experimental Biology 218: 2241-2249 Diverse dose-response effects of yolk androgens on embryo development and nestling growth in a wild passerine
Diego Gil
Senior Researcher (MNCN, CSIC)
Research Themes
My research can be framed within the field of behavioural ecology, with a strong emphasis on the physiological mechanisms that are at the base of the adaptive responses of organisms to the environment. My models for this kind of questions are birds, mostly passerines, and apart from the scientific interest they have, I personally enjoy working in the field with them.
I have two main lines of research. On the one hand, my first interest was the study of bird song, why it varies so much between individuals and species, what do birds use it for, how is it designed for transmission in the environment, and how it relates to sexual selection and speciation. My second line of research is the study of maternal effects, particularly the effects of hormones that are transmitted from mother to offspring in the eggs, and that have effects in the development and fitness of the birds.
Curriculum Vitae
My first degree was in Psychology, something that reflects my early interest in behaviour and learning. I was fascinated by bird song from very early on. My first scientific study, on singing patterns of two sympatric treecreeper species, led me to consider interspecific territoriality, and made me realize from very early on the close link of behaviour with ecology and evolution. I did my PhD in the University of St Andrews supervised by Peter Slater on the role of song in sexual selection in the willow warbler. From there on I became interested in how maternal effects could influence development in birds, and that was the main theme of research during my postdocs with Jeff Graves (St. Andrews) and Anders Moller (Paris).
In 2001 I came back to Spain with a Ramón y Cajal fellowship, and in 2008 I obtained a senior scientist position at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC).