Hidden Brain
Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam
Science
Okay, But... Birds
by Dr. Scott Taylor
Today: #45 in Science on our combined chart.
Chart positions today
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Ranking history
History builds daily. We started tracking this show on the Science chart recently, so the trend line appears after a second day of data.
View as table
| Date | Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 | #33 | #33 |
About the show
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.
Latest episodes
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Okay, but griffins, and ligers, and birds, oh my!
September 24, 2026 · 32 minE41. 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…
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Okay, but... cranes!
September 17, 2026 · 32 minE40. 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…
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Okay, but why does that bird look so rough?
September 10, 2026 · 31 minE39. 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…
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Okay, but what's up with feathers?
September 3, 2026 · 33 minE38. 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…
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Okay, but does age bring Wisdom?
August 27, 2026 · 31 minE37. 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…
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Okay, but do hummingbirds ever chill?
August 20, 2026 · 31 minE36. 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…
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Okay, but what's the deal with Darwin's finches?
August 13, 2026 · 36 minE35. 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…
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Okay, but what's the deal with nests?
August 6, 2026 · 29 minE34. 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…