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. Okay, but can a bird really cooperate with humans?

    1 DAY AGO

    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.

    33 min
  2. Okay, but can birds smell?

    7 MAY

    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 cookie Why 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 plastic The bonus myth Danielle wants gone New 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, ML94262 Dark-eyed Junco audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94361 Red Knot audio contributed by Lucas DeCicco, ML516895 Crested Auklet audio contributed by Sampath Seneviratne, ML132014 Laysan Albatross audio contributed by Ted Miller, ML117679

    34 min
  3. Okay, but what can we learn from a drawer of birds?

    23 APR

    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 decline Why falcons turned out to be closer to parrots than hawks, and what other surprises fell out of the bird family tree The case for making museum collections more open, especially to scientists from the places these specimens originally came from If 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 200943 Red-tailed hawk sound contributed by David McCartt, ML 229578 Gyrfalcon sound contributed by Lucas DeCicco, ML 516973 Kea sound contributed by William V. Ward, ML 8523 Small ground finch sound contributed by Robert I. Bowman, ML 86711 Iiwi sound contributed by Doug Pratt, ML 5888 Sickle-billed vanga sound contributed by Anonymous, ML 100013

    35 min
  4. Okay, but are bird feeders helping or hurting?

    16 APR

    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 Ornithology, joins Scott to unpack what four decades of data tell us about whether feeding birds helps them, hurts them, or is really just for us. In this episode you'll hear about: Why bird feeding is mostly for us, and the handful of moments when it actually tips the scales for birds What forty years of FeederWatch data reveal about shifting ranges, feeder dominance, and the bird that definitely should not be bossing everyone around How to keep your yard from becoming an ecological trap, plus the best way to feed birds that doesn't involve a feeder at all Ready to join the longest-running winter bird monitoring program in North America? Sign up for Project FeederWatch's 40th season at feederwatch.org. You don't even need a feeder. Want more exclusive clips from this and future episodes. Signup for our newsletter, Bird Droppings, at okaybutbirds.com to get bonus content not available anywhere else! 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: European robin audio contributed by Matthew D. Medler, ML140049 Cooper's hawk audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94518 American crow video contributed by Jay McGowan, ML472843

    33 min
  5. Okay, but what’s in a bird’s toolbox?

    9 APR

    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-bending questions in animal behavior: are birds actually building and using tools, or are we just projecting? In this episode you'll hear about: The experiment that left researchers completely flabbergasted and rewrote what we thought we knew about animal intelligence Why flexibility, not raw smarts, is the real test of a thinking mind Whether the drive to use tools is something birds are born with, learn, or some surprising combination of both 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: Woodpecker Finch audio contributed by Robert Bowman, ML82522 New Caledonian Crow audio contributed by Lucas DeCicco, ML188764 Hawaiian Crow audio contributed by Tim Burr, ML218670 Hawaiian Crow video contributed by Timothy Barksdale, ML425081 Kea audio contributed by William V. Ward, ML8523

    32 min
  6. Okay, but do birds have culture?

    2 APR

    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

    35 min
  7. Okay, but why put eggs in another bird’s basket?

    26 MAR

    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

    31 min
  8. Okay, but what makes a yard a bird paradise?

    19 MAR

    Okay, but what makes a yard a bird paradise?

    E15. Most people picture a bird-friendly yard and imagine feeder, birdbath, maybe a decorative birdhouse with mortgage vibes. And feeders are great. But a feeder can give you the illusion of helping birds without creating the thing birds need most: habitat. In this episode, Dr. Doug Tallamy, Professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, joins Scott to explain why your yard is conservation infrastructure in disguise, and what it actually takes to turn it into a place birds can live, breed, and thrive. In this episode you'll hear about: Why "plant natives" is just the beginning, and which keystone plants actually move the needle for birds The surprising reason a beautiful all-native garden can still function like a food desert What Homegrown National Park is, and how your yard fits into a continent-wide conservation strategy Ready to do more than feed birds? Join the Homegrown National Park pledge at homegrownnationalpark.org and start shifting your patch of earth. 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: Chestnut-sided warbler audio contributed by Jay McGowan, ML191085 Northern parula audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML79471 Carolina chickadee audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML100756 Oriental pied-hornbill audio contributed by Warren Y. Brockelman, ML170843 Northern cardinal audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML249823 Black-capped chickadee audio contributed by Jay McGowan, ML202239

    24 min
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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
    23
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Okay Media
  • Show Website
    Okay, But... Birds

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