Okay, But... Birds

Dr. Scott Taylor
  • 4.7 (240)
  • Nature
  • Updated Weekly

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. 6d ago ·  Video

    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 eagles and their kin, from spinning wind turbines to a threat small enough to fit on a grain of rice. In this episode, you'll hear about: Why an eagle that can clearly see a wind turbine still flies into one How a hunter's choice of bullet ends up inside an eagle The flap count that tells a vulture whether to risk crossing the sea 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: Bald Eagle audio contributed by Darrell Peterson, ML145265541 Golden Eagle audio contributed by W. Douglas Robinson, ML612942188 Golden Eagle audio contributed by Kathy Groschupf, ML57165 American Goshawk video contributed by Dan J. MacNeal, ML297994251 Harpy Eagle audio contributed by Curtis Marantz, ML81101 Ruby-throated Hummingbird audio contributed by Trenton Voytko, ML604314061 Ferruginous Hawk audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML172487

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

  2. Oct 8 ·  Video

    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 Córdoba joins us to ask whether terror birds really earned their name. In this episode, you'll hear about: The surprising weapon a terror bird actually used to bring down its prey What left bite marks on one of the biggest terror birds ever found Why the last terror bird standing was one of the smallest 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: Black-legged Seriema video contributed by Pablo Hernan Capovilla, ML662237304 Red-legged Seriema audio contributed by Matthew D. Medler, ML189557 Black-legged Seriema audio contributed by Steven L. Hilty, ML83854

    Okay, but how terrifying were terror birds?

  3. Oct 1 ·  Video

    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 walks Scott through what illness really does to a bird, from the family it belongs to down to the clever brain it depends on. In this episode, you'll hear about: The surprising way crows choose their partners, and what it costs them when disease comes around What a stomach bug does to one of the cleverest birds you'll ever meet Why going it alone can be the riskier move while a virus is spreading 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: American Crow video contributed by Jay McGowan, ML472843 Common Raven audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML137574 Burrowing Owl audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML188805

    Okay, but what happens when a bird gets sick?

  4. Sep 24 ·  Video

    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 Natural History studies two Amazonian antbirds that meet where a river runs out, and what their offspring say about where one species ends. In this episode, you'll hear about: Why a river can be an impossible barrier for a bird with perfectly good wings, and what researchers found when they carried birds out into the middle of one and let go How to spot a hybrid antbird at a glance, once you know which colors belong to which parent The German-Brazilian ornithologist an all-women expedition was named for, and the injury she dealt with herself, a long way from any hospital 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: Red-capped Manakin audio contributed by David L. Ross Jr., ML57360 Streak-headed Woodcreeper audio contributed by Ted Parker, ML21543 American Flamingo audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML172484 Lawrence's Warbler (hybrid) audio contributed by Curtis Marantz, ML113786 Brewster's Warbler (hybrid) audio contributed by Curtis Marantz, ML76906 Additional photos and video courtesy of Glaucia Del-Rio: Marco Rego, Fabio Schunck, Luis Morais, and Angela Prochilo. Harlequin Antbird photo by Hector Bottai, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

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

  5. Sep 17 ·  Video

    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 two of them: the sandhill cranes that pour into one stretch of Nebraska's Platte River every spring, and the whooping crane, which came back from the edge and is still nowhere near safe. Scott asks him what it actually takes to keep a bird like that on the landscape, and the answer runs through soggy grassland, private ranches, and one river worth fighting over. In this episode, you'll hear about: The number Andy gives for how many cranes stand on that stretch of river, which Scott makes him say twice How a bird that was down to a couple of dozen individuals ended up stopping a dam What a wet meadow is, and why one is so much easier to lose than to build back 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: Mallard audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML136504 Wilson's Phalarope audio contributed by W. Douglas Robinson, ML474658841 Swamp Sparrow audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94352

    Okay, but... cranes!

  6. Sep 10 ·  Video

    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 year. Dr. Ryan Terrill of the San Diego Natural History Museum studies what a feather endures over a year and what it takes to replace one, and he makes the case that the few weeks a bird spends looking its worst may be the most consequential weeks it has. In this episode, you'll hear about: Why the cardinal at your feeder in late summer looks like it lost a fight What a bird quietly gives up during the weeks it is growing new feathers The hundreds of miles some birds fly for the sake of a new set of feathers 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: Northern Cardinal audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML191165 American Goldfinch audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML94457 Blue Jay audio contributed by Gaetan Dupont, ML173749 Herring Gull audio contributed by Sarah MacLean, ML165927 American Herring Gull video contributed by Steve Kelling, ML540908261 Snow Bunting audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML130973 Red-tailed hawk audio contributed by David McCartt, ML229578 White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML219799 Great Hornbill audio contributed by Linda Macaulay, ML111527 Flightless Cormorant audio contributed by Linda Macaulay, ML237486

    Okay, but why does that bird look so rough?

  7. Sep 3 ·  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 feathers What a feather is actually made of, once you smash one into individual cells and read what every cell was doing What 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, ML195774 Red-bellied Woodpecker audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML306064 Indian Peafowl audio contributed by Rounak choudhary, ML621021542 Common Raven audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML132161 Mallard audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML136504 Double-crested Cormorant audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML233274 Zebra Finch (Australian) audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML226233 American Herring Gull video contributed by Steve Kelling, ML540908261 Golden-winged Warbler video contributed by Benjamin Clock, ML476422 Great Argus audio contributed by Arnoud B. van den Berg, ML71122 Horned Screamer audio contributed by Paul A. Schwartz, ML58925 Wild Turkey audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML73964601

    Okay, but what's up with feathers?

  8. Aug 27 ·  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 knows The fishing gear change that pulled a colony back from the brink, and how long it took to see it working Why 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, ML42306 Black-browed Albatross audio contributed by Jan Hansen, ML650026815

    Okay, but does age bring Wisdom?
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Trailer

4.7
out of 5
240 Ratings

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
    45
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Okay Media
  • Show Website
    Okay, But... Birds

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