Welcome to the 100th episode of The Science of Birds Podcast! I'm thrilled to celebrate this milestone with you. In this special episode, I reflect on the journey of creating this podcast, sharing some insights and gratitude for all of you, my listeners. I also highlight three of my favorite bird species: the vibrant Green Jay, the Torrent Duck, and Egyptian Vulture. Looking ahead, I'm excited to share my plans for the future of The Science of Birds. Thank you for being part of this journey, and here's to many more episodes to come! ~~ Leave me a review using Podchaser ~~ Link to this episo ..read more

In this episode—which is Number 99—we dive into the fascinating world of cormorants and shags, members of the avian family Phalacrocoracidae. These sleek, hook-billed birds are known for their distinctive silhouettes, often seen drying their wings on seaside cliffs or wetland trees. Cormorants and shags have a long history of varied human interactions, from being vilified and hunted to being revered and even trained to catch fish. These birds are exceptional divers, utilizing their streamlined bodies and webbed feet to hunt underwater. Their feathers are less waterproof than those of other aq ..read more

This is Episode 97. It’s all about bluebirds: the three North American species in the genus Sialia: The Eastern Bluebird, Western Bluebird, and Mountain Bluebird. For centuries, these beloved birds have been celebrated in paintings, poems, songs, and Disney cartoons. The Eastern Bluebird is the state bird of Missouri and New York, while the Mountain Bluebird is the state bird of Idaho and Nevada. And, apparently, the Mountain Bluebird was the inspiration for the original Twitter logo. But bluebirds aren’t just cultural icons. They’ve also become valuable study subjects for scientists in th ..read more

In this episode—which is Number 96—I’ll be answering questions sent by my listeners. So this is what we call an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) episode. I enjoy doing these, and it’s so interesting to see what sorts of questions people have about birds. The listeners who get to contribute questions for these Ask Me Anything episodes are members of my community on Patreon. There are several tiers of support that people can join, and at the Helpful Hornbill and Awesome Osprey level, one perks is getting to ask questions for episodes like this one. So if you’d like to have me answer your bird question ..read more

This episode—which is number 95—is all about spoonbills. There are six spoonbill species in the world, all of which belong to the genus Platalea. The unique beak of spoonbills sets them apart from pretty much all other birds. What is the advantage of having a bill shaped like that? We'll answer that question in this episode. ~~ Leave me a review using Podchaser ~~ Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website  Support the Show ..read more

This episode—which is Number 94— is all about the Avian Digestive System. That’s right, kids, we’re looking at bird guts today! If you’ve ever wondered what happens to a fish swallowed by a kingfisher or what happened to that piece of bacon swiped off your lunch plate by a cheeky Ring-billed Gull... Well, you're about to find out. I’ll do my best to describe in words the anatomical features we encounter today. But I’ve also drawn a diagram for you. You can check that out on the show notes for this episode on the Science of Birds website. ~~ Leave me a review using Podchaser ~~ Link to this ..read more

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 lives, its behavior, its breeding biology, and more. Links of Interest World Sparrow Day ~~ Leave me a ..read more

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 find much food. Because where there are few plants, there are few invertebrates. So a bird in the desert c ..read more

This is Episode 91. It’s all about birds in the family Paridae. These are the chickadees, tits, 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 tits and chickadees of some species by feeding them seeds out of the palm of your hand. These birds not only visit bird feeders ..read more

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 respect to pollination. I’ll make another podcast episode, at some point, about bird and plant co-evol ..read more