Episode Details & Image Credits 

In this episode we discuss what inspired us to start this series.

0:55 - Why did we create Birdbrain Q&A?

2:20 - What are the most common bird questions you get?

4:50 - Who are the people asking bird questions?

7:45 - How do you start identifying birds?

9:00 - Is it fair to say that there’s a huge overlap between birders and crime detectives?

11:00 - What is an underrated bird?

Other resources mentioned in this episode: 

• The Merlin Bird ID app: https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/ 

• Some bird feeder live-streams: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/  

• The Holderness Family Podcast episode featuring Lauryn:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3onWvZHcvME 

Image credits (used under Creative Commons licenses):
Birds Aren’t Real: 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Birds_Aren%27t_Real%22_billboard_in_Memphis_(cropped).jpg 

• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Birds_Aren%27t_Real.svg 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Birds_Aren%27t_Real_sticker_in_Chicago.jpg 

Great Horned Owl:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20241022_great_horned_owl_hockanum_river_linear_trail_PD209630.jpg 

• Audio: . https://xeno-canto.org/520429

Northern Cardinals:  

• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Northern_cardinal_pair_%2851145834740%29.jpg 

Red-winged Blackbird: 

• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Agelaius_phoeniceus_PP.jpg 

American Robin:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_robin_in_Central_Park_(52526).jpg 

Western Tanager:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Western_Tanager_(Piranga_ludoviciana)_perched_on_a_branch_(85866b4a-08c3-47ee-a86a-25fd1566ed56).jpg

Black-billed Magpie:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BlackBilledMagpie.jpg 

Swallow:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barn_Swallow_in_Bakkhali_January_2025_by_Tisha_Mukherjee_01.jpg 

Wren:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eurasian_wren_(Troglodytes_troglodytes).jpg 

House Wren: 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_Wren_(Troglodytes_aedon)_(3972183389).jpg 

Black-capped Chickadee:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black-capped_Chickadee_(Poecile_atricapillus)_(17816593945).jpg 

Thank you to all the image creators who posted in the public domain!

In this episode we talk about the way birds look: questions about legs and feathers, plus a really big question about Big Bird. 

0:45 - Is Pam a black-capped chickadee?

2:40 - Is Big Bird a bird?

4:55 - Why do birds’ knees bend backwards?

6:10 - Why are the birds in Australia and South America more colorful than the ones in Chicago?

11:30 - What is a lek? Is it bird Tinder? 

12:15 - Does being super colorful help birds survive?

Other resources mentioned in this episode: 

• All about Big Bird: https://sesameworkshop.org/our-work/shows/sesame-street/sesame-street-characters/big-bird/ 

• More about Birds of Paradise: https://www.birdsofparadiseproject.org/genera/ 

• A list of bird species you could see in Ecuador: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Ecuador 

• A list of bird species you could see in Chicago: https://chicagobirdalliance.org/blog/2022/4/birds-of-the-greater-chicago-area-checklist7 

Image credits (used under Creative Commons licenses): 

Black capped chickadee: 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black-capped_Chickadee_(Poecile_atricapillus)_(17816593945).jpg 

Elephant Bird heights:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_bird#/media/File:Elephant_birds_size_comparison.png 

Ostriches: 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:An_ostrich_in_Gaborone_game_reserve.jpg 

Great Blue Heron:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20240531_great_blue_heron_wethersfield_cove_PD207953.jpg 

Colorful birds:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chloebia_gouldiae,_Elsey,_Northern_Territory,_Australia_1.jpg 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scarlet_Macaws_at_Uvita_Beach,_Costa_Rica_03.jpg 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chlorophonia_callophrys_04.jpg 

Dull plumaged birds from the Merlin App

Breeding male American Goldfinch (Spring/Summer plumage): 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carduelis-tristis-002.jpg 

Non breeding American Goldfinch (fall/winter plumage): mentioned at 7:44, no image appears

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20241110_american_goldfinch_bolton_notch_sp_PD203062.jpg 

Blue Jay:

•  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_jay_in_PP_(30960).jpg 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cyanocitta_cristata_cyanotephra,_Lubbock,_Texas_3.jpg 

Andean Cock of the Rock: 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rupicola_peruvianus,_Manu,_Peru_2.jpg 

Birds of Paradise: 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_Bird-of-Paradise_0A2A2853.jpg 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilson%27s_Bird_of_Paradise.jpg 

• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnificent_Bird-of-Paradise_0A2A2180.jpg

Peacock:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peacock_safari.jpg 

Thank you to all the image creators who posted in the public domain!

You asked for it, you got it: an episode all about bird poop. Yes, this one is totally full of shit. 

1:20 - Why is bird poop white?

3:35 - Can birds poop in their sleep? 

5:25 - Why do Turkey Vultures poop and pee on themselves? 

8:30 - How do birds feel when they poop on you?

10:50 - What’s your favorite book about bird poop? with *Jill Dugan*

12:25 - Have you been pooped on by a bird? 

Other resources mentioned in this episode: 

• Read about a researcher who studied vulture poop: https://www.jsu.edu/news/articles/2023/08/gamecock-scientists-say-vultures-need-love.html 

• Featured book: Someday a Bird Will Poop on You https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/megan-kellie/someday-a-bird-will-poop-on-you/9780316487764/  

Image credits (used under Creative Commons licenses): 

Bird poop

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Een_guanotroof_milieu_op_een_kribbe.jpg

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Due_fuglem%C3%B8kk_avf%C3%B8ring_skitten_hvitmalt_vegg_Vinduskarm_Lepramuseet_St_J%C3%B8rgen_kirke_1706_(Pigeon_bird_droppings_feces_dirty_white_painted_window_sill_Leprosy_Museum_Hospital_church)_Kong_Oscars_gate_Bergen_Norway_April_2022_DSC05370.jpg

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shitty_Mazda.jpg

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viersen_-_Remigiusplatz_-_St_Remigius_07_ies.jpg 

Emus:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gro%C3%9Fer_Emu_Zoo_Landau_2011.JPG

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emu_1_-_Tidbinbilla.jpg

Turkey Vultures:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Turkey_Vulture_(Cathartes_aura)_with_a_racoon_roadkill_(11617745643).jpg

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cathartes_aura_roost_3_SAA.jpg

Black Vulture:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coragyps_atratus_-Gatorland-USA-8a.jpg

Lab scientists (probably not looking at bird poop, but who knows?):

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Young_and_Upcoming_Scientist_02.jpg

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scientists_are_working_in_the_lab.5.jpg 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swine_Gut_Microbiome_-_51405268145.jpg

Common Terns: 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Common_tern_2024_04_28.jpg

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Gull_Island,_NY_(5913219644).jpg 

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tern_at_Monomoy_National_Wildlife_Refuge_(4853166305).jpg

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sterna_hirundo_-hovering_to_protect_nest-8.jpg

Marabou Stork and Chicken images by Elise Benedict

Thank you to all the image creators who posted in the public domain!