Claudia A.F. Wascher

I am a behavioural biologist and specifically interested in the evolution of social behaviour, and the individual-level costs and benefits associated with social behaviour. I study proximate mechanisms, such as behavioural physiology and cognition underpinning group living, and I do so primarily in social birds like carrion crows and greylag geese. A list of past and current research projects led by PhD students I am advising can be found on my university website.

Social cognition and vocal communication

I am interested in cognitive mechanisms underpinning social behaviour in group living animals, and I am particularly interested in individual differences in cognition. I have previously studied cognitive prerequisites of cooperation in corvids, including their responses to inequity and their ability to cope with delayed gratification.
Vocal communication plays an important role in the social lifes of animals. I study how cognitive and social factors affect communication, focusing on vocal complexity in corvids. Corvids are open-ended vocal learners, i.e. they can acquire new vocalisations throughout their lives, making them an ideal system to explore these dynamics.

Social physiology

For my doctoral degree, I studied heart rate modulation during social contexts in greylag geese. Social interactions proved to be the strongest heart rate modulators besides physical activity. In agonistic encounters, heart rate increased to a greater extend when the risk of being defeated was higher, i.e., in interactions with an opponent who had won a higher percentage of interactions. The results suggest that individuals modulate their heart rate flexibly in different agonistic encounters. Even more impressive, heart rate was not only modulated by active involvement in stressful events, but also by watching interactions (‘bystander effect’). Here, too, the event's immediate relevance determined the observer's physiological response. Greylag geese responded stronger to watching social (e.g., agonistic encounters, arriving or departing geese) compared to non-social events (e.g., vehicles passing by, or thunder). Furthermore, heart rate response differed depending on the individuals involved in an event. Geese responded stronger when watching interactions in which their paired partner or a family member was involved compared to events with non-associated individuals. A similar pattern was found when comparing heart rate responses to conspecifics vocalisations; heart rate was significantly higher when the pair-partner called compared to hearing calls of non-associated geese. Overall, my results show that living in social groups is potentially energetically costly for greylag geese, but the individual investment is optimised through flexible modulation of the physiological stress response, according to subsequent needs and requirements.
The modulation of an individual’s physiological stress response by social events is further expected to affect the immune system and related to this parasite burden. A positive, stable social environment, i.e., high amount of affiliative social interactions, is expected to buffer an individual's stress response and decrease parasite burden. In contrast, high frequencies of aggressive encounters is expected to have a negative effect on an individual's immune system and increase parasite burden. I've been studying how social factors affect parasite excretion patterns, for example in greylag geese, Northern bald ibis, and carrion crows. In cooperatively breeding carrion crows, individuals with strong affiliative relationships, who live with more relatives and in larger groups, were found to excrete fewer coccidian oocysts, a type of endoparasite. In another captive group of crows, not cooperatively breeding, I found that parasite excretion was affected by dominance rank, but not by affiliative social relationships; lower-ranking individuals excreted more parasite products compared to higher ranking individuals. Together, this shows that both affiliative social relationships and dominance relationships can affect individuals' health.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

I am working towards equity, diversity, and inclusion in academia and research. I talked on gender equity and LGBTQIA+ inclusion at national and international conferences, and I conduct qualitative and quantitative research on these topics. For example, I am currently investigating factors affecting the 'leaky pipeline' and effectiveness of initiavtives supporting marginalised groups in academia. From 2019 to 2024, I led the Athena SWAN self-assessment team of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Anglia Ruskin University, shaping the faculty's gender equality work. In February 2024, the faculty was awarded an Athena SWAN departmental silver award, which my team successfully applied for.

