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Okay, But... Birds: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Dr. Scott Taylor
Hosted by evolutionary biologist Dr. Scott Taylor, Okay, But... Birds explores the drama, brilliance, and science behind bird life. Each snackable 30-minute episode blends smart storytelling, expert interviews, and a touch of humor to reveal how birds shape our world . No jargon. No binoculars required. Just real science, quirky insights, and bird-brained drama you’ll want to share at brunch. Because birds aren’t background. Birds are cool.
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- Yesterday34 min
Okay, but... boobies!
E25. The blue-footed booby has become an internet personality: cartoon feet, a goofy strut, a name that practically begs to be a punchline. But Scott sat down with Dr. Carlos Zavalaga, Universidad Científica del Sur, and one of the people who first taught him how to study seabirds in Peru, and the "fool" reputation falls apart fast. Get a booby in the air or underwater and you're watching one of the most specialized hunters in the bird family tree.In this episode you'll hear about:How six-plus booby species carve up the same ocean without starving each other outWhat 20 years of GPS loggers, depth tags, and bags of fresh fish revealed about who eats whatWhy El Niño, avian flu, and overfishing keep stacking the deck against these birdsAll 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:Blue-footed Booby audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML85906Red-footed Booby audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML85911Brown Booby audio contributed by Gerritt Vyn, ML136211Masked Booby audio contributed by Chandler Robbins, ML32604Nazca Booby audio contributed by Oliver H. Hewitt, ML31543Peruvian Booby audio contributed by Ted Parker, ML29399
- 1 weeks ago32 min
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 happening across the bird family tree, and what the genome reveals about how a bird loses the ability to fly.In this episode you'll hear about:How losing flight reshapes a bird's body, from feathers to forelimbs to that one famously enormous eggWhy the answer wasn't where geneticists expected to find itWhat an extinct giant and a tiny tropical relative can tell us about where moa actually came fromAll 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:Falkland Steamer-Duck audio contributed by Maurice A. E. Rumboll, ML4114Great Tinamou audio contributed by David L. Ross, Jr., ML57320
- 2 weeks ago33 min
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 Dr. Jessica van der Wal, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, joins Scott to unpack what's actually happening when a honey hunter calls and a greater honeyguide answers.In this episode you'll hear about:What each side gets out of one of the only known mutualisms between humans and a wild animal, and why this bird in particular evolved to seek us outThe remarkable signal the honeyguide uses to communicate with people, and what playback experiments revealed when researchers tested it across very different communitiesWhat happens to a partnership built over generations when one side starts buying honey at the storeAll 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:Greater Honeyguide audio contributed by Jennifer F. M. Horne, ML55972Additional media courtesy of Dr. Claire Spottiswoode and Dr. Jessica van der Wal
- 2 weeks ago33 min
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 Dr. Jessica van der Wal, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, joins Scott to unpack what's actually happening when a honey hunter calls and a greater honeyguide answers. In this episode you'll hear about: What each side gets out of one of the only known mutualisms between humans and a wild animal, and why this bird in particular evolved to seek us out The remarkable signal the honeyguide uses to communicate with people, and what playback experiments revealed when researchers tested it across very different communities What happens to a partnership built over generations when one side starts buying honey at the store 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: Greater Honeyguide audio contributed by Jennifer F. M. Horne, ML55972 Additional media courtesy of Dr. Claire Spottiswoode and Dr. Jessica van der Wal.
- 3 weeks ago34 min
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, or time to bail.In this episode:Why the question itself might be slightly wrong, and what's really going on inside that birdA storm, some missing warblers, and a discovery nobody set out to makeWhat 300 birds falling out of the sky over Texas can tell you about how much fuel is in the tankListen, follow, and tell a friend who’s a little superstitious.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:Yellow-billed cuckoo audio, Wil Hershberger, ML94446Barnacle goose audio, Bob McGuire, ML235525Golden-winged warbler video, Benjamin Clock, ML476422Blue-winged warbler video, Eric Liner, ML469433Yellow-billed cuckoo video, Larry Arbanas, ML466566Eastern kingbird audio, Wil Hershberger, ML534398Tennessee warbler audio, Wil Hershberger, ML85236Tennessee warbler video, Eric Liner, ML466381Wood thrush video, Benjamin Clock, ML471755
- 3 weeks ago34 min
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, or time to bail.In this episode:Why the question itself might be slightly wrong, and what's really going on inside that birdA storm, some missing warblers, and a discovery nobody set out to makeWhat 300 birds falling out of the sky over Texas can tell you about how much fuel is in the tankListen, follow, and tell a friend who’s a little superstitious.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:Yellow-billed cuckoo audio, Wil Hershberger, ML94446Barnacle goose audio, Bob McGuire, ML235525Golden-winged warbler video, Benjamin Clock, ML476422Blue-winged warbler video, Eric Liner, ML469433Yellow-billed cuckoo video, Larry Arbanas, ML466566Eastern kingbird audio, Wil Hershberger, ML534398Tennessee warbler audio, Wil Hershberger, ML85236Tennessee warbler video, Eric Liner, ML466381Wood thrush video, Benjamin Clock, ML471755
- 4 weeks ago34 min
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 Audubon and a dead pig under a bush.In this episode:The bird that smells like a fresh-baked sugar cookieWhy preen oil is a dating profile written in chemistry, and how seabirds use the same chemical cue that's now leading albatross parents to feed their chicks plasticThe bonus myth Danielle wants goneNew here? Listen, follow, and tell a friend who still thinks birds can't smell.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, ML94262Dark-eyed Junco audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94361Red Knot audio contributed by Lucas DeCicco, ML516895Crested Auklet audio contributed by Sampath Seneviratne, ML132014Laysan Albatross audio contributed by Ted Miller, ML117679
- Apr 23, 202635 min
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 Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, about the extraordinary scientific afterlife of a specimen in a drawer.In this episode:How birds collected 150 years ago are answering questions their collectors never imagined, from air pollution to insect declineWhy falcons turned out to be closer to parrots than hawks, and what other surprises fell out of the bird family treeThe case for making museum collections more open, especially to scientists from the places these specimens originally came fromIf you have a few seconds, please follow, rate, and leave a review for the show. It makes a huge difference in helping others discover it. Thanks for listening!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:Bald eagle sound contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML 200943Red-tailed hawk sound contributed by David McCartt, ML 229578Gyrfalcon sound contributed by Lucas DeCicco, ML 516973Kea sound contributed by William V. Ward, ML 8523Small ground finch sound contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML 86711Iiwi sound contributed by Doug Pratt, ML 5888Sickle-billed vanga sound contributed by Anonymous, ML 100013
About Okay, But... Birds
Hosted by evolutionary biologist Dr. Scott Taylor, Okay, But... Birds explores the drama, brilliance, and science behind bird life. Each snackable 30-minute episode blends smart storytelling, expert interviews, and a touch of humor to reveal how birds shape our world . No jargon. No binoculars required. Just real science, quirky insights, and bird-brained drama you’ll want to share at brunch. Because birds aren’t background. Birds are cool.
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