The Science of Birds is a lighthearted exploration of bird biology. It's a fun resource for any birder or naturalist who wants to learn more about ornithology. Impress your birding friends at cocktail parties with all of your new bird knowledge! Hosted by Ivan Phillipsen, a passionate naturalist with a PhD in Zoology.
138 episodes transcribedToday’s episode—which is Episode 58—is all about birds in the family Troglodytidae. These are the wrens.Wrens are small, perky songbirds, most of whic...
This episode—which is Number 57— is all about the flocking behavior of birds.Birds of many species spend at least part of their yearly cycle hanging o...
This episode—which is Number 56— is all about the colors of birds.The diversity of color in bird plumages is one of the things we love most about thes...
This episode—which is Number 54—is all about bird eggs. This is an important topic. Eggs are a fundamental aspect of bird biology. Recently, in Episod...
This is Episode 52. Today, we’re talking about bird species that are way, way bigger than your average chickadee or finch.Our focus will be on evoluti...
This is Episode 51. Our bird of interest today is the Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis.This species is widespread across the eastern and south...
This episode—which is Number 50— is all about Female Birdsong. Songs are one of the things we love most about birds. They define the soundscapes of th...
This episode—which is Number 49—is all about bird nests. There are tons of fun facts fun facts here, since nests are one of the more impressive aspect...
This episode—which is Number 48—is about the “Pecking Order” in birds. Or, to use the more technical term, dominance hierarchy. Our focus will be on d...
This is Episode 47. It’s all about birds in the family Laridae. This is an ancient evolutionary lineage that originated over 70 million years ago, whe...
This episode—which is Number 46—is about a special place in the Malay Archipelago where two bird worlds collide. This region lies between Southeast A...
This episode is all about forensic ornithology. This is a field where specialists use scientific techniques to identify bird species from trace eviden...
This episode—which is Number 44—is about the relationship between coffee production and bird conservation. We'll get into how do different types...
This episode—which is Number 43—is all about the Common Loon, Gavia immer. People in Europe may know it as the Great Northern Diver.This bird is a sym...
2021 is over, yo! So it's time for the Annual Review Episode! We’ll be looking back at some highlights of bird science in the year 2021. What fas...
This episode is all about birds in the family Hirundinidae. These are the swallows and martins.Other than when they’re nesting, swallows are in the ai...
Ecologists and ornithologists have been studying the effects of wildfire on bird populations all over the world. Their research has resulted in many f...
This is a special episode, and the first of its kind. I answer questions from my listeners. It’s a fun, mixed bag of bird factoids.Who were these luck...
