Birds of a Feather Talk Together

This Eurasian bird is more extreme than it looks, and it may not be for what you are expecting. This bird puts the 'bird' in birds and the bees. Join us this week when we talk about the very sexual Alpine Accentor. John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart discuss the Alpine Accentor in this week's episode. Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on instagram and tik tok as well!!

A bird that not very many people have seen in the wild, but it turns out that Shannon and John have seen a lot of them. They are native to Costa Rica, and only come out when the bamboo is flowering - which is not very often. Hear all about Shannon and John's trip to Costa Rica and learn more about these amazing little birds. We also answer a listener question on birds and government spies. John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart discuss the Peg-billed Finch in this week's episode. Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on instagram and tik tok as well!!

Black-billed magpies are super cool! Fun new episode that you won't want to miss. John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart discuss the Black-billed Magpie in this week's episode. We also answer a listener question on Wombat poop and bird poop. Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on instagram and tik tok as well!!

You might know him from the cartoon - but there's a lot more to the Greater Roadrunner than just saying beep beep. We talk all about the adaptations these speedy birds have made to be able to live in the desert, some interesting facts from the actual cartoon, as well as answer a mailbag question on the book The Feather Thief. John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart discuss the Greater Roadrunner in this week's episode. Here is the link to the other podcast that Shannon was on that we referenced in the episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e32-chickadee/id1681354028?i=1000663586496 Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on instagram and tik tok as well!!

Join us this week to talk about Burrowing Owls. These super cool and tiny owls live in burrows in the ground. Hear why, and all about their super unique behavior in this week's episode. Our usual hosts John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart are joined by Aiyana Reissman to talk Burrowing Owls. Aiyana is the Animal Care Manager at the Living Coast Discovery Center in San Diego, California and has a ton of experience with these owls. In addition to the burrowing owls, we also get deep into some other topics like bird flu and changing big tech to get birds into the algorithm instead of cats :) Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on instagram and tik tok as well!!

This week a little different than our usual episodes. Instead of talking about a single bird species, we each brought a different topic to the table to talk about. We talked about baby belted Kingfishers, CT scanning birds, different bird dialects, and a movie idea where a brown-headed cowbird leaves an egg in a human’s bassinet. What genre would that movie be? Listen to find out! Join John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart for this week's episode of Birds of a Feather Talk Together. Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on instagram and tik tok as well!! Enjoy!

This week we are talking about the Northern Flicker. We talk about the red-shafted and yellow-shafted flickers in different parts of the continent, and how they can hybridize. We also talk about whether or not woodpeckers get CTE from banging their heads while pecking. We answer a mailbag question on the white throated sparrow changing its call. Join John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart discussing the Northern Flicker! Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on instagram and tik tok as well!!

This week’s episode is about the Giant Hummingbird. A recent study led by Jessie Williamson led to some groundbreaking discoveries about the Giant Hummingbird, including that there are actually two different species, one which has the longest migration of any hummingbird in the world. This amazing study, which included putting tiny backpacks on hummingbirds to track their movement, changed what we knew about Giant Hummingbirds.

Jack Turner AKA Jack Wildlife joins us to talk about Ospreys. Jack lives near the Chesapeake Bay, home to the most Osprey in the world. If you aren’t familiar with Jack Wildlife, he runs a popular birding meme account, and he’s also an accomplished wildlife photographer, tour guide, and Environmental Scientist. This episode is a ton of fun. We also talk about Jack's trip to Austin, Texas to see the endangered golden-cheeked warbler. Jack joined John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart for another episode of Birds of a Feather Talk Together. Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on instagram and tik tok as well!!

We'll be down this week for the Fourth of July - but back next week. Upcoming episodes on Osprey, Giant Hummingbird, and Northern Flicker. We have a few asks to spread the joy of birding over the Fourth of July. Listen to hear more. Also here is a link to when John was on Ologies with Alie Ward: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/oology-eggs-with-john-bates/id1278815517?i=1000417763781

We talk about the endangered Light-footed Ridgway's Rail this week with guest Aiyana Reissman. Aiyana is the Animal Care Manager at the Living Coast Discovery Center in San Diego, California. She oversees the care for 25+ species of rescued bird native to the area along with the propagation programs for the endangered Light Footed Ridgway’s Rails. Living Coast Discovery Center is the only facility in the world where the Light-footed Ridgway's Rail can be viewed and have had great success with the release program to boost the populations in Southern California over the last few years. Aiyana joined John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart for another episode of Birds of a Feather Talk Together. Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on instagram and tik tok as well!!

