Okay, But... Birds

Dr. Scott Taylor
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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.

  1. 3 hr ago ·  Video

    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 recently finished his PhD at Yale, spent it taking growing feathers apart one cell at a time to find out what they are actually made of. A feather is not a fancy scale, it does not grow the way you would guess, and after all this time nobody can say what the first ones were for. In this episode, you'll hear about: The strangest things growing out of birds, and which of them actually count as feathersWhat a feather is actually made of, once you smash one into individual cells and read what every cell was doingWhat a feather actually is, whether it is alive or dead, how it is put together, and the coordination that color and pattern demand 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: Eastern Whip-poor-will audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML195774Red-bellied Woodpecker audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML306064Indian Peafowl audio contributed by Rounak choudhary, ML621021542Common Raven audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML132161Mallard audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML136504Double-crested Cormorant audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML233274Zebra Finch (Australian) audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML226233American Herring Gull video contributed by Steve Kelling, ML540908261Golden-winged Warbler video contributed by Benjamin Clock, ML476422Great Argus audio contributed by Arnoud B. van den Berg, ML71122Horned Screamer audio contributed by Paul A. Schwartz, ML58925Wild Turkey audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML73964601

    Okay, but what's up with feathers?

  2. 27 Aug ·  Video

    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 banded her, and most of the scientists who tracked her since. Dr. Etienne Rouby studies long-lived seabirds at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at CU Boulder, working with data from the French sub-Antarctic islands where wandering albatross have been followed for more than half a century. Scott asks him what you can learn from a bird that will outlast your career, your funding, and possibly your field station. In this episode you'll hear about: What a fledgling albatross does for the first five years of its life, and why nobody really knowsThe fishing gear change that pulled a colony back from the brink, and how long it took to see it workingWhy a very good year for female albatross is a very bad year for the males 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: Snowy Albatross audio contributed by Ted Parker, ML42306Black-browed Albatross audio contributed by Jan Hansen, ML650026815

    Okay, but does age bring Wisdom?

  3. 20 Aug ·  Video

    Okay, but do hummingbirds ever chill?

    E36. Hummingbirds run one of the fastest metabolisms of any animal with a backbone, which is why we picture them as permanently buzzing. Scott sits down with Dr. Anusha Shankar, assistant professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, who studies how hummingbirds budget energy in a world that keeps moving the goalposts. It turns out the blur at your feeder is the exception, not the rule. In this episode you'll hear about: Why the same bird might spend three hours a day flying, or thirteen, depending entirely on what the flowers are doingWhat happens overnight when a hummingbird lets itself go cold, and how long it takes to come backSeven months in the Ecuadorian cloud forest, and the hummingbirds that sat on the nets and waited Plus: the doubly labeled water method, a sugar concentration threshold you can taste-test at your own feeder at your own risk, and the reason Anusha gets called the hummingbird pee person. The "snoring" hummingbird video Scott and Anusha discuss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uEfmQt34Nc 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: Ruby-throated Hummingbird audio contributed by Trenton Voytko, ML604314061Black Metaltail audio contributed by Pedro Allasi Condo, ML663268821Violet-tailed Sylph audio contributed by Paul Coopmans, ML58045White-booted Racket-tail audio contributed by Daniel Cadena, ML256331Bee Hummingbird video contributed by Timothy Barksdale, ML440270 Black Metaltail photograph by Thibaud Aronson, via iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Okay, but do hummingbirds ever chill?

  4. 13 Aug ·  Video

    Okay, but what's the deal with Darwin's finches?

    E35. Eighteen species of small brown bird on a pile of volcanic rock have taught us more about how evolution actually works than almost anything else on Earth. Not because Darwin figured them out. He didn't. Because a handful of scientists went back, banded every bird on one island, and watched it happen in real time. Scott heads to the Galapagos with Dr. Erik Enbody, Assistant Professor of Computational Biology at Cornell University, to find out how one ancestor became eighteen, why the beak is the only thing worth looking at, and what happens when species that aren't supposed to interbreed start swapping genes anyway. In this episode you'll hear about: The island so small you can band every bird on it, and the drought that killed almost all of themOne gene that explains 40% of beak size, when nothing in human height explains even 1%The finch that does something mind-blowingly villainous and what it says about how far evolution will go 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: Large Ground-Finch audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML85965Common Cactus-Finch audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML86715Small Tree-Finch audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML85464Vegetarian Finch audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML82506Galapagos Mockingbird audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML45963Española Mockingbird audio contributed by Herb Elliott, ML638777433Floreana Mockingbird audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML85455San Cristobal Mockingbird audio contributed by Arnoud B. van den Berg, ML28656Palm Tanager audio contributed by Curtis Marantz, ML88937Blue-footed Booby audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML85906Vampire Ground-Finch audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML86756Woodpecker Finch audio contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML82522Paradise Tanager audio contributed by Curtis Marantz, ML127399Galápagos Sea Lion audio contributed by Arnoud B. van den Berg, ML125020

    Okay, but what's the deal with Darwin's finches?

