Episodes
Published 03/21/24
This episode—which is number 93—is all about the the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), one of the world’s best known and most abundant birds. It expanded across the planet along with humans over the last 10,000 years, with the spread of agriculture. Today, this plucky little bird is a model organism for the study of basic bird biology. Over 7,000 scientific studies of the House Sparrow have been published. In this episode, we’ll get into what this species looks and sounds like, where it...
Published 03/21/24
This episode—which is Number 92—is all about the value of desert ecosystems as habitats for birds. Deserts are important for the birds that are adapted to live in them—birds that can handle the harsh conditions. Deserts are home to relatively few bird species. Only the polar regions and maybe some parts of the open ocean have less bird diversity. Even if a bird species can handle the extremes of heat and cold in a desert, the desiccating winds, and the lack of water, that bird may not...
Published 02/29/24
This is Episode 91. It’s all about birds in the family Paridae. These are the chickadees, t**s, and titmice—cute little forest-dwelling songbirds known and loved by many people around the world. I’ve had a lot of requests to make a podcast episode about chickadees and their kind. Some species in this family are familiar visitors to backyard bird feeders. They’re highly active, vocal, bold, and sometimes quite confiding with people. It’s possible to gain the trust of t**s and chickadees of...
Published 02/15/24
This is Episode 90 and it’s all about the importance of birds as plant pollinators. If I had to use only one word for the topic of this episode, it would be ornithophily. The definition of ornithophily is “the pollination of flowers by birds.” Today, I’ll be focusing mostly on the ecological relationships between plants and the birds that pollinate them. Another way to look at all of this would be through the lens of evolution—the fascinating ways that plants and birds have co-evolved with...
Published 01/19/24
This is Episode 89. I’m publishing it right at the beginning of 2024, and it's a review of some fascinating things that happened in the world of ornithology and bird conservation over the last 12 months, in 2023. Naturally, this isn’t an exhaustive review of every scientific discovery about birds in 2023. That would be too much. An exhaustive review would be, well, exhausting. Maybe not for you, but definitely for me. Instead, I’ll tell you about a handful of studies and projects that I...
Published 01/06/24
This episode—which is number 88—is all about owls. Owls are fascinating birds that have captured our imaginations since the dawn of humankind. They have amazing camouflage that allows them to blend in with their surroundings, and they have several other avian superpowers that set them apart from all other birds. Owls are divided into two families—Tytonidae and Strigidae—and we'll be discussing both of them today. Links of Interest Owl Notes–Denver Holt Shares the Short eared Owl's...
Published 12/16/23
This episode—which is Number 87—is all about some big news in the birding world. The common names for about 150 North American bird species are going to change in the not-too-distant future. This comes from an announcement made by the American Ornithological Society just a few weeks ago, on November 1st. I couldn’t pass up the chance to talk about this. It’s a hot topic among birders right now. People have been asking me what I think about all these birds getting renamed. And so here we...
Published 11/26/23
This episode—which is Number 86—is all about bird beaks. This will be an overview of beak anatomy, function, evolution, and diversity. The head of every bird on Earth is adorned with a beak. A bill. And to the delight of us all, those beaks come in a wild variety of shapes and colors. Just picture the mugs of toucans, vultures, ducks, parrots, flamingos, and pelicans. The diversity of beak shapes like these is one of the fascinating things about birds. Birds use their beaks for all...
Published 11/10/23
This episode—which is Number 85—is about the Meadowlarks of the world. And it’s not just those three North American species: the Western, Eastern, and Chihuahuan. There are actually 8 bird species we call meadowlarks. The other five are found primarily in South America. We’ll be talking about them today, too. Meadowlarks belong to the New World Blackbird family, Icteridae. This family includes birds like Red-winged Blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, and the Great-tailed Grackle. There’s a lot...
Published 10/19/23
This is Episode 84. Our topic today is the challenge of saving bird species that are very close to extinction. Species like the Spix’s Macaw, which have tiny global populations—whether in the wild, or in captivity. Other familiar examples are the California Condor and the Whooping Crane, whose populations bottomed out at 22 and 23, respectively. Rigorous conservation programs have since given these two North American species a fighting chance at long-term survival. This episode is about...
Published 10/09/23
This is Episode 83. It’s all about birds in the family Odontophoridae. These are the New World quails. Why is this the family of "New World" quails? Because there’s a whole mess of birds we call quails that live in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. But those birds all belong to the pheasant family, Phasianidae. New World quails are shy birds ground-dwelling birds that walk or run around in the daytime, looking for tidbits of food in the leaf litter. If they sense any kind of stranger...
Published 09/25/23
This is Episode 82. It's all about the ways that scientists track the movements of individual birds. The focus of today’s episode is not so much about the behaviors of birds, but about the technologies used by researchers to study bird behavior—the methods used to reveal the movements of birds. And our focus will be on the tracking of individual birds. There are other methods scientists use to record the mass movements of birds, like using radar to track flocks of migrants.  But today...
