This month I meet some very polite deer who have a special way of asking for food. I discover why some plant nectars contain poisonous toxins. And in the scientific spark, I talk to Iain Couzin from the Max Planck Department of Collective Behaviour. Iain tells me what sparked his interest in becoming a scientist, and how, if his teachers had had their way, he might have been doing something entirely different. Download the MP3 Feeding a sika deer in Nara Park, Japan Today I met the sika deer of ...
Oct 22, 2017
This month I find out that animals should be careful when choosing a mate, picking a partner that matches them in quality, else they might face an early grave! I discover that a mutation in a taste receptor gene has helped macaques in Japan to become thieves. And in the scientific spark, I talk to Kate Umbers from the University of Western Sydney, who works on a variety of topics, mainly related to understanding the mechanisms, functions and evolution of biological colouration. She tells me what...
Dec 27, 2015
This month I hear how a wildlife park in Yorkshire is providing the perfect retirement setting for an old polar bear. I discover that social insects make trips to natures pharmacy to fight infections. And in the scientific spark, I talk to Patricia Brekke from the Zoological Society of London, who tells me about her research on the endangered new Zealand bird the Hihi, and what inspired her to become a scientist. Download the MP3 Victor is Yorkshire Wildlife Park's polar bear. He is one of the b...
Sep 16, 2015
This month I find out about sea ducks who enjoy a rather sophisticated fast food diet of mussels. I discover that horses horse around with lots of different facial expressions. And in the scientific spark, I talk to Johan Nilsson from the university of Lund, who researches the physiology and evolutionary ecology of birds. Download the MP3 What does this face say?! Quicklinks: EquiFACS: The Equine Facial Action Coding System Elisabeth Varennes' research gate page Johan Nilsson's research page...
Sep 10, 2015
In this episode I discover that some species of coral reef fish change colour, and they do this to grab a sneaky meal! I also find out how moths find flowers in the dark. And in the scientific spark I talk to Lucy Nash, who is commissioning editor for science at Oxford University Press. Download the MP3 Copyright © N Justin Marshall/Courtesy of University of Basel Quicklinks: Will Feeney's webpage Fabio Cortesi's webpage The dottyback paper in Current Biology Hovering hawkmoth paper in science...
Aug 10, 2015
This month I’m joined by special guest James O’Hanlon from the Australian museum in Sydney for a deception and disguise special. James tells me about his PhD research on mantids that trick bees by mimicking flowers - or do they?! And we discuss a new paper showing that butterfly eyepsots might really be mimicking the eyes of a predator’s own predator. In the Scientific spark I talk to Marie Herbenstein, from Macquarie University in Sydney, who tells me that things might have not gone the way the...
Jun 04, 2015
This month I discover what black field crickets do when predatory lizards get too close. I find out how humans bond with their canine chums. In the Scientific spark I talk to Tristram Wyatt, from the University of Oxford, who tells me how he became fascinated in all things pheromone-y. Download the MP3 Borrow my doggy-friend - Milo Quicklinks: Patricio Lago's webpage Oxytocin-gaze positive loop and the coevolution of human-dog bonds Tristram Wyatt's webpage...
Jun 01, 2015
This month, I discover that a preference for a particular colour of food can be heritable, and I also have a chat with Niels Dingemanse from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology about how you test animal personality. In the Scientific spark, I talk to Shaun Killen, from the University of Glasgow, who tells me about his inspiration to become a scientist. Download the MP3 Testing Great tit personality. Image from http://www.mpg.de/617557/pressRelease20100209 Quicklinks: Great tits: birds with ...
Apr 02, 2015
This month, I find out that penguins can’t tell the difference between savoury and sweet. I also chat with Sonia Van Wijk from The Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada, about what makes a male tree swallow attractive to a female who's on the look-out for more than one partner. And in the Scientific spark, I talk to social network whizz Damien Farine, from the University of Oxford, about his path into science. Download the MP3 Adelie penguins from http://animalsadda.com/adelie-penguin/ Quic...