This week is a little different as we aren't discussing a bird, but rather the cicada phenomenon happening in Illinois right now. Maureen Turcatel of the Field Museum joins us to talk about the two different broods of cicadas both happening at the same time (the 13 year cicada and the 17 year cicada). We talk about how this is impacting birds, the rare blue-eyed cicada, and also the fungus that is making cicadas hyper-sexual. Maureen is an insect taxonomist and systematist, especially interested in the diversity and phylogeny of horse flies. Her research focuses on using museum specimens to perform revisionary work on horse flies. She is the collections manager of all insects at the Field Museum, so she was happy to jump on and answer all of our cicada questions, as well as talk about horseflies. Maureen joined John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart for another episode of Birds of a Feather Talk Together. Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on instagram and tik tok as well!!

Somehow it has taken us 45 episodes to get to our first hummingbird - but it's finally here! We have a ton of fun talking about the ruby-throated hummingbird today. John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart are all here for our hummingbird discussion. Enjoy! Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on instagram and tik tok as well!!

This week we talk about the house wren, but first we talk a little bit about the newest addition to the Field Museum: The Archaeopteryx. A fossil called Archaeopteryx, with feathers, hollow bones, clawed wings, fifty tiny teeth, and a long bony tail, is the earliest known dinosaur that also qualifies as a bird. The Chicago Archaeopteryx has the most complete skull of any Archaeopteryx fossil in the world. We then talk about the House Wren - it's a super fun episode that you'll enjoy. House Wren are so amazing, it was so much fun to learn all about them. Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com

We talk about a bird that was majorly affected by the parasitic brown-headed cowbird so much that it was on the endangered species list for nearly 50 years. One of the rarest songbirds in North America, the Kirtland’s Warbler migrates back and forth from the Bahamas to Michigan every year. We also learn that this bird was studied back in the 1920’s by Nathan Leopold, one half of the murdering crime pair Leopold and Loeb. Join John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart as we discuss the Kirtland's Warbler. We kick it off talking about the Whooping Crane that was spotted in the northern Chicago suburbs. We also answer a mailbag question on using fake calls when looking for birds. Please follow our instagram @birds_of_a_feather_podcast Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com

Brown-headed cowbirds don't build nests - instead they sneak into other nests and lay their eggs and let other birds raise their young for them. Many consider them 'mafia' birds, as they will destroy another bird's nest if they aren't raising their young correctly. These parasitic birds will outgrow the other chicks in the nest, its kind of like a horror story! Hear all about these bizarre birds in this awesome episode of Birds of a Feather Talk Together. John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart discuss the brown-headed cowbird. Please follow our instagram @birds_of_a_feather_podcast Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com

The host of Tooth and Claw Podcast Wes Larson joins us to talk about the Southern Cassowary. Wes is a wildlife biologist, and hosts a podcast that talks about human wildlife conflict, or extreme wild animal attacks. Wes recently went to Australia and saw Cassowaries in the wild, so we asked him to join us for a full episode on what many people call the most dangerous bird on the planet. Wes Larson is a wildlife biologist who has studied bears, and has a ton of knowledge on human wildlife conflict. Hear us discuss Southern Cassowaries in this episode with our usual hosts John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart. Make sure to follow us instagram @birds_of_a_feather_podcast Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Enjoy!

Warbler season is officially here. We talk about the Blackpoll Warbler - the warbler with one of the longest and most impressive migration. Enjoy! Please follow our instagram @birds_of_a_feather_podcast Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com

Bald Eagles are amazing - everyone knows it. We touch on everything from Benjamin Franklin, to how DDT decimated their population and the significant comeback that they've made, to their aerial cartwheel performances. It's a really fascinating episode, and we learn about the 'eagle suit' that Amanda's sister's dog wears so he doesn't get picked up by a bald eagle in his backyard. Special thanks to photographer Dustin Weidner for suggesting that we do a Bald Eagle episode. Check out his photography on his instagram @chicago.wildlife.photography If you have a question for us, send it to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com Check out our Insta and Tik-Tok for pictures!! Thanks everyone!

This week's episode is a little different than usual. Instead of discussing one bird, we talk about RJ and Amanda's recent trip to Florida and all of the birds that they saw. RJ and Amanda ask John and Shannon about the Osprey, Brown Pelicans, Cormorants, Black Skimmers, American Oystercatchers, and many more. We also plead our case for the birds that have reached the Final Four in our Round Robin voting: The Shoebill, American Woodcock, Raven, and Atlantic Puffin. Enjoy!