Okay, But... Birds

E43. For millions of years, South America’s top predators weren’t cats or bears. They were birds, some taller than a person. Paleontologist Dr. Federico "Dino" Degrange of the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba joins us to ask whether terror birds really earned their name. In this episode, you'll hear about: The surprising weapon a terror bird actually used to bring down its prey What left bite marks on one of the biggest terror birds ever found Why the last terror bird standing was one of the smallest 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. Media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows: Black-legged Seriema video contributed by Pablo Hernan Capovilla, ML662237304 Red-legged Seriema audio contributed by Matthew D. Medler, ML189557 Black-legged Seriema audio contributed by Steven L. Hilty, ML83854

E42. Birds get sick too, and a lot of what happens next looks surprisingly familiar. Dr. Andrea Townsend of Hamilton College has spent two decades following American crows through outbreaks, and she walks Scott through what illness really does to a bird, from the family it belongs to down to the clever brain it depends on. In this episode, you'll hear about: The surprising way crows choose their partners, and what it costs them when disease comes around What a stomach bug does to one of the cleverest birds you'll ever meet Why going it alone can be the riskier move while a virus is spreading 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. Media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows: American Crow video contributed by Jay McGowan, ML472843 Common Raven audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML137574 Burrowing Owl audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML188805

E41. Centaurs, mermaids, minotaurs: we have been inventing creatures that are two things at once for as long as we have told stories. Birds do it for real. Dr. Glaucia Del-Rio of the Florida Museum of Natural History studies two Amazonian antbirds that meet where a river runs out, and what their offspring say about where one species ends. In this episode, you'll hear about: Why a river can be an impossible barrier for a bird with perfectly good wings, and what researchers found when they carried birds out into the middle of one and let go How to spot a hybrid antbird at a glance, once you know which colors belong to which parent The German-Brazilian ornithologist an all-women expedition was named for, and the injury she dealt with herself, a long way from any hospital 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. Media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows: Red-capped Manakin audio contributed by David L. Ross Jr., ML57360 Streak-headed Woodcreeper audio contributed by Ted Parker, ML21543 American Flamingo audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML172484 Lawrence's Warbler (hybrid) audio contributed by Curtis Marantz, ML113786 Brewster's Warbler (hybrid) audio contributed by Curtis Marantz, ML76906 Additional photos and video courtesy of Glaucia Del-Rio: Marco Rego, Fabio Schunck, Luis Morais, and Angela Prochilo. Harlequin Antbird photo by Hector Bottai, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

E40. There are only 15 crane species on the planet, and 11 of them are in trouble. Dr. Andy Caven, Director of Central Flyway Programs for the International Crane Foundation, has spent his career on two of them: the sandhill cranes that pour into one stretch of Nebraska's Platte River every spring, and the whooping crane, which came back from the edge and is still nowhere near safe. Scott asks him what it actually takes to keep a bird like that on the landscape, and the answer runs through soggy grassland, private ranches, and one river worth fighting over. In this episode, you'll hear about: The number Andy gives for how many cranes stand on that stretch of river, which Scott makes him say twice How a bird that was down to a couple of dozen individuals ended up stopping a dam What a wet meadow is, and why one is so much easier to lose than to build back 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. Media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows: Mallard audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML136504 Wilson's Phalarope audio contributed by W. Douglas Robinson, ML474658841 Swamp Sparrow audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94352

E39. Every August the questions start: there is a cardinal at the feeder with no head feathers, and it looks terrible. Nothing is wrong with it. It is molting, which every bird does at least every year. Dr. Ryan Terrill of the San Diego Natural History Museum studies what a feather endures over a year and what it takes to replace one, and he makes the case that the few weeks a bird spends looking its worst may be the most consequential weeks it has. In this episode, you'll hear about: Why the cardinal at your feeder in late summer looks like it lost a fight What a bird quietly gives up during the weeks it is growing new feathers The hundreds of miles some birds fly for the sake of a new set of feathers 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. Media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows: Northern Cardinal audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML191165 American Goldfinch audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94457 Blue Jay audio contributed by Gaetan Dupont, ML173749 Herring Gull audio contributed by Sarah MacLean, ML165927 American Herring Gull video contributed by Steve Kelling, ML540908261 Snow Bunting audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML130973 Red-tailed hawk audio contributed by David McCartt, ML229578 White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML219799 Great Hornbill audio contributed by Linda Macaulay, ML111527 Flightless Cormorant audio contributed by Linda Macaulay, ML237486