Aug 2021 - present	Associate Professor. Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
Sep 2015 - Jul 2021	Senior Lecturer. Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
Jan 2013 - Aug 2015	Postdoctoral Researcher. University of Valladolid, E
Oct 2011 - Dec 2012	Postdoctoral Researcher. NTNU Trondheim, N
Jul 2011 - Sep 2011	Postdoctoral Researcher. MPI for Ornithology, Seewiesen, D
Jan 2011 - Jun 2011	Postdoctoral Researcher. CNRS & Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, Strasbourg, F
May 2009 - Dec 2010	Postdoctoral Researcher. University of Vienna & Konrad Lorenz Research Station, A
Oct 2005 - Apr 2009	PhD Student. University of Vienna, A
Oct 2000 - Jul 2005	Diploma Student. University of Graz, A

Wascher C.A.F., Hillemann F. 2024. Observation of female-male mounting in the carrion crow. Behavioural Processes, 105055. DOI:10.1016/j.beproc.2024.105055 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F. 2023. Cognition: Crows are natural statisticians. Current Biology, 33, R808-R810. DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.073 [link to download]

Steinbrecher F., Dunn J.C., Price E.C., Buck L.H., Wascher C.A.F., Clark F.E. 2023 . The effect of anthropogenic noise on foraging and vigilance in zoo-housed pied-tamarins. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 105989. DOI:10.1016/j.applanim.2023.105989 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Allen K. & Szipl G. 2021. Learning and motor inhibitory control in crows and domestic chickens. Royal Society Open Science, 8, 210504210504, DOI:10.1098/rsos.210504 [link to download]

Kok A.C.M., Berkhout B., Carlson N., Evans N., Khan N., Potvin D., Radford A.N., Sebire M., Shafiei Sabet S., Shannon G. & Wascher C.A.F. 2023. How chronic anthropogenic noise can affect communities. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11, 289. DOI:0.3389/fevo.2023.1130075 [link to download]

Mäses M. & Wascher C.A.F. 2023. Assessing cats’ (Felis catus) sensitivity to human pointing gestures. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 137(1), 38–44. DOI:10.1037/com0000338 [link to download]

Dunn J.C., Akçay C.†, Balasubramaniam K. †, Miller R. † & Wascher C.A.F. †. 2023. Conceptualization, context, and comparison are key to understanding the evolution of fear. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 46, e61. DOI:10.1017/S0140525X22001789 †These authors contributed equally. [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Arnold W. & Kotrschal K. 2022. Effects of severe anthropogenic disturbance onto heart rate and body temperature in free-living greylag geese (Anser anser). Conservation Physiology, 10(1), coac050. DOI:10.1093/conphys/coac050 [link to download]

Logan C.J., McCune K.B., MacPherson M., Johnson-Ulrich Z., Rowney C., Seitz B., Blaisdell A.P., Deffner D., & Wascher C.A.F. 2022. Are the more flexible great-tailed grackles also better at behavioral inhibition? Animal Behavior and Cognition, 9(1), 14-36. DOI:10.26451/abc.09.01.03.2022 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Baur N., Hengl M., Köck C., Pegger T., Schindlbauer J., & Wemer L. 2021. Behavioural responses of captive corvids to the presence of visitors. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 8(4), 481-492. DOI:10.26451/abc.08.04.03.2021 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F. 2021. Heart rate as a measure of emotional arousal in evolutionary biology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 376, 20200479. DOI:10.1098/rstb.2020.0479 [link to download]

Khan N. & Wascher C.A.F. 2021. Considering generalizability: A lesson from auditory enrichment research on zoo animals. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 8(2), 251-262. DOI:10.26451/abc.08.02.12.2021 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F. 2021. Association between social factors and gastrointestinal parasite product excretion in a group of non-cooperatively breeding carrion crows. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 75, 30. DOI:10.1007/s00265-021-02967-9 [link to download]

Dufour V., Broihanne M.-H. & Wascher, C.A.F. 2020. Corvids avoid odd evaluation by following simple rules in a risky exchange task. Ethology, 126(2), 153-164. DOI:10.1111/eth.12994 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Feider B., Bugnyar T. & Dufor, V. 2020. Crows and common ravens do not reciprocally exchange tokens with a conspecific to gain food rewards. Ethology, 126(2), 278-287. DOI:10.1111/eth.12970 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Canestrari D. & Baglione V. 2019. Affiliative social relationships and coccidian oocyst excretion in a cooperatively breeding bird species. Animal Behaviour, 158, 121-130. DOI:10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.10.009 [link to download]

