In this episode, which is number 111, Ivan Phillipsen explores the fascinating world of crossbills, a unique group of finches with an extraordinary beak adaptation. These birds, found across North America, Europe, and Asia, use their specialized crossed bills to extract seeds from conifer cones—a skill few other birds possess. Ivan discusses the six recognized crossbill species, their distinct feeding strategies, and how their beaks evolved for this specialized diet. The episode highlights the c...
Feb 16, 2025•50 min•Ep 111•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode—which is number 110—Ivan explores the fascinating world of cooperative breeding in birds, a system in which multiple adults help raise young in a group setting. He begins with an intriguing story from the Kalahari Desert, where Southern Pied-Babblers resort to “chicknapping” during droughts to bolster their flock size. Ivan then broadens the discussion, examining the global distribution of cooperative breeding among bird species and the evolutionary mechanisms that drive this beh...
Feb 01, 2025•59 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast The final installment of "From the Field" episodes from Ivan's 2.5-month journey through Asia. In this episode he describes his experiences in the Himalayan countries of Nepal and Bhutan. ~~ Leave me a review using Podchaser ~~ Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website Support the show...
Jan 11, 2025•1 hr•Ep 109•Transcript available on Metacast Ivan shares his birding experiences and impressions from an amazing 3-week adventure through the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan in China. ~~ Leave me a review using Podchaser ~~ Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website Support the show...
Dec 26, 2024•51 min•Ep 108•Transcript available on Metacast Recorded in a hotel room in China, Ivan shares his recent birding and travel experiences in the countries of Vietnam and Cambodia. ~~ Leave me a review using Podchaser ~~ Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website Support the show...
Dec 02, 2024•52 min•Ep 107•Transcript available on Metacast From a hotel in Vietnam, Ivan tells the tale of how he created a career centered on birds and birding. ~~ Leave me a review using Podchaser ~~ Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website Support the show...
Nov 14, 2024•32 min•Ep 106•Transcript available on Metacast This is Episode 105. It’s all about a small group of birds called mergansers. These are diving ducks known for their skill at catching fish. They have long, slender bills with serrated edges, earning them the nickname "sawbills." Maybe you’re familiar with these birds. Maybe you’re already a big fan. Or maybe you didn’t know they existed until just now. Either way, our goal today is to learn a lot more about Common Mergansers and their close relatives. There are five species that we ca...
Oct 17, 2024•59 min•Ep 105•Transcript available on Metacast This episode—which is Number 104—is all about rocky shores and sandy beaches as bird habitat. These environments offer birds very different resources and challenges. We explore the geology behind these habitats—how high-energy waves shape rocky cliffs and headlands, while the deposition of sediment builds up sandy beaches. Alongside this, we discuss the dynamic interaction between birds and their coastal homes, and how species like gulls, shorebirds, and seabirds have adapted to thrive in these ...
Sep 25, 2024•47 min•Ep 104•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode—which is Number 103—we enter the fascinating world of parrots, focusing on species in the family Psittacidae, which includes New World parrots and some African species. We look at key parrot traits like their zygodactyl feet, strong beaks, plumage, and vocalizations. We'll also learn about the remarkable intelligence and social behaviors of parrots, their diversity, and their evolutionary history, tracing their origins back to Gondwana and their eventual spread to South Amer...
Sep 08, 2024•1 hr•Ep 103•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode—which is Number 102—we dive into the fascinating world of the Common Kingfisher ( Alcedo atthis ), a small but mighty bird known for its striking blue and orange plumage and remarkable fish-hunting skills. We'll look at this species' behavior, from its iconic plunges into water to catch prey, to how it breeds, including courtship rituals, nest-building, and the challenges of raising chicks. Learn about the kingfisher's diet and foraging strategies, including how it...
Aug 21, 2024•50 min•Ep 102•Transcript available on Metacast This is Episode 101. Today, we trace the origins of feathers back millions of years, exploring how they evolved from simple filaments to the complex structures we see in modern birds. We delve into the discovery of feathered dinosaurs like Archaeopteryx and the numerous fossil finds in northeastern China during the 1990s. These discoveries revealed that many non-avian dinosaurs sported feathers of various types and complexities, indicating that feathers were not unique to birds but were a common...
Aug 01, 2024•39 min•Ep 101•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the 100th episode of The Science of Birds Podcast! I'm thrilled to celebrate this milestone with you. In this special episode, I reflect on the journey of creating this podcast, sharing some insights and gratitude for all of you, my listeners. I also highlight three of my favorite bird species: the vibrant Green Jay, the Torrent Duck, and Egyptian Vulture. Looking ahead, I'm excited to share my plans for the future of The Science of Birds. Thank you for being part of this jo...
Jul 18, 2024•29 min•Ep 100•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode—which is Number 99—we dive into the fascinating world of cormorants and shags, members of the avian family Phalacrocoracidae. These sleek, hook-billed birds are known for their distinctive silhouettes, often seen drying their wings on seaside cliffs or wetland trees. Cormorants and shags have a long history of varied human interactions, from being vilified and hunted to being revered and even trained to catch fish. These birds are exceptional divers, utilizing their streamlined b...
Jul 03, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep 99•Transcript available on Metacast This episode—which is Number 98—delves into the fascinating world of the avian brain. Despite the long-standing misconception that "bird brain" equates to being unintelligent, recent scientific research reveals that birds possess remarkably sophisticated brains, rivaling the intelligence of primates and even humans in some respects. By tracing the evolutionary paths of both mammals and birds from a common ancestor, I explain how birds have developed unique brain structures that enable ...
Jun 18, 2024•51 min•Ep 98•Transcript available on Metacast This is Episode 97. It’s all about bluebirds: the three North American species in the genus Sialia : The Eastern Bluebird, Western Bluebird, and Mountain Bluebird. For centuries, these beloved birds have been celebrated in paintings, poems, songs, and Disney cartoons. The Eastern Bluebird is the state bird of Missouri and New York, while the Mountain Bluebird is the state bird of Idaho and Nevada. And, apparently, the Mountain Bluebird was the inspiration for the original Twitter logo. But blueb...
Jun 03, 2024•54 min•Ep 97•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode—which is Number 96—I’ll be answering questions sent by my listeners. So this is what we call an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) episode. I enjoy doing these, and it’s so interesting to see what sorts of questions people have about birds. The listeners who get to contribute questions for these Ask Me Anything episodes are members of my community on Patreon. There are several tiers of support that people can join, and at the Helpful Hornbill and Awesome Osprey level, one perks is getting t...
May 15, 2024•59 min•Ep 96•Transcript available on Metacast This episode—which is number 95—is all about spoonbills. There are six spoonbill species in the world, all of which belong to the genus Platalea . The unique beak of spoonbills sets them apart from pretty much all other birds. What is the advantage of having a bill shaped like that? We'll answer that question in this episode. ~~ Leave me a review using Podchaser ~~ Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website Support the show...
Apr 30, 2024•40 min•Ep 95•Transcript available on Metacast This episode—which is Number 94— is all about the Avian Digestive System. That’s right, kids, we’re looking at bird guts today! If you’ve ever wondered what happens to a fish swallowed by a kingfisher or what happened to that piece of bacon swiped off your lunch plate by a cheeky Ring-billed Gull... Well, you're about to find out. I’ll do my best to describe in words the anatomical features we encounter today. But I’ve also drawn a diagram for you. You can check that out on the show notes f...
Apr 10, 2024•34 min•Ep 94•Transcript available on Metacast This episode—which is number 93—is all about the the House Sparrow ( Passer domesticus ), one of the world’s best known and most abundant birds. It expanded across the planet along with humans over the last 10,000 years, with the spread of agriculture. Today, this plucky little bird is a model organism for the study of basic bird biology. Over 7,000 scientific studies of the House Sparrow have been published. In this episode, we’ll get into what this species looks and sounds like, where it lives...
Mar 21, 2024•50 min•Ep 93•Transcript available on Metacast This episode—which is Number 92—is all about the value of desert ecosystems as habitats for birds. Deserts are important for the birds that are adapted to live in them—birds that can handle the harsh conditions. Deserts are home to relatively few bird species. Only the polar regions and maybe some parts of the open ocean have less bird diversity. Even if a bird species can handle the extremes of heat and cold in a desert, the desiccating winds, and the lack of water, that bird may not find much ...
Feb 29, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep 92•Transcript available on Metacast This is Episode 91. It’s all about birds in the family Paridae. These are the chickadees, tits, and titmice—cute little forest-dwelling songbirds known and loved by many people around the world. I’ve had a lot of requests to make a podcast episode about chickadees and their kind. Some species in this family are familiar visitors to backyard bird feeders. They’re highly active, vocal, bold, and sometimes quite confiding with people. It’s possible to gain the trust of tits and chickadees of some s...
