46: Billions of Cicadas Are Emerging… And It’s Affecting Birds, Fungus & More 🪲🐦

This week on Birds of a Feather Talk Together, we take a break from birds to explore one of the wildest natural events happening in North America right now: the massive cicada emergence in Illinois.For the rare first time in centuries, both the 13-year cicada brood and the 17-year cicada brood are emerging at the same time, creating an extraordinary insect phenomenon across the Midwest. Joining us is Maureen Turcatel of the Field Museum, who helps us break down the science behind cicadas, insect life cycles, and what makes this emergence so unusual.We discuss how billions of cicadas impact birds and ecosystems, the rare blue-eyed cicadas people have been searching for, and the bizarre fungus that infects cicadas and alters their behavior in shocking ways. We also dive into insect taxonomy, museum collections, horse flies, and how scientists study insect evolution and diversity.Maureen Turcatel is an insect taxonomist and collections manager of insects at the Field Museum, specializing in horse fly diversity, phylogeny, and museum specimen research. Her expertise makes this one of our most fascinating science conversations yet.If you love cicadas, insects, bird behavior, wildlife science, entomology, nature podcasts, bizarre animal behavior, conservation, and fascinating facts about the natural world, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.Here are links to our social and YouTube pages, give us a follow:YouTube InstagramTikTokBlueSky