Tweet of the Day

Latest Episodes:

Birdgirl Mya Rose Craig on the Black Browed Albatross May 17, 2017

Show notes

Young conservationist and Birdgirl Mya Rose Craig aged 14 recalls the excitement of seeing a black browed albatross in Cornwall at the age of seven, thousands of miles from where it should be seen in Antarctica.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer Maggie Ayre.

Peter Rock on the Lesser Black Backed Gull May 16, 2017

Show notes

In this programme, Bristol based bird scientist Peter Rock talks about his decades of research into urban lesser black backed gulls, including surprising finds in Morocco.

Producer Maggie Ayre.

Cyrus Todiwala on the house sparrow. May 15, 2017

Show notes

In this programme, London based chef and restaurant owner Cyrus Todiwala talks about his love of the city's house sparrow, bringing a bit of joy to the bustling streets.

Producer Maggie Ayre.

Dara McAnulty on the whooper swan May 12, 2017

Show notes

Since he was a small boy, Fermanagh based bird blogger Dara McAnulty has been enthralled by birds. For this Tweet of the Day Dara draws a comparison with seeing whooper swans near to his home in Northern Ireland with the swans from Irish mythology, the Children of Lir. Dara, who has Aspergers Syndrome, blogs as Young Fermanagh Naturalist to convey his love of nature and wildlife through the written word.

Producer Maggie Ayre.

David Lindo on the ring ouzel May 11, 2017

Show notes

David Lindo, otherwise known as the urban birder, recalls his first encounter with the ring ouzel on his local patch near to Wormwood Scrubs in London.

Producer Maggie Ayre.

Gabi Mann on the American crow May 10, 2017

Show notes

In this programme young girl Gabi Mann recalls how she became friends with American crows in her suburban garden in Seattle, one of whom she named Baby Face. She and her mother began feeding the crows regularly in 2011 and soon the crows began bringing Gabi gifts. Over time these trinckets and corvid offerings amounted to a sizeable hoard which Gabi treasures.

Producer Maggie Ayre.

Mat Waddington on the long tailed tit May 09, 2017

Show notes

Worcestershire lawyer Mat Waddington recounts an encounter with a long tailed tit tapping at his window, his girlfriend at the other end of the village was similarly visited by a long tailed window tapper. Was this the same bird flying between the two houses which Mat describes as being the lovebird of Hallow?

Producer Maggie Ayre.

Sam Lee on the nightingale May 08, 2017

Show notes

For this first programme, folk musician and Mercury Prize nominee Sam Lee considers the nightingale, that amazing songster which can use two voice boxes to produce over 200 different styles of phrasing; enriching the gathering darkness for those fortunate enough to hear. Having sung with nightingales in Sussex woodlands for many years, for Sam that richness of the male nightingale territorial song, is mesmeric.

Producer Maggie Ayre.

Dawn Chorus May 07, 2017

Show notes

The best bits of International Dawn Chorus day when radio stations across the globe come together and broadcast the dawn chorus in real time.

Pop star and bird lover Will Young joins Brett Westwood and a gang of unexpected bird lovers as Radio 4 throws an all-nighter in search of the Dawn Chorus. Going on air just after midnight and staying up till 7am Brett and Will host a night of conversation, story-telling, argument and explanation culminating in the live broadcast of the Dawn Chorus from Ham Wall Nature reserve in Somerset.

Other guests include Birds Brittania author Mark Cocker, Bird acoustics expert Dr Jenny York and singer Hanna Tuulikki.

Radio 4 is doing this as part of International Dawn Chorus day - a unique broadcast event hosted by RTE in Ireland - in which radio stations in India and Europe join together to track the rising sun across the continent from Delhi to Dublin. You'll hear capercaillies in from Norway, bitterns in Somerset, bluethroats in Holland - it's like the Eurovision Song contest, but with much better singing.

In our increasingly digital world Dawn Chorus provides a genuine encounter with the natural world on unmediated terms. There's a lovely sense of anticipation as you hunt and you wait and you feel the sense of being really there - of the sudden excitement of a Tawny Owl at midnight, the joy of a cuckoo at 4am. And as we wait and we listen we take the opportunity to have a series of interesting conversations about wildlife and literature, music, evolution and conservation.

Chowchilla Feb 13, 2015

Show notes

Michael Palin presents the secretive chowchilla from Queensland, Australia. The chowchilla gets its name from its song, which is one of the most distinctive sounds of the coastal rainforest of north-east Queensland. You're not likely to see the bird though because it spends its time skulking on the forest floor. Chowchillas belong to the family known as logrunners because they feed and nest on or near ground-level. They're stout thrush-like birds; the males are dark brown with a white chest and throat, whilst the female's throat is rusty-orange. Chowchillas have been found to sing with different dialects in different areas. Within say, 50 hectares, all the family groups of pairs and non-breeding younger birds may share the same dialect. But in an adjacent area, the families may assemble some of their song components slightly differently. Over time, their song culture could change and a new dialect would be born.

Producer : Andrew Dawes

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected