The Science of Birds

Latest Episodes:

Flocking Behavior in Birds Aug 07, 2022

Show notes

This episode—which is Number 57— is all about the flocking behavior of birds.
Birds of many species spend at least part of their yearly cycle hanging out in groups. This could be just a handful of individuals or it could be a gathering of millions of birds.

Today, we’ll look at some explanations for why—as the saying goes—birds of a feather flock together. What benefits do birds get from forming groups like this?

We’ll also look at how flocks work. As in, their mechanics. For example, how do birds communicate and coordinate their movements in a flock?
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Links of Interest

Starling Murmuration [VIDEO]
Boids algorithm demonstration

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How Bird Feathers Get Their Colors Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

This episode—which is Number 56— is all about the colors of birds.

The diversity of color in bird plumages is one of the things we love most about these animals.

But bird plumages are impressive not only when they display vibrant colors plucked from the rainbow. Thousands of species aren’t what we’d call colorful, but they do have gorgeous, intricately patterned feathers in combinations of black, brown, and white.

Today, we’re looking at how feathers get their colors, from white to subtle earth tones to scintillating displays of wild iridescence.
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Links of Interest

Sponsor Link: Sign up through wren.co/birds to make a difference in the climate crisis, and Wren will plant 10 extra trees in your name!

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Flamingos Jul 08, 2022

Show notes

This is Episode 55. It’s all about birds in the avian family Phoenicopteridae. These are the flamingos.
No doubt you already know a fun fact or two about flamingos. These birds are crowd pleasers that get a lot of attention. But today we’re doing a deep dive into their biology. I’m hoping that along the way, you’ll pick up some new flamingo trivia that you can impress your friends with.
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Links of Interest

Underwater Flamingo Feeding [VIDEO]
Flamingo courtship dance [VIDEO]
Over a Million Flamingos | The Great Rift: Africa's Wild Heart [VIDEO]

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Eggs: Incredible and Commendable Jun 24, 2022

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This episode—which is Number 54—is all about bird eggs.
This is an important topic. Eggs are a fundamental aspect of bird biology. Recently, in Episode 49 of the podcast, I covered the topic of nests. So it seems like a logical next step for us to get the lowdown on eggs.
Oology is the science of studying bird eggs. So today, we are all honorary oologists. We’re egg-heads on a mission to better understand how baby birds come into the world.
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Book Recommendations

The Most Perfect Thing: Inside (and Outside) a Bird’s Egg [affiliate link]

Links of Interest

How are Eggs Made (BBC/Attenborough clip) [VIDEO]
Chicken embryo development animation [VIDEO]
Bird Eggs Warn Each Other About Danger [VIDEO]

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Avian Flu Jun 12, 2022

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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 months about the frightening spread of Avian Flu among both domestic and wild birds. I thought you might have some questions about this emerging disease, and so here we are with an entire podcast episode on the subject.
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Links of Interest

Current U.S. Bird Flu Situation in Humans

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Giant Birds: Go Big or Go Home May 26, 2022

Show notes

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 bird species. Species whose ancestors had been much smaller, millions of years earlier.
We’ll look at a bunch of interesting giant birds throughout history. Then we’ll talk about some scientific explanations for why these critters got so big in the first place.
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Links of Interest

Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website

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The Northern Cardinal May 06, 2022

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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 the state bird for 7 states—more than any other species.
Northern Cardinals are among the most abundant birds in North America. They’re familiar denizens of backyards that visit feeders all year long. So it shouldn’t be surprising to hear that ornithologists have done a lot of research on this abundant and conspicuous species.

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Female Birdsong Apr 19, 2022

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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 surrounded by singing birds for millions of years, we still have some misconceptions about birdsong. Today’s episode is about a misconception of sex differences in birds… Of who sings and who doesn’t.
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Links of Interest

Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website

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Nests: Types, Construction, and Challenges Apr 06, 2022

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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 go over the functions of nests, the challenges that nesting birds face, nest site selection, the many types of nests, and nest construction.
That’s a lot to cover, but I’ll try to keep this at more of an overview level. This is sort of Bird Nests 101.

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Links of Interest

Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website

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The Pecking Order: Dominance Hierarchies in Birds Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

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 within a single species. White-crowned Sparrows beating up on other White-crowned Sparrows, for example, as opposed to White-crowned Sparrows beating up on another species, like Lincoln’s Sparrow. The latter would be an example of interspecies dominance. But today, we’re talking about intraspecies dominance. Meaning within species.

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Links of Interest

Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website

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