Prof Will Cresswell

Professor

Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 3010
Email: wrlc@st-andrews.ac.uk

Research areas

I have two major research interests: behavioural ecology of birds and conservation ecology of birds.

Behavioural Ecology

My interests in behavioural ecology centre mainly around understanding how animals manage their risk of predation and how predators then compensate to maximise their chance of catching prey. I concentrate on studying how small birds such as blackbirds or redshanks avoid depredation by raptors such as sparrowhawks or peregrines. I am also interested in foraging behaviour and the conflict between the need to forage and scan for predators, transfer of foraging and predator information between individuals, nest predation, incubation and foraging energetics, interference competition, individual foraging specialisations and variation in competitive ability and pursuit-deterrent signalling. A particular current interest is how the non-lethal effects of predation lead to fitness, population dynamics and community structure.

Conservation Ecology

My interests in conservation ecology centre mainly on the factors determining the density and distribution of endemic, declining and migrant birds. I am particulary interested in explaining why European migrant birds are declining and how their use of African habitats affects their population dynamics. Much of this is based in West Africa and associated with the AP Leventis Ornithological Research Institute in Jos, Nigeria (APLORI ) . I collect baseline survey and habitat association data necessary to formulate conservation strategies for endangered and declining birds. I also am interested in the effects of forest fragmentation on African birds, survival rates of tropical birds, differences in the foraging/predation trade-off between tropical and temperate birds and the use of degraded and farmland habitats by African birds and Palearctic migrant species.

Selected publications

Open access
Bueno, A. S., Mendenhall, C. D., Anci茫es, M., dos Anjos, L., Arroyo-Rodr铆guez, V., Aur茅lio-Silva, M., Banks-Leite, C., Betts, M. G., Bispo, A. A., Boesing, A. L., Campos-Cerqueira, M., Claessens, O., Cresswell, W., Daily, G. C., Dami, F. D., Dantas, S. M., Develey, P. F., Ding, P., Edwards, D. P. & Efe, M. A. & 38 others, Faria, D., Feeley, K. J., Gillespie, T. W., Hadley, A. S., Hatfield, J. H., Henriques, L. M. P., Holbech, L. H., Irving, G. J., Kormann, U. G., Krishnan, M. J., Kr眉gel, M. M., Lasky, J. R., Lawes, M. J., Lees, A. C., Lens, L., Lobo-Ara煤jo, L. W., M鈥橤onigle, L. K., Mansor, M. S., Manu, S. A., Marini, M. 脗., Martensen, A. C., Matthews, T. J., Metzger, J. P., Moore, R., Morante-Filho, J. C., Nameer, P. O., Nor, S. M., Oliveira, H. S., Ribon, R., Ruiz-Guti茅rrez, V., Silveira, L. F., Stouffer, P. C., Terborgh, J. W., Uezu, A., Wang, Y., Wethered, R., Yong, D. L. & Peres, C. A., 7 Apr 2026, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 123, 14, 8 p., e2521783123.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
Open access
Cresswell, W., Patchett, R., Blackburn, E. & Burgess, M., 2 Jun 2025, In: PLoS ONE. 20, p. 1-25 25 p., e0324086.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
Open access
Cresswell, W. & Patchett, R. B., Apr 2024, In: Ibis. 166, 2, p. 666-681 16 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
Open access
Hua, F., Wang, W., Nakagawa, S., Liu, S., Miao, X., Yu, L., Du, Z., Abrahamczyk, S., Arias-Sosa, L. A., Buda, K., Budka, M., Carri猫re, S. M., Chandler, R. B., Chiatante, G., Chiavo, D. O., Cresswell, W., Echeverri, A., Goodale, E., Huang, G. & Hulme, M. F. & 27 others, Hutto, R. L., Imboma, T. S., Jarrett, C., Jiang, Z., Kati, V. I., King, D. I., Kmecl, P., Li, N., L枚vei, G. L., Macchi, L., MacGregor-Fors, I., Martin, E. A., Mira, A., Morelli, F., Ortega-脕lvarez, R., Quan, R.-C., Salgueiro, P. A., Santos, S. M., Shahabuddin, G., Socolar, J. B., Soh, M. C. K., Sreekar, R., Srinivasan, U., Wilcove, D. S., Yamaura, Y., Zhou, L. & Elsen, P. R., Feb 2024, In: Nature Ecology and Evolution. 8, p. 251鈥�266 29 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
Open access
Pototsky, P. C. & Cresswell, W., 10 Aug 2023, In: Bird Study. 70, 3, p. 84-98 15 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Review article 鈥� peer-review
Open access
Mikula, P., Tom谩拧ek, O., Romportl, D., Aikins, T. K., Avenda帽o, J. E., Braimoh-Azaki, B. D. A., Chaskda, A., Cresswell, W., Cunningham, S. J., Dale, S., Favoretto, G. R., Floyd, K. S., Glover, H., Grim, T., Henry, D. A. W., Holmern, T., Hromada, M., Iwajomo, S. B., Lilleyman, A. & Magige, F. J. & 27 others, Martin, R. O., de A. Maximiano, M. F., Nana, E. D., Ncube, E., Ndaimani, H., Nelson, E., van Niekerk, J. H., Pienaar, C., Piratelli, A. J., Pistorius, P., Radkovic, A., Reynolds, C., R酶skaft, E., Shanungu, G. K., Siqueira, P. R., Tarakini, T., Tejeiro-Mahecha, N., Thompson, M. L., Wamiti, W., Wilson, M., Tye, D. R. C., Tye, N. D., Vehtari, A., Tryjanowski, P., Weston, M. A., Blumstein, D. T. & Albrecht, T., 20 Apr 2023, In: Nature Communications. 14, 10 p., 2146.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
Braimoh-Azaki, B. D. A., Cunningham, S. J. & Cresswell, W., 1 Jan 2023, In: Journal of Ornithology. 164, 1, p. 139-149 11 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
Open access
Vickery, J., Mallord, J., Adams, W., Beresford, A., Both, C., Cresswell, W., Diop, N., Ewing, S., Gregory, R., Morrison, C., Sanderson, F., Thorup, K., Van Wijk, R. & Hewson, C., 1 Jul 2023, In: Ibis. 165, 3, p. 717-738 22 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Review article 鈥� peer-review
Open access
Patchett, R., Kirschel, A. N. G., Robins King, J., Styles, P. & Cresswell, W., 19 Oct 2022, In: PLoS One. 17, 10, 16 p., e0273686.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
Open access
Tapia-Harris, C. & Cresswell, W., Sept 2022, In: Ecology and Evolution. 12, 9, e9334.
Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review

58吃瓜

Breadcrumbs navigation