Bird of the Week

• The Laughing Jackass

  The Kookaburra has to be one of Australia's most famous birds, with a call so iconic and strange that it has been used in a whole swarth of Hollywood films to evoke a feeling of the topics and the exotic, despite the fact that they do not live in that type of environment. But they're a bird of far greater interest than their call alone, so in this episode we'll see what else they have to offer.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/birdoftheweekWant birds in your inbox? Drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll hook you up with a free weekly bird.Notes:Laughing Kookaburra: https://ebird.org/species/laukoo1Blue-Winged Kookaburra: https://ebird.org/species/blwkoo1?siteLanguage=en_AUSpangled Kookaburra: https://ebird.org/species/spakoo1Rufous-Bellied Kookaburra: https://ebird.org/species/rubkoo1Shovel-Billed Kookaburra: https://ebird.org/species/shbkoo1Kookaburra was Flipper: https://bioacoustics.stackexchange.com/questions/746/is-this-sound-made-by-flipper-dolphin-tv-series-realKookaburra in film: https://soundandthefoley.com/2013/05/30/that-jungle-sound/#:~:text=THE%20KOOKABURRA%20IN%20OTHER%20FILMS,on%20their%20way%20to%20Australia.Kookaburra chicks kill their siblings: https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2000/10/23/201846.htm 

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• The World's Most 'Dangerous'(?) Bird

  The Bird is back, and we are back looking at a bird with a reputation for being the world's most dangerous. Maybe in a shock twist the bird with the badass reputation is a giant fruit eater from Papua New Guinea, the Cassowary. But is this reputation deserving? Well in this episode we will find out just how dangerous they are, but also what else makes them especially cool. To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/birdoftheweekWant birds in your inbox? Drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll hook you up with a free weekly bird.Notes:Southern Cassowary: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/soucas1/cur/introductionNorthern Cassowary: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/norcas1/cur/introduction?lang=esDwarf Cassowary: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/dwacas1/cur/introduction?lang=esKiwi: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1733312/episodes/13777746-kiwis-fruit-people-birdsEmu: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1733312/episodes/11406903-the-great-emu-warCassowary 1926 fatality: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/175730542Ostrich lethality: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4323753/#:~:text=When%20attacking%20a%20person%2C%20ostriches,wild%20ostrich%20populations%20%5B2%5D.Keystone species: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb1bbIyF9OUCasque: https://tetzoo.com/blog/2022/4/9/inside-the-cassowarys-casque-updated

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  25:48
• The War on Sparrows

  Today we welcome back friend of The Bird, Mr David Clay, as we discuss that one time China tried to eliminate all the sparrows in their nation. Did the plan work, were there unforeseen consequences, is this another tale of human folly? Almost certainly. Join us as we look at another strange avian story from history.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/birdoftheweekWant birds in your inbox? Drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll hook you up with a free weekly bird.NotesSorry I meant to have notes, but I'm not as organised this time. The story is quite well documented though in numerous online sources.

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• When a Stork Calls

  Bird of the Week special announcement: there is a baby on the way so there's no better time to talk about Storks and what they have to do with baby delivery. Where did that myth of the Stork bringing babies to expectant parents come from? Well, today we are going to find out.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/birdoftheweekWant birds in your inbox? Drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll hook you up with a free weekly bird. NotesStorks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StorkSaddle-Billed Stork: https://ebird.org/species/sabsto1Marabou: https://ebird.org/species/marsto1?siteLanguage=en_AUWhite Stork: https://ebird.org/species/whisto1?siteLanguage=en_AUBlack Stork: https://ebird.org/species/blasto1Migration: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1733312/episodes/9912409-migration-part-ii Speared Stork: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PfeilstorchHera: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230119-the-weird-history-of-baby-mythsHans Christian Andersen: http://hca.gilead.org.il/storks.htmlWork Without Hope: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43999/work-without-hope

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  25:35
• Power of Flight Part 2

  In our follow up episode on avian flight we dive deeper into the question of how birds get into the air. In part two we look at the machinery birds have and the physiological attributes they needed to make a flapping wing work. But do we answer the question, 'how do birds fly?', almost certainly not.To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/birdoftheweekWant birds in your inbox? Drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll hook you up with a free weekly bird. NotesPart 1: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1733312/episodes/16146149-power-of-flight-part-1Feather episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1733312/episodes/8438286-the-heck-s-a-feather Keel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keel_(bird_anatomy)#:~:text=A%20keel%20or%20carina%20(%20pl,the%20plane%20of%20the%20ribs.hollow bones: https://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/news/some-birds-have-hollow-bones-and-new-research-helps-us-understand-whylungs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXuWi_ODAgofeathers: https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/wing design: https://www.birds.cornell.edu/k12/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Bird-Wing-Types-Handout.pdf 

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