Mar 31, 2015
This month, animal arithmetic from a research group in Italy who investigated how chickens order numbers – I put Naked Scientist Graihagh Jackson through her paces. Also in the episode, Leanne Grieves from McMaster University tells me what Smooth-billed anis do in response to different types of predators. And Niels Dingemanse, from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology tells me about his Scientific Spark. Download the MP3 Credit: Rosa Rugani, University of Padova Quicklinks: Leanne Grieves' p...
Mar 10, 2015
Professor Innes Cuthill from the University of Bristol describes his Scientific Spark. Danielle Klomp from the University of New South Wales, tells me about two populations of gliding lizard that have diverged in gliding membrane colouration to match the colours of their local falling leaves, and that mimicking falling leaves is an adaptation that functions to reduce predation by birds. I also find out how birds heard tornadoes coming and fled one day ahead. Download the MP3 Falling leaf mimic -...
Jan 02, 2015
A sensory ecology bonanza! Professor Wolfgang and Roswita Wiltschko, the husband and wife team who were the first to show that birds have a magnetic sense and use the earth’s magnetic field to orientate, talk about their Scientific Spark. Tanya Kleinhappel tells me how fish sniff out friends from foe. I discover how bats jam their competitor’s sonar. Download the MP3 Bats jam each others echolocation calls when competing for prey Quicklinks: Tanja Kleinhappel's paper on Diet-mediated social netw...
Dec 22, 2014
Professor Ben Sheldon, who is the Luc Hoffman Chair of field ornithology and director of the Edward Grey Institute of field ornithology at the University of Oxford tells me what sparked his interest in birds and gives advice to young scientists. Alice Lown tells me about an unassuming little fish commonly found in rock pools around Britain, that is a master of camouflage. I discover that imitation isn’t just the highest form of flattery, but is also an indicator of an animal’s learning prowess. ...
Nov 18, 2014
Dieter Hochuli from the University of Sydney, tells me what life’s like for a caterpillar, and how one has evolved a cool mechanism to avoid being attacked. I find out how personality might influence your decision making, if you’re a stickleback. And in the scientific spark, I talk to Leigh Simmons who is managing editor of the scientific journal Behavioral Ecology , and Professor at, and Director of, the Centre for Evolutionary Biology at the University of Western Australia, about his inspirati...
Oct 10, 2014
In this 1st birthday episode, I find out about some more avian criminals of the animal kingdom. I learn that most birds can’t taste sugar, but hummingbirds can, and I learn how. And in the Scientific Spark, I talk to Marlene Zuk, Professor of behavioural and evolutionary biology at the University of Minnesota. Together with Bill Hamilton, Marlene proposed the good genes hypothesis of sexual selection Download the MP3 Quicklinks: Maude Baldwin's Science paper on Hummingbird sweet taste page Prof....
Sep 10, 2014
This month over 1000 scientists flocked to New York’s Hunter College to attend the meeting of the International Society for Behavioural Ecology or ISBE. In the coming months I will be featuring interviews from researchers who attended the meeting, and this month, my first interviewee is Tom White from Macquarie university in Australia, who told me about spider he studies that is very good at attracting bees and flies. I also find out about a secret communication channel in horses, and in the Sci...
Aug 08, 2014
Professor Robert Hinde, the Emeritus Royal Society Research Professor of Zoology at the University of Cambridge is this month's Scientific Spark. Robert talks about the early days of ornithology research just after the war, and his memories of David Lack and Niko Tinbergen. The rest of the episode is an anti-predator defence special! I talk to Jolyon Troscianko from project nightjar about his research on the camouflage of eggs and chicks of African birds. I also find out about an animal that dup...
Jul 08, 2014
This month, the masters of disguise: I find out about an animal that can mimic two different species, for two entirely different reasons. I learn about a colourful bird from New Zealand called the Hihi, who’s very good at eating its requisite 7 portions of fruit and veg a day. And in the Scientific Spark, I hear from Neil Metcalfe, Professor of Behavioural Ecology at the University of Glasgow, about what made him interested in research and how he came to study for a PhD on seabird ecology. Downl...
