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.
123 episodes transcribedJoin Ivan as he wades into the conservation quagmire surrounding house cats and their effects on wild birds.First, we’ll look at the status of house c...
Winter can be a cold, dark time when food is scarce. Birds fight to stay alive during this season by using a variety of behavioral and physiological a...
Kingfishers—all the birds in the family Alcedinidae—are the focus of this episode. There are many species of these charismatic birds living across the...
Despite much of human civilization grinding to a halt in 2020, research on birds continued to be published in scientific journals.Through this researc...
This episode focuses on the biological family Anatidae. This family includes the over 150 species of ducks, geese, and swans in the world. First, we h...
Sometimes birds of many feathers flock together. Mixed-species foraging flocks are seen in forests all across the world. Different combinations of spe...
This episode is all about the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), of the family Falconidae.Learn about this incredible bird's key features, its...
The definition of ‘species’ isn’t as simple as you might think. In this episode, we look at the methods ornithologists use to identify and name bird s...
SummaryThe feather is one of the most iconic symbols of nature. Feathers are indispensable to birds, serving many critically important functions. In t...
SummaryBrood parasitism is a strange and fascinating behavior that we see (in one form or another) in several hundred bird species.This is where a fem...
SummaryLearn about the amazing birds in the family Picidae—the woodpeckers. These charismatic birds have a suite of adaptations that make them excelle...
SummaryWhen 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 great...
SummaryBirds around the world are in trouble. Their populations have suffered major declines in the last 50 years.What does the latest research tell u...
Episode: 8SummaryThe remarkable behavioral and anatomical features of hummingbirds are what make them so endearing to us. The way they fly, their colo...
Episode: 7SummaryIt 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: 6SummaryThis 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 son...
Episode: 5SummaryThis 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...
Episode: 4SummaryThe annual long-distance movements of birds are amazing feats of endurance and navigation.Learn about the various forms of migration...
