Okay, but why put eggs in another bird’s basket?

E16. What if the secret to raising more babies was to never raise a single one yourself? Dr. Chris Balakrishnan, Associate Adjunct Professor of Biology at East Carolina University and co-founder of Nerd Nite, has spent his career studying the strangest birds on the planet: the ones that outsource parenthood entirely. In this episode you'll hear about: The evolutionary arms race between brood parasites and their hosts, from mimetic eggs to alien-looking chick mouth patterns How the "password hypothesis" explains how brown-headed cowbirds avoid imprinting on the wrong species Why host-switching in African parasitic finches can drive the rapid formation of new species 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. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows: Brown-headed Cowbird audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94262 Brown-headed Cowbird audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML516718 Redhead audio contributed by Jessie Berry, ML139672 Canvasback audio contributed by Arthur A. Allen, ML3537 Greater Honeyguide audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML140981 Pin-tailed Whydah audio contributed by Myles E. W. North, ML14489 Village Indigobird audio contributed by Myles E. W. North, ML14484 Zebra Finch (Australian) audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML226233 Prothonotary Warbler audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML85158 Kirtland's Warbler audio contributed by Rudolph Little, ML13982

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Episoder(45)

Okay, but what's threatening the apex predators of the sky?

E44. An adult eagle has no natural predators, so why are birds of prey declining? Dr. Todd Katzner, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, explains the surprising dangers facing golden ...

15 Okt 33min

Okay, but how terrifying were terror 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 ...

8 Okt 26min

Okay, but what happens when a bird gets sick?

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 w...

1 Okt 33min

Okay, but griffins, and ligers, and birds, oh my!

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...

24 Sep 32min

Okay, but... cranes!

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 t...

17 Sep 32min

Okay, but why does that bird look so rough?

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 yea...

10 Sep 31min

Okay, but what's up with feathers?

E38. You have pulled one out of a jacket sleeve at a bad angle, picked one up on a walk, and you are almost certainly within arm's reach of a few thousand of them right now. Dr. Cody Limber, who recen...

3 Sep 32min

Okay, but does age bring Wisdom?

E37. A bird called Wisdom was banded on Midway Atoll in 1956 and is still laying eggs today, which makes her at least 75 and the oldest known wild bird on the planet. She has also outlived the man who...

27 Aug 30min