Over 800 registered participants, including top scientists from a wide range of fields – from ethology to behavioral genetics to anthropology – came together last week from 14-20 August 2023 to discuss their research and areas of expertise at Behaviour 2023 in Bielefeld. The multidisciplinary and international congress is the main conference of the International Council of Ethologists (IEC) and takes place every two years. After almost 3 years of limited opportunities, the Bugnyar Lab from the Haidlhof Research Station was delighted to take part in this lively exchange. A great success also for our PhD candidate Anna Fabbri, who was awarded the best poster prize among 150 poster presentations.