All Episodes
Birds of a Feather Talk Together — 158 episodes
154: Chimney Swifts: The Birds That Almost Never Stop Flying 🐦
153: Slate-throated Redstart (or Whitestart) with David Vander Pluym
152: Carolina Wrens: Why One of North America's Loudest Little Birds Deserves Your Love 🐦
151: Black-billed Cuckoos: One of North America's Most Mysterious Birds 🐦
150: California Condors with Christian Flores - The Incredible Comeback of North America's Largest Bird 🦅
149: Birding Australia, New Zealand & Beyond + Shannon’s Cochlear Implant Update 🐦🌏
148: Club-Winged Manakins: The Bird of the Year That Makes Music With Its Wings 🐦🎵
147: Peter Kaestner: The First Birder to See 10,000 Bird Species in the Wild 🐦
146: Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers: The Tiny Bird That's Always on the Move 🐦
145: Rwenzori Turacos: One of Africa’s Most Beautiful and Colorful Birds 🐦
144: Black-and-White Warblers: The Tiny Tree-Climbing Warbler that Birders Love 🐦
143: Pink-headed Fruit Dove: One of the Most Beautiful Doves in the World 🐦
142: Costa's Hummingbird - Is Their Range Expanding? A Listener Request!
141: Black-backed Woodpeckers with Ryan Shostack And Making Birding More Inclusive
140: Round Robin Championship, also Rusty Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and The Reiser Brothers Visit The Field Museum
139: Green Heron Explained: The Bird That Uses Tools to Catch Fish 🐦
138: Why Long-Eared Owls Roost in HUGE Groups 🦉 | Bird Behavior Explained
137: A Rare Arctic Duck Appeared in Europe?! Spectacled Eider Explained
136: Horned Larks with Nick Mason
135: Can Birdwatching Slow Aging? The Science Behind Birding & Brain Health
134: Eastern Wood Pewee - So Exciting That We Had A Malfunction :)
133: Are Magpies Smarter Than You Think? 🐦 Black-Billed Magpie Explained
132: Why Acorn Woodpeckers Store Thousands of Acorns (Wild Bird Behavior)
131: Calfbird - Bald Blue Heads - Sounds Like A Chainsaw?
130: Cedar Waxwing
129: Top Science Stories of 2025 + Shannon’s Cochlear Implant Journey & the Future of Bird Research 🎙️🐦
128: Wood Ducks: The Colorful Duck That Made an Incredible Comeback 🦆
127: Harlequin Ducks: The Stunning Duck Built for Wild Rivers & Ocean Waves 🦆
126: Mallards: The World’s Most Familiar Duck Is More Fascinating Than You Think 🦆
125: LISTERS Review: The Funniest Birding Movie Every Birder Needs to Watch 🎬🐦
124: Snowy Owl - Chicago Sightings, Irruption, and Lemmings
123: White-Throated Sparrow Explained: Songs, Behavior & the “Two Types” Mystery
122: Flamingos with Ellen Weatherford
121: Varied Thrush - The Lone Forest Dweller AND The Occasional Vagrant
120: Why Mourning Doves Are EVERYWHERE (And What Makes Them So Unique) | Birding Explained
119: Spoon-billed Sandpiper - One Of The Rarest Birds On Earth - Story of Convergence
118: Golden Eagle Explained: One of the Fastest & Most Powerful Birds of Prey
117: Palm-nut Vulture - A Vulture Unlike Any Other!
116: Common Loon - An Eerie and Beautiful Call - Listener Request!
115: Downy Woodpecker and Hairy Woodpecker
114: The Feather Thief with Kirk Wallace Johnson - Revisited
113: Kirtland’s Warbler Explained: The Rare Bird That Came Back From the Brink
112: Brown-Headed Cowbird Explained: The Bird That Lays Eggs in Other Birds’ Nests
111: Project Phoenix with Olivia Sanderfoot and Allison Shultz - How Wildfires Are Impacting Birds
110: Red-headed Woodpecker - Catching Bugs Out Of The Sky + Paddleboard Sightings
109: Olive-sided Flycatcher - John Makes His Case For His Favorite Bird!
108: Blue-gray Gnatcatchers: The Tiny Songbird Birders Love to Hear Before They See 🐦
107: Club-winged Manakin - Making Robot Noises with its Feathers
106: Kingfishers Around The World with Jenna Mccullough
105: Why Are Birds Gathering in Florida Roadside Water? 🐦 Mailbag Episode
104: Guam Kingfishers: The Bird That Went Extinct in the Wild — And May Come Back 🐦 with Jenna Mccullough
103: Inca Tern - Plus we talk about John's trip to Peru!
