Okay, But... Birds

E18. Turns out "bird brain" is less of an insult and more of a compliment. Scott sits down with Dr. Alex Kacelnik, Emeritus Professor at the University of Oxford, to dig into one of the most mind-bending questions in animal behavior: are birds actually building and using tools, or are we just projecting?
In this episode you'll hear about:
The experiment that left researchers completely flabbergasted and rewrote what we thought we knew about animal intelligence
Why flexibility, not raw smarts, is the real test of a thinking mind
Whether the drive to use tools is something birds are born with, learn, or some surprising combination of both

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:
Woodpecker Finch audio contributed by Robert Bowman, ML82522
New Caledonian Crow audio contributed by Lucas DeCicco, ML188764
Hawaiian Crow audio contributed by Tim Burr, ML218670
Hawaiian Crow video contributed by Timothy Barksdale, ML425081
Kea audio contributed by William V. Ward, ML8523

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 1950s
The experiment that proved wild great tits can establish lasting cultural traditions through their social networks
Why losing a population of birds might also mean losing knowledge that took generations to build

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:
White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML219799
White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Jocelyn Lauzon, ML121581051
Great Tit audio contributed by Arnoud B. van den Berg, ML36198
Eurasian Sparrowhawk audio contributed by Ben F. King, ML335224
Regent Honeyeater audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML223277
Pink-footed Goose audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML235508

E16. What if the secret to raising more babies was to never raise a single one yourself? Dr. Chris Balakrishnan, Associate Adjunct Professor of Biology at East Carolina University and co-founder of Nerd Nite, has spent his career studying the strangest birds on the planet: the ones that outsource parenthood entirely.
In this episode you'll hear about:
The evolutionary arms race between brood parasites and their hosts, from mimetic eggs to alien-looking chick mouth patterns
How the "password hypothesis" explains how brown-headed cowbirds avoid imprinting on the wrong species
Why host-switching in African parasitic finches can drive the rapid formation of new species

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, ML94262
Brown-headed Cowbird audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML516718
Redhead audio contributed by Jessie Berry, ML139672
Canvasback audio contributed by Arthur A. Allen, ML3537
Greater Honeyguide audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML140981
Pin-tailed Whydah audio contributed by Myles E. W. North, ML14489
Village Indigobird audio contributed by Myles E. W. North, ML14484
Zebra Finch (Australian) audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML226233
Prothonotary Warbler audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML85158
Kirtland's Warbler audio contributed by Rudolph Little, ML13982

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 birds
The surprising reason a beautiful all-native garden can still function like a food desert
What Homegrown National Park is, and how your yard fits into a continent-wide conservation strategy

Ready 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, ML191085
Northern parula audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML79471
Carolina chickadee audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML100756
Oriental pied-hornbill audio contributed by Warren Y. Brockelman, ML170843
Northern cardinal audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML249823
Black-capped chickadee audio contributed by Jay McGowan, ML202239

E14. What do feathers, toothless beaks, and a 66-million-year-old asteroid have in common. Paleontologist Dr. Daniel Field, University of Cambridge, joins Scott to unpack how birds evolved from dinosaurs, and why defining "bird" is trickier than you think.
In this episode you'll hear about:
Why Archaeopteryx had half the features of a modern bird and lacked the other half, and what that tells us about 150 million years of evolution
The "Wonderchicken," a tiny fossil from the border of Belgium and the Netherlands that rewrote what we know about birds surviving the asteroid impact
How micro CT scanning lets scientists digitally peer inside rocks to study fossils at micron scale without ever touching them

Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
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:
Great Spotted Kiwi, William V. Ward, ML810
Southern Cassowary, Linda Macaulay, ML57219
Elegant Trogon, David L. Ross, Jr., ML199536
Green Heron,, Bob McGuire, ML229117

Asteriornis imagery and video courtesy of Dr. Daniel Field, University of Cambridge.