  5. 6 Aug ·  Video

    Okay, but what's the deal with nests?

    E34. Not all birds build one, but for the ones that do, a nest has a single job and a shockingly wide range of ways to get it done. Dr. Vanya Rohwer, Curator of Birds and Mammals at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, joins Scott to walk the far end of that spectrum, from nests made entirely of spit to a colony structure heavy enough to snap the tree it sits in. In this episode you'll hear about: The complete and comical inventory of one hamerkop nest, read aloud, contents includedWhat a bird does when you hand it a nest somebody else already builtWhy a shed snakeskin in a tree cavity is a calculated decoration New episodes every Thursday. If the show is doing it for you, leave a rating or hit follow. 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: American Robin audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML206448Baltimore Oriole audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML219606Black-legged Kittiwake audio contributed by Roger Charters, ML202491White-nest Swiftlet audio contributed by Arnoud B. van den Berg, ML36421Cliff Swallow audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML92053871Chimney Swift audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML107413Hamerkop audio contributed by Anonymous, ML97562Eastern Whip-poor-will audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML195774Montezuma Oropendola audio contributed by David L. Ross Jr., ML215446Western Grebe audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML195029Rufous Hornero audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML132447Northern Yellow Warbler audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML516692Sociable Weaver audio contributed by Jacob Henry, ML637193738Great Crested Flycatcher audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94314Blue-gray Gnatcatcher audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML534430White-breasted Nuthatch audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML306062

    Okay, but what's the deal with nests?

  6. 30 Jul ·  Video

    Okay, but how do birds handle a heatwave?

    E33. When the air temperature climbs past a bird's own body temperature, staying cool stops being free and starts to cost them water they may not have. Dr. Blair Wolf, University of New Mexico, has spent his career studying how desert birds survive heat that should kill them, and what happens when it finally gets too hot. In this episode you'll hear about: Why some backyard birds can shrug off oven-like temperatures while others just a few feet away don't make itThe strange, water-saving trick birds use to dump heat without a single drop of sweatWhat the birds dying in these heatwaves are trying to tell us about what's coming 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-winged Dove audio contributed by Raphaël Nussbaumer, ML571978241Verdin audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML197163Black-throated Sparrow audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML573935831Black-throated Sparrow video contributed by Benjamin Clock, ML483211Mourning Dove audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML583603101Mourning Dove audio contributed by Anonymous, ML658417476Palm Cockatoo audio contributed by Emma Greig, ML201266Rosy-faced Lovebird audio contributed by Derek Solomon, ML168222Common Eider audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML235534

    Okay, but how do birds handle a heatwave?

  7. 23 Jul ·  Video

    Okay, but how does wildfire smoke impact birds?

    E32. Wildfire smoke is blanketing more of the map every year, and it turns out a smoky sky changes everything for birds, from how they breathe to whether we can find them at all. Dr. Olivia Sanderfoot, Research Scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is back to walk Scott through what all that haze is doing to the birds living in it. In this episode: Birds don't breathe the way we do, and that single fact shapes everything about how smoke hits themStay, shift, or go: the framework for what a bird actually does when the air turns toxicWhen the birds go quiet, it isn't always because they left Data collection for Project Phoenix is open now through the end of November. If you're on the West Coast, you can sign up at projectphoenix.study and log a 10-minute count from wherever you are, even your own window. 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: Northern Yellow Warbler audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML516692Black-Crowned Night Heron audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML225814Tufted Titmouse audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML100712Cooper’s Hawk audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94518Bornean Orangutan audio contributed by John MacKinnon, ML82019American Robin audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML206448

    Okay, but how does wildfire smoke impact birds?

  8. 16 Jul ·  Video

    Okay, but did birds invent music?

    E31. If a bird sings a phrase worthy of Beethoven, is that music, or just biology in a nice outfit? Dr. Hollis Taylor, a violinist, composer, and ornithologist, has spent more than two decades recording and transcribing the songs of the Pied Butcherbird, an Australian songbird whose vocal life keeps blurring that line. In this episode: How a single pied butcherbird can sing for seven hours through the night, almost never repeating itself, then return the next spring with a brand new repertoireWhat a violin can and can't reproduce when it tries to follow a butcherbird, from steep glissandos to rattles a human instrument simply cannot makeThe case for birdsong as music 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: Winter Wren audio contributed by Matthew D. Medler, ML136183Hermit Thrush audio contributed by Matthew D. Medler, ML169025Wood Thrush audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML168331White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML219799Australian Magpie audio contributed by Emma Greig, ML218159Willie-wagtail audio contributed by Cedar Mathers-Winn, ML188954Humpback Whale audio contributed by Flip Harrington, ML123414 Pied Butcherbird song and composition excerpts courtesy of Dr. Hollis Taylor (piedbutcherbird.net, piedbutcherbird.com).

    Okay, but did birds invent music?
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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Scott Taylor
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Okay Media
  • Show Website
    Okay, But... Birds

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