Halsey L.G., Green J.A., Twiss S.D., Arnold W., Burthe S.J., Butler P.J., Cooke S.J., Grémillet D., Ruf T., Hicks O., Minta K.J., Prystay T.S., Wascher C.A.F. & Careau V. 2019. Flexibility, variability and constraint in energy management patterns across vertebrate taxa revealed by long-term heart rate measurements. Functional Ecology, 33(2). 260-272. DOI:10.1111/1365-2435.13264 [link to download]

Frigerio D., Hemetsberger F. & Wascher C.A.F. 2019. How having a partner and a family changes the stress levels of graylag geese. Frontiers for Young Minds, 7, 68. DOI:10.3389/frym.2019.00068 [link to download]

Miller R., Boeckle M., Jelbert S.A., Frohnwieser A., Wascher C.A.F. & Clayton N.S. 2019. Self-control in crows, parrots and non-human primates. WIREs Cognitive Science, e1504. DOI:10.1002/wcs.1504 [link to download]

Safryghin A., Hebesberger D.V. & Wascher C.A.F. 2019. Testing for behavioral and physiological responses of domestic horses (Equus caballus) across different contexts — consistency over time and effects of context. Frontiers in Comparative Psychology, 10, 849. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00849 [link to download]

Szipl G., Loth A., Wascher C.A.F., Hemetsberger J., Kotrschal K., Frigerio D. 2019. Parental behaviour and family proximity as key to gosling survival in Greylag geese (Anser anser). Journal of Ornithology, 160, 473–483. DOI:10.1007/s10336-019-01638-x [link to download]

Broihanne M.H., Romain A., Call J., Thierry B., Wascher C.A.F., De Marco A., Verrier D. & Dufour V. 2018. Monkeys (Sapajus apella and Macaca tonkeana) and great apes (Gorilla gorilla, Pongo pygmaeus, Pan paniscus and Pan troglodytes) play for the highest bid. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 133(3), 301. DOI:10.1037/com0000153 [link to download]

Kirk J. & Wascher C.A.F. 2018. Temporal modification of social interactions in response to changing group demographics and offspring maturation in African lions (Panthera leo). Behavioural Processes, 157, 519-527. DOI:0.1016/j.beproc.2018.06.006 [link to download]

Puehringer-Sturmayr V., Wascher C.A.F., Loretto M.-C., Palme R., Stoewe M., Kotrschal K. & Frigerio D. 2018. Seasonal differences of corticosterone metabolite concentrations and parasite burden in northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita): The role of affiliative interactions. PLoS ONE 13(1), e0191441. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0191441 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F.†, Kulahci, I.G.†, Langley E. & Shaw R. 2018. How does cognitive performance shape patterns of social relationships? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 373, 20170293. DOI:10.1098/rstb.2017.0293 †These authors contributed equally. [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Kotrschal K. & Walter A. 2018. Free-living Greylag geese adjust their heart rates and body core temperatures to season and reproductive context. Scientific Reports, 8, 2142. DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-20655-z [link to download]

Frigerio D., Ludwig S.C., Hemetsberger J., Kotrschal K. & Wascher C.A.F.. 2017. Social and environmental factors modulate leucocyte profiles in free-living Greylag geese (Anser anser). PeerJ, 5, e2792. DOI:10.7717/peerj.2792 [link to download]

Frigerio D., Cibulski L., Ludwig S.C., Campderrich I., Kotrschal K. & Wascher C.A.F. 2016. Parasite excretion patterns during the reproductive season in Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita). Journal of Ornithology, 157, 839-851. DOI:10.1007/s10336-015-1317-z [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Hemetsberger J., Kotrschal K. & Frigerio D. 2017. Leucocyte profiles and family size in fledgling Greylag Geese (Anser anser). Avian Biology Research, 10(4), 246-252. DOI:10.3184/175815617X15036738758871 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Hillemann F., Canestrari D., & Baglione V. 2015. Carrion crows learn to discriminate between calls of reliable and unreliable conspecifics. Animal Cognition, 18, 1181-1185. DOI:10.1007/s10071-015-0879-8 [link to download]