Feb 15, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep 91•Transcript available on Metacast This is Episode 90 and it’s all about the importance of birds as plant pollinators. If I had to use only one word for the topic of this episode, it would be ornithophily. The definition of ornithophily is “the pollination of flowers by birds.” Today, I’ll be focusing mostly on the ecological relationships between plants and the birds that pollinate them. Another way to look at all of this would be through the lens of evolution—the fascinating ways that plants and birds have co-evolved with respe...
Jan 19, 2024•45 min•Ep 90•Transcript available on Metacast This is Episode 89. I’m publishing it right at the beginning of 2024, and it's a review of some fascinating things that happened in the world of ornithology and bird conservation over the last 12 months, in 2023. Naturally, this isn’t an exhaustive review of every scientific discovery about birds in 2023. That would be too much. An exhaustive review would be, well, exhausting. Maybe not for you, but definitely for me. Instead, I’ll tell you about a handful of studies and projects that I thi...
Jan 06, 2024•43 min•Ep 89•Transcript available on Metacast This episode—which is number 88—is all about owls. Owls are fascinating birds that have captured our imaginations since the dawn of humankind. They have amazing camouflage that allows them to blend in with their surroundings, and they have several other avian superpowers that set them apart from all other birds. Owls are divided into two families—Tytonidae and Strigidae—and we'll be discussing both of them today. Links of Interest Owl Notes–Denver Holt Shares the Short eared Owl's Cour...
Dec 16, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Ep 88•Transcript available on Metacast This episode—which is Number 87—is all about some big news in the birding world. The common names for about 150 North American bird species are going to change in the not-too-distant future. This comes from an announcement made by the American Ornithological Society just a few weeks ago, on November 1st. I couldn’t pass up the chance to talk about this. It’s a hot topic among birders right now. People have been asking me what I think about all these birds getting renamed. And so here we are. If ...
Nov 26, 2023•46 min•Ep 87•Transcript available on Metacast This episode—which is Number 86—is all about bird beaks. This will be an overview of beak anatomy, function, evolution, and diversity. The head of every bird on Earth is adorned with a beak. A bill. And to the delight of us all, those beaks come in a wild variety of shapes and colors. Just picture the mugs of toucans, vultures, ducks, parrots, flamingos, and pelicans. The diversity of beak shapes like these is one of the fascinating things about birds. Birds use their beaks for all sorts of task...
Nov 10, 2023•48 min•Ep 86•Transcript available on Metacast This episode—which is Number 85—is about the Meadowlarks of the world. And it’s not just those three North American species: the Western, Eastern, and Chihuahuan. There are actually 8 bird species we call meadowlarks. The other five are found primarily in South America. We’ll be talking about them today, too. Meadowlarks belong to the New World Blackbird family, Icteridae. This family includes birds like Red-winged Blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, and the Great-tailed Grackle. There’s a lot to admir...
Oct 19, 2023•44 min•Ep 85•Transcript available on Metacast This is Episode 84. Our topic today is the challenge of saving bird species that are very close to extinction. Species like the Spix’s Macaw, which have tiny global populations—whether in the wild, or in captivity. Other familiar examples are the California Condor and the Whooping Crane, whose populations bottomed out at 22 and 23, respectively. Rigorous conservation programs have since given these two North American species a fighting chance at long-term survival. This episode is about species ...
Oct 09, 2023•51 min•Ep 84•Transcript available on Metacast This is Episode 83. It’s all about birds in the family Odontophoridae. These are the New World quails. Why is this the family of "New World" quails? Because there’s a whole mess of birds we call quails that live in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. But those birds all belong to the pheasant family, Phasianidae. New World quails are shy birds ground-dwelling birds that walk or run around in the daytime, looking for tidbits of food in the leaf litter. If they sense any kind of strange...
Sep 25, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 83•Transcript available on Metacast This is Episode 82. It's all about the ways that scientists track the movements of individual birds. The focus of today’s episode is not so much about the behaviors of birds, but about the technologies used by researchers to study bird behavior—the methods used to reveal the movements of birds. And our focus will be on the tracking of individual birds. There are other methods scientists use to record the mass movements of birds, like using radar to track flocks of migrants. But today we’re ...
Sep 14, 2023•52 min•Ep 82•Transcript available on Metacast 
