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161 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Woodpeckers
29 oktober 2020 · 38 min
Summary
Learn about the amazing birds in the family Picidae—the woodpeckers. These charismatic birds have a suite of adaptations that make them excellent at the job of excavating wood. Lees meerIn this episode, we first summarize the key features of woodpeckers.
Then we’ll look at the evolution and modern-day diversity of the family.
We discuss many of the special adaptations of woodpeckers, which they use as they go about their day, foraging.
How woodpeckers breed and communicate and a bit about their conservation status round out the episode.
Links to Some Things Mentioned in this Episode
Dean Hale Woodpecker Festival in Sisters, Oregon (USA)
Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
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How Do Birds Sleep?
22 oktober 2020 · 30 min
Summary
When birds disappear at night, where do they go and what are they doing? Most of them are sleeping, of course. But sleep in birds differs greatly from what you and I do. Lees meerIn this episode, we discuss the most important functions of sleep in birds. Then we get into the evolution of sleep in birds.
Along the way, we’ll talk about the similarities and differences of sleep between birds and mammals like us.
Last, we cover where and how birds sleep, regarding location, posture, etc.
Links to Some Things Mentioned in this Episode
Avian Sleep Group at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Common Swifts Fly for 10 Months Without Landing
The bird-like dinosaur Mei Long (“Sleeping Dragon”)
Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
Errors and Clarifications
I said that the fossil of the bird-like dinosaur Mei Long (“Sleeping Dragon”) was discovered in 2010. It was actually discovered in 2004.
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The Biggest Global Threats to Birds
13 oktober 2020 · 30 min
Summary Lees meer
Birds around the world are in trouble. Their populations have suffered major declines in the last 50 years.
What does the latest research tell us about the causes of these declines? What are the biggest threats to our most vulnerable bird species?
You can probably guess some of the answers, but you might be surprised by some of what you learn in this episode.
We’ll cover the top five major threats in some detail.
Links to Some Things Mentioned in this Episode
Birdlife International
State of the World's Birds 2018
WWF report 2020
IUCN Red List
List of Bird Species that have gone extinct since 1500
Global Footprint Network
Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
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Hummingbirds
23 september 2020 · 37 min
Episode: 8 Lees meer
Summary
The remarkable behavioral and anatomical features of hummingbirds are what make them so endearing to us. The way they fly, their colors, and their penchant for flowers have all made hummingbirds rock stars of the avian world.
In this episode, we focus entirely on the hummingbird family, Trochilidae.
I’ll first give you an overview of hummingbird evolution. Then, we’ll discuss their present-day diversity and distribution.
Then we dive into an assortment of fun topics about hummingbirds, including flight, metabolism, and breeding.
At the end of the episode, I talk about feeding hummingbirds-- how to do it right and some of the interesting consequences.
Links to Some Things Mentioned in this Episode
Slow-motion video of a hummingbird catching insects in flight (i.e. hawking)
Research Citations
Fossil hummingbirds found in Germany (Mayr. 2004. Science)
Hummingbird diversification in South America (McGuire et al. 2014. Current Biology)
Sweetness receptors and genes in hummingbirds (Baldwin et al. 2014. Science)
Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
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Vision in Birds
22 september 2020 · 24 min
Episode: 7 Lees meer
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 anatomy of a bird’s eye.
Then, we’ll look into (see what I did there?) how birds perceive color and their visual acuity.
And last we’ll talk about the difference between monocular and binocular vision in birds.
Research Citations
Wild hummingbirds and ultraviolet colors (Stoddard et al. 2020. PNAS)
Seemingly monochromatic birds are more colorful under UV light (Eaton. 2005. PNAS)
Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
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Bird Songs - Part 2
22 september 2020 · 20 min
Episode: 6 Lees meer
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,” the purpose of all these vocal sounds. This episode begins by looking at the functions of bird songs and calls.
Then we get into variation in bird songs, at several levels, including among species and among geographic regions.
You’ll also learn about some interesting subtopics like the dawn chorus and female songs.