Szipl G., Boeckle M., Spreafico M., Wascher C.A.F. & Bugnyar T. 2015. With whom to dine? Ravens' responses to food-associated calls depend on individual characteristics of the caller. Animal Behaviour, 99, 33-42. DOI:10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.10.015 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F. 2015. Individual performance in socio-cognitive tasks predicts social performance in carrion crows. Behaviour, 152, 615–634. DOI:10.1163/1568539X-00003245 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Heiss, R., Baglione V. & Canestrari D. 2015. Behavioural responses to olfactory cues in social contexts in carrion crows (Corvus corone corone). Behavioural Processes, 111, 1-5. DOI:10.1016/j.beproc.2014.11.009 [link to download]

Dorn S., Wascher C.A.F. & Kotrschal, K. 2014. Ambient temperature and air pressure modulate hormones and behavior in Greylag geese (Anser anser) and Northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita). Behavioural Processes, 108, 27-35. DOI:10.1016/j.beproc.2014.08.026 [link to download]

Cibulski L., Wascher C.A.F., Weiß B.M. & Kotrschal, K. 2014. Familiarity with the experimenter influences the performance of Common ravens (Corvus corax) and Carrion crows (Corvus corone corone) in cognitive tasks. Behavioural Processes, 103, 129-137. DOI:10.1016/j.beproc.2013.11.013 [link to download]

Hillemann F., Bugnyar T., Kotrschal K. & Wascher C.A.F. 2014. Waiting for better, not for more: corvids respond to quality in two delay maintenance tasks. Animal Behaviour, 90, 1-10. DOI:10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.01.007 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Valdez J.W., Nuñez C., Baglione V. & Canestrari D. 2014. Social factors modulating attention patterns in carrion crows (Corvus corone corone). Behaviour, 151(5), 555-572. DOI:10.1163/1568539X-00003148 [link to download]

Teschke I., Wascher C.A.F., Scriba M., von Bayern A., Huml V., Siemers B. & Tebbich S. 2013. Did tool-use evolve with enhanced physical cognitive abilities? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 368, 20120418. DOI:10.1098/rstb.2012.0418 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F. & Bugnyar T. 2013. Behavioral Responses to Inequity in Reward Distribution and Working Effort in Crows and Ravens. PLoS ONE, 8(2), e56885. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0056885 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Bauer A.C., Holtmann A.R. & Kotrschal K. 2012. Environmental and social factors affecting excretion of intestinal parasite eggs and oocysts in a flock of free-living greylag geese (Anser anser). Behavioral Ecology, 23 (6), 1276-1283. DOI:10.1093/beheco/ars113 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Dufour V. & Bugnyar T. 2012. Carrion crows cannot overcome impulsive choice in a quantitative exchange task. Frontiers in Comparative Psychology, 3, 118. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00118 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Szipl G., Boeckle M. & Wilkinson A. 2012. You sound familiar — Carrion crows can differentiate between the calls of known and unknown heterospecifics. Animal Cognition, 15, 1015-1019. DOI:10.1007/s10071-012-0508-8 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Weiß B.M., Arnold W. & Kotrschal K. 2012. Physiological implications of pair-bond status in greylag geese. Biology Letters, 8, 347-350. DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0917 [link to download]

Dufour V., Wascher C.A.F., Braun A., Miller R. & Bugnyar T. 2012. Corvids can decide if a future exchange is worth waiting for. Biology Letters, 8, 201-204. DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0726 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Scheiber I.B.R., Braun A. & Kotrschal K. 2011. Heart rate responses to induced challenge situations in greylag geese (Anser anser). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 125(1), 116-119. DOI:10.1037/a0021188 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Fraser O.N. & Kotrschal K. 2010. Heart rate during conflicts predicts post-conflict stress-related behavior in greylag geese. PLoS ONE, 5 (12), e15751. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0015751 [link to download]

Kralj-Fiser S., Scheiber I.B.R., Kotrschal K., Weiß B.M. & Wascher C.A.F. 2010. Glucocorticoids enhance and suppress heart rate and behaviour in time dependent manner in greylag geese (Anser anser). Physiology & Behavior, 100, 394-400. DOI:10.1016/j.physbeh.2010.04.005 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Scheiber I.B.R., Weiß B.M. & Kotrschal K. 2009. Heart rate responses to agonistic encounters in greylag geese (Anser anser). Animal Behaviour, 77, 955-961. DOI:10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.01.013 [link to download]

