Okay, But... Birds

E27. They’ve been called "rats with wings," but pigeons are actually elite athletes, historical icons, and evolutionary marvels. Scott chats with Dr. Elizabeth Carlen, a postdoc at the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in St. Louis, to look past the common stereotypes and uncover the remarkable biology of the Rock Pigeon.In this episode, you’ll hear about:The deep historical bond between humans and pigeons and how domestic birds successfully transitioned back into the wild.How pigeons navigate the constant threat of specialized hunters like Peregrine Falcons and Red-tailed Hawks.How mapping the DNA of feral pigeons across the Northeastern US revealed that their population structure surprisingly mirrors human geography, and what flight distances can tell us about their urban evolution.If you enjoy this one, follow Okay, But… Birds and share it with a friend who needs to give pigeons a second look.All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:Blue Jay audio contributed by Gaetan Dupont, ML173749Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) audio contributed by James Kimball, ML3891Peregrine Falcon audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML136378Red-tailed Hawk audio contributed by David McCartt, ML229578

E25. The blue-footed booby has become an internet personality: cartoon feet, a goofy strut, a name that practically begs to be a punchline. But Scott sat down with Dr. Carlos Zavalaga, Universidad Científica del Sur, and one of the people who first taught him how to study seabirds in Peru, and the "fool" reputation falls apart fast. Get a booby in the air or underwater and you're watching one of the most specialized hunters in the bird family tree.In this episode you'll hear about:How six-plus booby species carve up the same ocean without starving each other outWhat 20 years of GPS loggers, depth tags, and bags of fresh fish revealed about who eats whatWhy El Niño, avian flu, and overfishing keep stacking the deck against these birdsAll audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:Blue-footed Booby audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML85906Red-footed Booby audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML85911Brown Booby audio contributed by Gerritt Vyn, ML136211Masked Booby audio contributed by Chandler Robbins, ML32604Nazca Booby audio contributed by Oliver H. Hewitt, ML31543Peruvian Booby audio contributed by Ted Parker, ML29399

E23. Across sub-Saharan Africa, wild birds and people work together to find honey. No taming, no breeding, no domestication… just a partnership thousands of years in the making. Behavioral ecologist Dr. Jessica van der Wal, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, joins Scott to unpack what's actually happening when a honey hunter calls and a greater honeyguide answers.In this episode you'll hear about:What each side gets out of one of the only known mutualisms between humans and a wild animal, and why this bird in particular evolved to seek us outThe remarkable signal the honeyguide uses to communicate with people, and what playback experiments revealed when researchers tested it across very different communitiesWhat happens to a partnership built over generations when one side starts buying honey at the storeAll audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:Greater Honeyguide audio contributed by Jennifer F. M. Horne, ML55972Additional media courtesy of Dr. Claire Spottiswoode and Dr. Jessica van der Wal

E21. We're talking sense and scents with Dr. Danielle Whittaker, Oregon State, and author of The Secret Perfume of Birds, who spent a decade unraveling a 200-year-old myth that started with John James Audubon and a dead pig under a bush.In this episode:The bird that smells like a fresh-baked sugar cookieWhy preen oil is a dating profile written in chemistry, and how seabirds use the same chemical cue that's now leading albatross parents to feed their chicks plasticThe bonus myth Danielle wants goneNew here? Listen, follow, and tell a friend who still thinks birds can't smell.All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:Brown-headed Cowbird audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94262Dark-eyed Junco audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94361Red Knot audio contributed by Lucas DeCicco, ML516895Crested Auklet audio contributed by Sampath Seneviratne, ML132014Laysan Albatross audio contributed by Ted Miller, ML117679

E19. More than 55 million Americans feed birds, and it's not exactly clear the birds asked us to. Dr. Olivia Sanderfoot, Research Scientist and Project Leader of FeederWatch at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, joins Scott to unpack what four decades of data tell us about whether feeding birds helps them, hurts them, or is really just for us.In this episode you'll hear about:Why bird feeding is mostly for us, and the handful of moments when it actually tips the scales for birdsWhat forty years of FeederWatch data reveal about shifting ranges, feeder dominance, and the bird that definitely should not be bossing everyone aroundHow to keep your yard from becoming an ecological trap, plus the best way to feed birds that doesn't involve a feeder at allReady to join the longest-running winter bird monitoring program in North America? Sign up for Project FeederWatch's 40th season at feederwatch.org. You don't even need a feeder.Want more exclusive clips from this and future episodes. Signup for our newsletter, Bird Droppings, at okaybutbirds.com to get bonus content not available anywhere else!All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:European robin audio contributed by Matthew D. Medler, ML140049Cooper's hawk audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94518American crow video contributed by Jay McGowan, ML472843

E17. From sparrow songs that go viral across a continent to cockatoos that watch each other to learn how to open bins, Dr. Lucy Aplin, Australian National University / University of Zurich, studies how birds learn from each other and why it matters. Doing it for the culture? Yep. Birds are that impressive!In this episode you'll hear about:How a new white-throated sparrow song spread over 3,000 kilometers in just two decades, replacing a tune that had been stable since the 1950sThe experiment that proved wild great tits can establish lasting cultural traditions through their social networksWhy losing a population of birds might also mean losing knowledge that took generations to buildAll audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML219799White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Jocelyn Lauzon, ML121581051Great Tit audio contributed by Arnoud B. van den Berg, ML36198Eurasian Sparrowhawk audio contributed by Ben F. King, ML335224Regent Honeyeater audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML223277Pink-footed Goose audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML235508

E15. Most people picture a bird-friendly yard and imagine feeder, birdbath, maybe a decorative birdhouse with mortgage vibes. And feeders are great. But a feeder can give you the illusion of helping birds without creating the thing birds need most: habitat.In this episode, Dr. Doug Tallamy, Professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, joins Scott to explain why your yard is conservation infrastructure in disguise, and what it actually takes to turn it into a place birds can live, breed, and thrive.In this episode you'll hear about:Why "plant natives" is just the beginning, and which keystone plants actually move the needle for birdsThe surprising reason a beautiful all-native garden can still function like a food desertWhat Homegrown National Park is, and how your yard fits into a continent-wide conservation strategyReady to do more than feed birds? Join the Homegrown National Park pledge at homegrownnationalpark.org and start shifting your patch of earth.All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:Chestnut-sided warbler audio contributed by Jay McGowan, ML191085Northern parula audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML79471Carolina chickadee audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML100756Oriental pied-hornbill audio contributed by Warren Y. Brockelman, ML170843Northern cardinal audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML249823Black-capped chickadee audio contributed by Jay McGowan, ML202239

E13. Some birds skip having their own families and spend years helping raise their siblings instead. It sounds like altruism, but it's probably more complicated than that. In this episode, host Dr. Scott Taylor is joined by Dr. Nancy Chen, UCLA, to unpack the notion that it takes a village to raise a child chick.In this episode, you'll hear about:Why some birds spend years as unpaid helpers before starting families of their ownWhat the Florida Scrub-Jay's 50-year study at Archbold Biological Station revealed about cooperative breedingWhether helping your siblings is really altruism or just evolution doing it’s thingIf you enjoy this one, follow Okay, But... Birds and share it with a friend who thinks family is complicated.All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:Florida Scrub-Jay audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML229211American Crow video contributed by Jay McGowan, ML472843Superb Fairywren audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML233810Superb Starling audio contributed by Myles E. W. North, ML14855Red-necked Phalarope audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML235440Northern Jacana audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML140224

E11. Bird vision isn’t just “better than ours,” It’s operating in a different color space, including ultraviolet. In Host Dr. Scott Taylor is joined by Dr. Allison Shultz, Associate Curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, to break down what birds can actually see, how scientists measure color in the real world, and why feather color is one of evolution’s most powerful (and misunderstood) tools.In this episode, you’ll hear about:How birds see a whole extra dimension of color (including UV) and why we can’t truly experience “bird vision” without the biology to matchHow feathers make color through pigments and nano-structuresHow studying bird color is changing fast, from spectrophotometers to UV-capable cameras, plus why female coloration and “dirty birds” are reshaping what we think we knowAll audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:Northern Cardinal audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML249823House Finch audio contributed by William R. Fish, ML12932Guinea Turaco audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML140992Northern Jacana audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML140224Common Eider audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML235534Mountain Bluebird audio contributed by Dave Herr, ML47592Palm Tanager audio contributed by Curtis Marantz, ML88937Greater Bird-of-Paradise video contributed by Tim Laman, ML465370King Bird-of-Paradise video contributed by Tim Laman, ML455252Paradise Tanager audio contributed by Curtis Marantz, ML127399Additional media used with permission under Creative Commons:Plum-throated Cotinga (Cotinga maynana) in Peru image contributed by Harsha Jayaramaiah, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsLovely Cotinga (Cotinga amabilis) image contributed by desertnaturalist, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

E9. Birdwatching, birding, twitching… whatever you call it, it’s got everything: quests, rare finds, elaborate gear, a sprawling universe of characters, and a deeply committed fandom. Sound familiar? In this episode, host Dr. Scott Taylor is joined by NYT best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ed Yong to explore how modern birding became more accessible than ever (hello, Merlin and eBird), why it can feel like an open-world RPG, and what the Pokémon comparison misses.In this episode, you’ll hear about:How Ed Yong fell into birding after moving to Oakland, and why the “virtuous cycle” of noticing more makes you want to keep lookingWhy Merlin is more than an ID tool, and how eBird functions like “the last good social network” without clout-chasingThe ethics and culture of birding today, from playback debates to the weird social dynamics of rare sightings, plus why birding is such a powerful way to connect to place, community, and changeAll audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:Oak Titmouse audio contributed by Thomas G. Sander, ML110924Oak Titmouse video contributed by Timothy Barksdale, ML406704Northern Pygmy-Owl (Rocky Mts.) audio contributed by Rob Faucett, ML25653Pine Siskin audio contributed by Matthew D. Medler, ML163369Northern Shrike (American) audio contributed by Lucas DeCicco, ML515306Surf Scoter video contributed by Timothy Barksdale, ML402125

E7. Every bird song you’ve ever heard on a hike, through an open window, or sampled in a nature documentary has a story behind it. In this episode, host Dr. Scott Taylor is joined by Linda Macaulay, Chairman of the Board of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, to explore how bird sounds get recorded, preserved, and shared with the world, and why audio might be one of the most powerful tools we have for understanding and protecting birds. And yes, it’s THAT Macaulay; the one with the library named after her. Casual.In this episode, you’ll hear about:How Linda helped build the world’s bird sound library and why it mattersWhat it takes to record a clean bird vocalization in the wild and the even wilder stories behind the scenesThe role of the Macaulay Library and what’s next for apps like MerlinIf you enjoy this one, follow Okay, But… Birds and share it with a friend who thinks bird songs are just background noise.All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But… Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows::Merlin (Taiga) audio contributed by George B. Reynard, ML4408Egyptian Plover audio contributed by Linda Macaulay, ML50441Whitehead’s Trogon audio contributed by Linda Macaulay, ML75416Yellow-Rumped Warbler (Myrtle) audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML85245Yellow-Rumped Warbler (Myrtle) video contributed by Eric Liner, ML472204Red-Backed Fairywren audio contributed by Tony Baylis, ML233591Superb Lyrebird audio contributed by Linda Macaulay, ML128376

E5. Every spring and fall, billions of birds pull off the most ambitious commutes on Earth. In this episode, host Dr. Scott Taylor is joined by Dr. Nate Senner, Mass Audubon Bertrand Chair for Ornithology in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the UMass Amherst, to break down why birds migrate, how they navigate, and what happens when the world (or the bird) gets thrown off course.In this episode, you’ll hear about:Why birds migrateHow birds navigate long-distance routes, and what’s instinct vs. learnedHow scientists track migration across continents and the wildest journey Nate has followedWhat happens when birds drift off course, and how climate change is reshaping routes and timingIf you enjoy this one, follow Okay, But… Birds and share it with a friend who thinks migration is as simple as just “flying south.”

E3. One day you’re proudly sitting at 312 species… and the next day your list is missing a bird (or two). What happened? In this episode, host Dr. Scott Taylor is joined by Dr. Dave Toews, Assistant Professor at Penn State, to pull back the curtain on bird taxonomy: what a “species” even is, who decides when birds get split or lumped, and why those decisions ripple out into birding, field guides, and conservation.In this episode, you’ll hear about:What “species” means (and why it’s messier than it sounds)The split vs. lump process—and why your life list isn’t safeWho actually makes the call (committees, checklists, and gatekeepers)The kinds of evidence that move the needle (DNA, song, plumage, etc.)If you enjoy this one, follow Okay, But… Birds and share it with a friend who keeps receipts for every rare bird they’ve ever seen.