I recently visited New Zealand, and I had a great chance to see some of their unique birds and travel the country a little. And I came away from the trip with a few impressions about their birds and the environment that I wanted to share. So slightly different, more personal account than the usual, but hopefully will still be of some interests and entertainment. To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: w...
This will be a different episode. I have also had a strong association between my grandmother and Budgerigars, she owned one and gifted me one of my own for my sixth birthday. So this episode will be part memoir, part eulogy, part ... Budgerigar discussion...? Maybe not one for everyone, but let's give it a spin.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/birdoftheweekWant birds in your inbo...
The Night Parrot is known as one of the most elusive birds in the world. Between 1912 and 1990 there was no evidence that they lived, and even then it would be another 23 before a living one was even seen. But then in 2013, the Night Parrot was re-discovered to much fanfare. However, it later emerged that much subsequent evidence for their existence was falsified. Just what happened and why is a wild tale, so joy me as we tell the story of the Night Parrot.To support Bird of the Week and gain...
There is a famous Swiss case from 1474 of a rooster that was put on trial for the unnatural crime of laying an egg. It is a silly story of human folly, as is so often the case. But this strange tale does lead to a deeper and more interesting point about avian gender, how it is radically different to mammals, and how in some rare cases a hen can maybe turn into a rooster. How is that possible? Tune in to find out and we even have a little surprise at the start of the show as well.To support Bi...
The Egg War is the rather bizarre story of how a colony of Common Murres on the Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco sparked conflict during the American Gold Rush in the 1850-60s. It is a wild tale of murder, piracy, lighthouse keepers with delusions of grandeur and an awful lot of people wearing hats. Join me for a silly story.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/bi...
Because sleep is something we all do it is understandable that we might think the experience would be similar for other animals. And birds have developed a whole range of unique sleep tactics to help them get through their day. In this special episode I am joined by a guest, clinical psychologist Lucienne Shenfield. Join us on a discussion about how people sleep, how birds sleep, and the difference and similarities between the two.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podc...
Maybe you've heard of the Great Emu War, popularly known as that time Australia declared war on a bird, and lost. But what is the real story? Was in a war, or was it a tokenistic pest control operation ... with machine guns? This week we dive into the misguided story. We learn some fun facts about Emus and meet the mysterious Major G. P. W. Meredith, the officer placed in command of the operation.*Correction, I say the men were armed with Maxim Machine guns, they were actually Lewis Machine g...
There are few Australian birds as famous as the Magpie. They are famous/infamous for exactly two things: their beautiful song and their murderous nature. Most people love them, some people loath them. Today I am joined by our old friend Bradly, an avid Magpie hater, as we try to learn something more about this famous bird and see if we can't spread the bird love.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patr...
One summer night in June 2009, Edwin Rist broke into the Tring natural history museum and stole nearly 300 preserved birds worth some quarter of a million pounds. Join us for the second part of our story as we go through the details of how Edwin committed his heist, was eventually caught and then how the court case shook out. It is one wild ride, so strap yourself in.This story was brought to public attention by Kirk Wallace Johnson in his amazing book, The Feather Thief: https://www.penguin....
One summer night in June 2009, Edwin Rist broke into the Tring natural history museum and stole nearly 300 preserved birds worth some quarter of a million pounds. How he pulled off this crime, what motivated him, and how he was caught is one wild story. Join us for part one of this story as we lay the ground work and explain how some quirks of history lead to this crime.This story was brought to public attention by Kirk Wallace Johnson in his amazing book, The Feather Thief: https://www.pengu...
There is maybe no bird more polarising than the pigeon. While some people (me) look at these city-dwelling birds and see perfection in avian form, other (wrong) people see disgusting sky rats. Today, I've invited two friends to join me in conversation to see if I can turn a pigeon hater into a pigeon lover.NotesOur friend the Rock DoveSquabPigeons can identify cancerPigeons can (sorta) readPigeons and sea search and rescueProject PigeonB. F. Skinner and gamblingOther B. F. Skinner experiments...
We interrupt our usual format to bring you a slightly different episode. It's an Australian bird quiz, pretty straight forward, play along at home and see how you go.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/birdoftheweekWant birds in your inbox? Drop me a line at weekly.bird@outlook.com and I'll hook you up with a free weekly bird.Links:Eastern Rosella: https://ebird.org/species/easr...
In the last episode we said there were no parrots in the United States of America. But that was only a half truth. A better truth would have been to say that once upon a time there was a parrot, the Carolina Parakeet that went extinct about 100 years. And in its place today there is an invasive species, the Monk Parakeet. So what is the story of these two birds, why did one die while the other has thrived? Today we are going to try and find out.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to o...
Have you been hankering for a cracker, well has polly got one for you today as we look at Parrots. This is a big old family of birds, so join me as we do a speed run of parrots and find out what these birds are all about.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/birdoftheweekWant birds in your inbox? Drop me a line at weekly.bird@outlook.com and I'll hook you up with a free weekly bird.Not...
Sadly our world is not populated with magical unicorns. But what we lack in horned horses we make up for with horned birds. Join me this week as we meet one of the strangest birds, the avian equivalent of the unicorn, the Horned Screamer.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/birdoftheweekWant birds in your inbox? Drop me a line at weekly.bird@outlook.com and I'll hook you up with a fre...
In the 1960s the United States of America lost a unique sub-species of bird when the Kennedy Space Centre was developed as part of the space race. Today, Australia is on the cusp of repeating this history, with the home of the endangered Southern Emu-wren being earmarked for the development of a launch site. Until 2 February 2024 public submissions are open on the site's proposed development. To help protect the Emu-wren visit Birdlife Australia and use their form to voice your opposition: ht...
So if it's one thing we know people are good at it's making other things go extinct. We are living during one of the great mass extinct events. But every now and again, we come across a bird that was thought to have gone extinct, only for them to be rediscovered, sometimes hundreds of years later. Well, this year, we are going to meet three birds that were thought to be extinct only to be found alive and (not so) well many years later.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second ...
Last year New Zealand crowned the Puteketeke as their Bird of the Century. This raise a lot of questions: who has the authority to name a bird for the century, why is 2023 the year it happened, and what the heck is the Puteketeke? Join me in this episode to learn more and to find out how John Oliver made a dramatic entry to saw the vote in favour of an underdog.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: ww...
As we enter the festive season there is no better bird to feature than the European Robin. These bright little birds have an association with Christmas that extends way waaaaay back. So let's dive in with a short min Christmas stocking stuffer Bird of the Week special to find out what the deal is with Christmas and Robins.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/birdoftheweekWant birds in...
It's a common story throughout the world: when people turn up we tend to kill things, with many animals being driven to extinction. So join me today as we do a review of the Australian birds that have gone extinct since European colonisation. But would you be shocked if I told you there was only one? It's true, the Paradise Parrot is the only Australian bird that has gone extinct. So let's find out who they were, what happened, and if we can stop their close cousin from going the same way.To ...