Scheiber I.B.R., Weiß B.M., Hirschenhauser K., Wascher C.A.F., Nedelcu I.T. & Kotrschal K. 2008. Does ‚relationship intelligence’ make big brains in birds? The Open Biology Journal, 1, 6-8. DOI:10.2174/1874196700801010006 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Arnold W. & Kotrschal K. 2008. Heart rate modulation by social contexts in Greylag geese (Anser anser). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 122(1), 100-107. DOI:10.1037/0735-7036.122.1.100 [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F., Scheiber I.B.R. & Kotrschal K. 2008. Heart rate modulationin bystanding geese watching social and non-social events. Proceedings of the Royal Society London Series B, 275, 1653-1659. DOI:10.1098/rspb.2008.0146 [link to download]

Book Chapters

Wascher C.A.F. 2022. Corvids. In: Vonk J. & Shackelford, T.K. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer: 1733–1744. DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-55065-7_1799. ISBN:978-3-319-55064-0. [link to download]

Wascher C.A.F. & Kotrschal K. 2013. The costs of sociality measured through heart rate modulation. In: Scheiber I.B.R., Weiß B, Hemetsberger J. & Kotrschal K. (eds.) The Social Life of Greylag Geese. Patterns, Mechanisms and Evolutionary Function in an Avian Model System. Cambridge University Press: 142-155. DOI:10.1017/CBO9781139049955.012. ISBN:9780521822701. [link to download]

My Articles in The Conversation

[Article] Fireworks: growing evidence they distress animals builds case to restrict use.
[Article] How the birds and the bees help coffee plants
[Article] Seagulls, songbirds and parrots: what new research tells us about their cognitive ability
[Article] I listened to animals’ hearts to reveal their hidden emotional worlds.
[Article] Animals know when they are being treated unfairly (and they don’t like it).

Other Media Coverage

[Podcast] Claudia Wascher erforscht die Denkleistungen von Vögeln (CW studies bird cognition). By Silke Hartmann.
[Article] The Guardian: Do fireworks harm animals? We ask an expert. By Coco Khan.
[Article] Die Presse: Der Puls steigt bei sozialen Kontakten (Heart rate and sociality). By Veronika Schmidt
[Article] ORF: Hühner: Fast so schlau wie Krähen (Chicken: Almost as smart as crows). By science.ORF.at/APA/dpa.
[Article] Phys.org: Geese reduce metabolic rate to cope with winter. Provided by Anglia Ruskin University.
[Article] Animal Cognition Interviews: Corvid Researcher Claudia Wascher. By Amanda Pachniewska.
[Article] Scientific American: Self-Controlled Crows Ace the Marshmallow Test. By Jyoti Madhusoodanan.
[Article] Gizmodo: What Can Crows and Ravens Teach People About Resisting Temptation? By Jason G. Goldman.
[Article] Popular Science: New Study Says Unfairness Really Ruffles Crows’ Feathers. By Francie Diep.
[Article] Australian Geographic: Intelligent crows can recognise human voices. By Jenna Hanson.
[Article] Phys.org: Research shows crows comparable to humans when it comes to waiting. By Deborah Braconnier.
[Article] ORF: Rabenvögel haben Tauschtalent (Corvids' bartering). By science.ORF.at/APA/dpa.
[Article] Der Spiegel: Clevere Tauschgeschäfte: Rabenvögel warten freiwillig auf gutes Futter (Clever exchanges: Corvids voluntarily wait for good food). By dpa.
[Article] Der Standard: Das große Herz der wilden Gänse. (The wild geese's strong heart). By Klaus Taschwer.
[Article] Laborjournal: Cool durch Partnerschaft (Relaxed thanks to partnership). By Bettina Dupont.
[Article] Die Presse: Krähen: Soziale Kooperation (Crows: Social cooperation). By Veronika Schmidt.
[Article] Der Standard: Die Rabenkrähen-Mutter (Mother of crows). By Doris Griesser.
[TV Documentary] Gans im Glück? (Gans in Luck). By SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen.