The Science of Birds

This episode—which is Number 53—is all about Avian Influenza. Or colloquially what we call the Avian Flu or Bird Flu. Depending on where you live, you might have noticed news headlines in recent mont...

12 Jun 202234min

This is Episode 52. Today, we’re talking about bird species that are way, way bigger than your average chickadee or finch. Our focus will be on evolutionary lineages that spawned some very large bi...

26 Mai 202228min

This is Episode 51. Our bird of interest today is the Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis. This species is widespread across the eastern and southern US. It’s so well-known and loved that it’s t...

6 Mai 202232min

This episode—which is Number 50— is all about Female Birdsong. Songs are one of the things we love most about birds. They define the soundscapes of the natural world. Even though humans have been ...

19 Apr 202221min

This episode—which is Number 49—is all about bird nests. There are tons of fun facts fun facts here, since nests are one of the more impressive aspects of bird behavior and breeding biology. We’ll ...

6 Apr 202252min

This episode—which is Number 48—is about the “Pecking Order” in birds. Or, to use the more technical term, dominance hierarchy. Our focus will be on dominance hierarchies that we see among birds wit...

25 Mar 202227min

This is Episode 47. It’s all about birds in the family Laridae. This is an ancient evolutionary lineage that originated over 70 million years ago, when the world was still ruled by dinosaurs. Besides...

10 Mar 202242min

This episode—which is Number 46—is about a special place in the Malay Archipelago where two bird worlds collide. This region lies between Southeast Asia and Australia, between the Indian and Pacific ...

18 Feb 202219min