Okay, but do birds have culture?

E17. From sparrow songs that go viral across a continent to cockatoos that watch each other to learn how to open bins, Dr. Lucy Aplin, Australian National University / University of Zurich, studies how birds learn from each other and why it matters. Doing it for the culture? Yep. Birds are that impressive!

In this episode you'll hear about:

How a new white-throated sparrow song spread over 3,000 kilometers in just two decades, replacing a tune that had been stable since the 1950s
The experiment that proved wild great tits can establish lasting cultural traditions through their social networks
Why losing a population of birds might also mean losing knowledge that took generations to build

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:

White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML219799
White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Jocelyn Lauzon, ML121581051
Great Tit audio contributed by Arnoud B. van den Berg, ML36198
Eurasian Sparrowhawk audio contributed by Ben F. King, ML335224
Regent Honeyeater audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML223277
Pink-footed Goose audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML235508

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Episoder(25)

Okay, but what about birds that can't fly?

E24. Flight is the thing we associate most with birds, so what does it mean when a lineage gives it up? Dr. Scott Edwards, Harvard, joins Scott to unpack how flightlessness evolves, why it keeps happe...

28 Mai 32min

Okay, but can a bird really cooperate with humans?

E23. Across sub-Saharan Africa, wild birds and people work together to find honey. No taming, no breeding, no domestication… just a partnership thousands of years in the making. Behavioral ecologist D...

21 Mai 33min

Okay, but can birds predict the weather?

E22. Folklore says birds know a storm is coming before we do. Scott talks with Dr. Gunnar Kramer, Iowa State University, about what's actually happening when a tiny warbler decides it's time to fly, o...

14 Mai 34min

Okay, but can birds smell?

E21. We're talking sense and scents with Dr. Danielle Whittaker, Oregon State, and author of The Secret Perfume of Birds, who spent a decade unraveling a 200-year-old myth that started with John James...

7 Mai 34min

Okay, but what can we learn from a drawer of birds?

E20. Less than 1% of what's in a museum is actually on display. So what's happening with the other 99%? Scott talks with Dr. Sushma Reddy, Breckenridge Chair of Ornithology at the Bell Museum and Asso...

23 Apr 35min

Okay, but are bird feeders helping or hurting?

E19. More than 55 million Americans feed birds, and it's not exactly clear the birds asked us to. Dr. Olivia Sanderfoot, Research Scientist and Project Leader of FeederWatch at the Cornell Lab of Orni...

16 Apr 32min

Okay, but what's in a bird's toolbox?

E18. Turns out "bird brain" is less of an insult and more of a compliment. Scott sits down with Dr. Alex Kacelnik, Emeritus Professor at the University of Oxford, to dig into one of the most mind-bend...

9 Apr 32min