The Science of Birds

Episode: 7 Summary It can be argued that, of all the animals, birds are the best at seeing stuff. Most species have an excellent sense of sight. In this episode, I’ll first introduce you to the anato...

Episode: 6 Summary This episode is Part 2 of 2 about Bird Songs.  In the last episode, Part 1, we talked mostly about the “how” and the “who” of bird songs. We haven’t really talked about the “why,” ...

Episode: 5 Summary This episode is Part 1 of 2 about Bird Songs.  The voices of birds dominate nature’s soundscape. Bird songs and calls can be heard in almost every environment on the planet.  In th...

Episode: 4 Summary The annual long-distance movements of birds are amazing feats of endurance and navigation. Learn about the various forms of migration and other annual movements in birds. We’ll cov...

Episode: 3 Summary Birds are an incredibly successful and diverse group of animals.  In this episode, you’ll get an overview of the origin of avian species diversity and its present-day distribution...

Episode: 2 Summary Learn about the ways that different bird species compete with each other over food and other resources. I first talk about the concept of the ecological niche, since this is so imp...

Episode: 1 Summary Learn about the deep evolutionary origin of birds and follow their history up to the great extinction that happened 66 million years ago. First, I discuss what we mean when we say ...