Published 09/14/23
This is Episode 81. It’s all about birds in the family Nectariniidae. These are the sunbirds and the spiderhunters. If you live in or have gone birding in places like Africa, India, Southeast Asia, or Indonesia, you’re probably familiar with sunbirds. Consider yourself lucky. But if you have no idea what a sunbird or a spiderhunter is, or if you have only a vague idea, I’m excited to introduce you to this group of wonderful birds today. Links of Interest These sunbirds keep singin' their...
Published 08/17/23
This is Episode 80. It's all about flightless birds, and about the evolutionary processes that lead to flightlessness. Flightlessness in birds is, in my opinion, a fascinating scientific topic. And so here we are with this episode. Alive on the planet today, there are about 60 bird species that can’t fly. That’s only about 0.54 percent of the world’s approximately 11,000 species. It turns out there were way more flightless bird species out there before humans started exploring and...
Published 08/03/23
This is Episode 79. It's all about the Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). This is one of North America’s most common raptors. We find these birds from sea to shining sea across the continent. The Redtail is a generalist predator. It can eat many kinds of prey and thrive in a broad range of habitats. Besides seeing these birds along the highway, you’re likely to spot a Red-tailed Hawk circling in the sky over a field, soaring or flapping slowly. In this episode, I cover the key traits of...
Published 07/18/23
This is Episode 78 and today we’re doing an overview of parental care in birds. How do birds raise their babies? Parent birds feeding their chicks in a nest is an iconic image. It’s a symbol of the spring and summer seasons and of the annual rejuvenation of nature. To the casual observer, birds generally come across as caring, attentive parents. Similar to the way mammals demonstrate good parenting behavior. We humans approve of this sort of thing. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy...
Published 06/22/23
This is Episode 77. It's an overview of seabirds. Some might call them Oceanic birds or Marine Birds. How do we define what is or isn’t a sea bird? Well, it depends on who you ask. There’s no one definition, since “seabird” is an informal term, rather than a scientific one. It doesn’t correspond to a single taxonomic category, or to a single evolutionary lineage. Here’s what the authors of the book Oceanic Birds of the World have to say about it: “To our mind, true seabirds are birds of...
Published 06/09/23
In this episode—which is Number 76—I’ll be answering some interesting questions sent to me by my listeners. Questions about birds, of course. The questions in today’s episode came from not just any old listeners, but from my supporters on Patreon. At the two higher tiers of support, one perk for my patrons is the chance to send me questions for these “Ask Me Anything” episodes. So if you’d like to ask your own question for a future episode, consider becoming a supporter of this show on...
Published 05/17/23
This is Episode 75. It’s all about shrikes—birds in the family Laniidae. These are true songbirds—members of the avian suborder Passeri within the order Passeriformes—even though they act (and sort of look like) tiny falcons or hawks. Shrikes are sit and wait predators. They typically sit upright on an exposed, conspicuous perch and then wait for something tasty to come along. Some small animal, like a Vesper Sparrow, a rodent, lizard, grasshopper, and so on. Shrikes are such cool birds...
Published 05/08/23
This episode—which is Number 74—is all about edible bird’s nests and Bird’s Nest Soup. Edible bird nests are a traditional delicacy in east Asia. Especially in China. For centuries, wealthy Chinese people have consumed edible bird nests. Usually in the form of bird’s nest soup. Throughout much of recent history, this dish has been one of the most expensive foods in the world. No wonder people have called edible bird nests the “caviar of the east,” or “white gold.” Perhaps the primary...
Published 04/14/23
This is Episode 73. It’s all about birds in the avian family Gruidae… the cranes. These tall birds are charismatic and super interesting. It’s going to be fun to do a deep dive into all things crane today. Humans around the world have celebrated cranes for thousands of years, for their graceful beauty and their exuberant courtship dances.  Across many cultures, cranes have inspired paintings, songs, dances, legends, martial arts, heavy construction machinery apparently, and the most iconic...
Published 03/26/23
This episode—which is Number 72—is about what happens to birds, not just in bad weather, but in really bad weather. We’re talking hurricanes, floods, droughts, heat waves, tornadoes, maybe even the occasional sharknado, and so on. How do birds deal with all these natural disasters? We’ll get into that. We'll be talking mostly about the more immediate effects of storms and other extreme weather on the survival of individual birds and their populations. Birds are tough little buggers....
Published 03/13/23
This episode—which is Number 71—is about one particular scientific article.  An article that’s near and dear to my heart. This study was published in 2020, in the Scientific Journal of Research and Reviews. You already know the title of the study itself. It’s the same as the title of this podcast episode… "What’s the Deal With Birds?" The study's author is Doctor Daniel T. Baldassarre. Listen to the episode to find out why  I love this paper... Links of Interest Lab Website of Dr. Daniel...
Published 02/23/23
This episode—which is Number 70—is all about the Great Blue Heron. The scientific name for the Great Blue Heron is Ardea herodias. This species is one of the most familiar large birds in North America. So it was inevitable that I’d make a podcast episode about it. The Great Blue Heron is a beautiful, fascinating, and ecologically important bird. Links of Interest ‘Great Heron’ sculpture by artist Dixie Friend GayGreat Blue Heron: Nesting and Mating Behavior [VIDEO]Great Horned Owl...
Published 02/13/23