Pūkeko nest recording. © Gabriella Gall

How do pūkekos communicate?

Gabriella Gall’s research is directed at understanding how individuals in groups communicate and coordinate group actions. More specifically, the biologist is interested in how the ability of an individual to coordinate effectively with others develops and what the fitness consequences of efficient communication are. She studies these questions in a range of bird species (domestic chicken and pūkeko) and is currently focusing on how experiences made within the egg affect hatching synchronization, vocal communication and post-hatching social behaviour.

In the past year, Gabriella Gall spent some months in New Zealand to investigate communication in pūkekos. In the annual report 2023 of the Zukunftskolleg Gabriella Gall, Postdoctoral Researcher at the CASCB and Zukunftskolleg Fellow, is interviewed about her experiences and findings in New Zealand.

Read the interview.