Research Citations
White-throated Sparrow viral dialect study (Otter et al. 2020. Current Biology)
Links to Some Things Mentioned in this Episode
BirdNet
Female Bird Songs
Attributions
White-crowned Sparrow singing - Recording XC565001 on Xeno Canto
White-crowned Sparrow singing - Recording XC99572 on Xeno Canto
Black-capped Chickadee singing - Recording XC70185 on Xeno Canto
Red-tailed Hawk - Recording XC71575 on Xeno Canto
Northern Mockingbird - Recording XC538537 on Xeno Canto
Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
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Bird Songs - Part 1
22 september 2020 · 22 min
Episode: 5 Lees meer
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 this episode, I’ll cover the characteristics of bird songs and how they are produced. We’ll also get into the question of whether bird songs are learned or instinctual.
Research Citations
Willow and Alder flycatcher study proving their songs are innate (Kroodsma. 1984. The Auk)
Links to Some Things Mentioned in this Episode
Lyrebird singing (YouTube video clip)
Birdsong for the Curious Naturalist, book by Donald Kroodsma
Attributions
Superb Lyrebird - Recording XC570705 on Xeno Canto
Ruffed Grouse drumming - Recording XC132863 on Xeno Canto
Pileated Woodpecker drumming - Recording XC71727 on Xeno Canto
Musician Wren singing - Recording XC242524 on Xeno Canto
Northern Raven 'song' - Recording XC496700 on Xeno Canto
Willow Flycatcher singing - Recording XC134878 on Xeno Canto
Alder Flycatcher singing - Recording XC139577 on Xeno Canto
Brown Thrasher singing - Recording XC320485 on Xeno Canto
Winter Wren singing - Recording XC142584 on Xeno Canto
Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
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Migration in Birds
22 september 2020 · 32 min
Episode: 4 Lees meer
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 cover many concepts related to migration, including timing and orientation, staging areas, and flyways.
Research Citations
The Beijing Cuckoo Project
Links to Some Things Mentioned in this Episode
Pfeilstorch
Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
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The Biodiversity of Birds
22 september 2020 · 24 min
Episode: 3 Lees meer
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 across the planet.
I offer some definitions of ‘biodiversity’ with respect to birds. We’ll discuss why this diversity is important.
Links to Some Things Mentioned in this Episode
Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World
Research Citations
Genetic research leading to the species split between the Winter Wren and Pacific Wren (Toews and Irwin. 2008. Molecular Ecology)
Errors and Clarifications
Clarification - 07:25 - I say that the Clements Checklist has 10,721 bird species. This is true. However, this number includes about 160 extinct species. So this means there are 10,561 extant (i.e. living, non-extinct) bird species on the planet today.Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
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Competition Between Bird Species
22 september 2020 · 23 min
Episode: 2 Lees meer
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 important to this episode's topic.
Then, I get into the different forms of competition between bird species and present the possible outcomes of that competition.
Lastly, I briefly touch on the general approaches that scientists take in studying interspecies competition in birds.
Links to Some Things Mentioned in this Episode
Project FeederWatch
eBird
iNaturalist
Research Citations
Competition among scavenging birds in Peru (Wallace and Temple. 1987. The Auk)
Red-winged Blackbirds vs. Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Weller and Spatcher. 1965. Special Report)
Birdfeeder dominance hierarchy among 136 bird species in North America (Miller et al. 2017. Behavioral Ecology)
Competition among tits in Swedish Winter (Alatalo et al. 1987. Ecology)
Errors and Clarifications
Error - 23:04 min: I say that the second type of competition between species is "exploitation interference". I meant to say exploitation competition. I make this error repeatedly in this section. My apologies!
Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
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The Origin of Birds
19 september 2020 · 25 min
Episode: 1 Lees meer
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 “bird.” What characteristics separate modern birds from other animal groups?
Then I discuss the evidence—both historical and recent—that scientists have used to determine the evolutionary history of birds.
Finally, we arrive at the answer of where birds fit on the tree of life.
Research Citations
Discovery of collagen protein in Tyrannosaurus femur (Asara et al. 2007. Science)
Archaeornithura, the earliest known true ancestor of birds (Wang et al. 2015. Nature Communications)
Errors and Clarifications
Error - 05:39 min: I say that scientists have genome sequences for 'all living birds.' What I meant was that we have genome sequences for representative species within each of the living bird families.
Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
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