Jun 03, 2014
David Sherry from the Western University in Canada tells me what inspired him to study the hoarding behavior of birds, in the Scientific Spark. Oded Keynan explains the benefits to having offspring stick around for an extended period of time. I also find out why zebras have stripes, and why Rudyard Kipling was wrong! Download the MP3 Zebras and their stripes from https://www.flickr.com/photos/mobilevirgin/ Quicklinks: Oded Keynan's webpage Tim Caro's webpage Tim's zebra paper in Nature communica...
May 01, 2014
The social lives of animals is this month's theme. I talk to Damien Farine from the Edward Grey Institute at Oxford University, who tells me how weaver birds decide how many house mates they want to live with. I discover how being hungry can affect how information spreads through a group of tadpoles. And in the scientific spark Temple Grandin, Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, a best-selling author, an autistism activist, a consultant to the livestock industry on animal b...
Mar 21, 2014
Meerkats may look cute and cuddly, but this month, Kirsty MacLeod from Cambridge University tells me that for some, life isn’t as picture perfect as it seems. I find out about the US Department of Agriculture’s latest research on the quest for safer skies. And, in the Scientific Spark I ask James Russell, a conservation biologist from the University of Aukland in New Zealand, what inspired him to research invasive species biology, and what the hardest tasks are in trying to save New Zealand’s en...
Feb 21, 2014
This month, I speak to Milla Mihailova from Deakin University in Australia, who tells me about parrots with a particularly pungent stench. I get up close and personal with some black tailed prairie dogs, to find out why they can’t help following the leader. And, in the Scientific Spark I ask Lesley Morrell (@biosciencemum), from the University of Hull what made her want to be a biologist, and how she came to work on why animals live in groups, rather than enjoying the single life. Download the M...
Jan 20, 2014
This month, we leave backbones behind, for an invertebrate and protist special. I speak to Chris Reid from the the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, USA, about an ancient single cell animal that looks like a glob of luminous yellow gunge, that doesn't have a brain but may be smarter than human beings. I find out about a double deception in the animal kingdom: how an ant-mimicking spider sends misleading visual and chemical cues to different predators. And, in the scientific spark I a...
Dec 05, 2013
Nicky Clayton joins me in this month's Beepcast, telling me what sparked her interest in bird intelligence, and how she mixes science with the art of dance. I learn about a mouse with an unusual superpower: immunity to the sting of a scorpion. I also interview Culum Brown of Macquarie University, Australia, who studies how young rainbow fish sniff out lurking predators. Download the MP3 A southern grasshopper mouse eats the Arizona bark scorpion that it has just killed. Credit: Ashlee and Matthe...
Nov 04, 2013
In October's BEEPcast Tim Birkhead tells me what ignited his interest in ornithology and sexual selection. I explore why male barn swallows don't act their age when courting females. In the third of my interviews from the Behavior 2013 conference, I speak to Tom Smulders of Newcastle University who explains what Coal tits do with unpalatable seeds. Download the MP3 Barn swallows coutesy of Jim Benson http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_benson/ Quicklinks: Tom Smulder's webpage Masaru Hasegawa's paper...
Oct 04, 2013
Amy Cuddy joins me in this month's Beepcast, telling me what ignited her interest in how people judge and influence each other. I explore the darker side of bird behaviour, looking at the sneaky tactics African honeyguides use to trick other birds into raising their young. In the second of my interviews from the Behavior 2013 conference, I speak to Jess Isden of Exeter University who explains what female bowerbirds look for in a male’s fancy display. Download the MP3 Eggs used by Claire Spottisw...
Sep 04, 2013
In the first episode I dig into peahen perception to find out what they look for in their ideal mate. I'll also present the first of a series of interviews from the Behaviour 2013 conference. I speak to Tom Hossie from Carleton University, Canada. Plus in the Scientific Spark I ask Louise Barrett, from the University of Lethbridge in Canada, what sparked her scientific career. Download the MP3 Peahen wearing eye-tracking equipment in Yorzinski et al's study. Quicklinks: Yorzisnki's paper Caterpi...
Aug 14, 2013