102: Laughing Kookaburras & the Science Behind Australia’s Most Famous Bird | Jenna McCullough
101: Extremely Accurate Bird Songs with Tommy Siegel and Billy Libby
100: Kingfishers with Jenna Mccullough
99: Marcel Rochon Interview: How Birding Helped a Brain Injury Survivor Find Peace & Recovery 🐦
98: Peter Kaestner: The First Birder to See 10,000 Bird Species in the Wild 🐦
97: Orange-tufted Spiderhunter
96: Black-Capped Chickadees: The Tiny Bird With an Incredible Memory 🐦
95: Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Explained: Migration, Speed & Incredible Flight
94: Blackpoll Warbler Revisited - Epic Migration and More About Warblers
93: Great Potoos: The Strangest Night Bird You’ve Never Heard Of 🌙🐦
92: Wood Ducks: Nesting Behavior, Baby Ducklings & a Surprise Owl Sighting
91: How NSF Budget Cuts Are Threatening U.S. Science – A Deep Dive with Ornithologists
90: American Dipper - Bird that Walks Under Water
89: Red-Ruffed Fruitcrow
88: Spotted Towhee - Bright Red Eyes!
87: Gambel’s Quail: The Desert Bird With the Incredible Topknot 🐦
86: Hoatzins: The Weird “Dinosaur Bird” With Claws on Its Wings 🦖🐦
85: Purple Martins: The Bird That Depends on Humans to Survive 🐦
84: Mourning Dove
83: Harlequin Duck - Fascinating Waterfowl with Stunning Plumage
82: Kirk Wallace Johnson Interview - The Feather Thief - The Shocking True-Crime Tale of a Museum Heist & Rare Bird Feathers
81: The Feather Thief Part 6: Obsession, A Possible Accomplice, Final Thoughts
80: The Feather Thief Part 5: The Crime, The Importance of Museum Collections, also a discussion on Canada and also precious metals
79: The Feather Thief Part 4: The Argus Pheasant and Jason Weckstein Joins Us Again!!
78: The Feather Thief Part 3: Fly-tying with guest Jason Weckstein
77: The Feather Thief Part 2: Walter Rothschild, Feather Fever, and the start of the Audubon Society
76: The Feather Thief Part 1 - Alfred Russel Wallace, also the horrific crime that occurred at the museum
75: The Feather Thief Prologue - Quick Listen Prior to Starting The Mini-Series :)
74: Gentoo Penguins: Inside a Research Trip to the Falkland Islands 🐧 John's Trip!
73: Willard's Sooty Boubou Revisited - A New Species Described
72: The Archaeopteryx at the Field Museum + An Exciting Announcement
71: Christmas Bird Count, The Feather Thief Question, An Exciting Announcement!
70: Holiday Wrap-Up - What We've Learned
69: John's Trip to the Falkland Islands, also we talk about Bird Flu
68: The Rusty Blackbird - Dramatic population decline, also a question on 'The Big Year'
67: Wild Turkey Revisited - with Jacob Drucker
66: White-throated Sparrow
65: Wrentits with Kevin Burns
64: Inti Tanager with Kevin Burns - The Mysterious Bird Hidden in Peru for 20 Years 🐦
63: Kagus: The Strange Island Bird With an Impossible Relative 🐦
62: Unlock the Secrets of Mindful Birdwatching with Joan E. Strassmann | New Book 'The Slow Birding Journal'
61: Roseate Spoonbills: The Bright Pink Bird With the Strangest Bill in Nature 🦩
60: Double-Crested Cormorants: The Underwater Fishing Birds Most People Misunderstand 🐦
59: Darwin's Finches (they're tanagers!) with Kevin Burns
58: Tanagers with Kevin Burns
Teaser: We Are Down This Week - Exciting Episodes On The Horizon!
57: Medley - Warblers, European Goldfinches, Cassowaries, Horse Flies, Oh my!
56: Alpine Accentor - Let's talk about bird sex high in the mountains
55: Peg-billed Finch - Elusive bird from Costa Rica, Shannon and John's experience with them
54: Black-billed Magpie - Fighting cats, bird funerals, and interactions with humans
53: Greater Roadrunners: The Real Desert Bird Behind the “Beep Beep” 🏜️🐦
52: Burrowing Owls with Aiyana Reissman from Living Coast Discovery Center
51: Multiple Topics: Belted Kingfisher Family, CT Scanning Birds, Bird Dialect, and A Movie About Cowbirds?
50: Northern Flicker - Hybridization, CTE From Banging Head?
49: Giant Hummingbird - New Study!
48: Ospreys with Jack Wildlife (Jack Turner) - Memes, Photography, Also Golden-Cheeked Warbler
Happy Fourth of July! - Teaser for Upcoming Episodes + Spreading the joy of birds
47: Light-footed Ridgway's Rail with Aiyana Reissman from Living Coast Discovery Center
46: Billions of Cicadas Are Emerging… And It’s Affecting Birds, Fungus & More 🪲🐦
45: Ruby-Throated Hummingbird - Also a question on feather iridescence and/or mutation
44: House Wren, we also talk about The Archaeopteryx at the Field Museum
43: Kirtland's Warbler - Back From the Endangered Species List, Connection to Leopold and Loeb?
42: Brown-Headed Cowbird - Laying eggs in someone else's nest
41: Wes Larson of Tooth and Claw Talks Southern Cassowaries and His Epic Australia Adventure
40: Blackpoll Warbler - Impressive Migration, Also More About Warblers...
39: Bald Eagles - Massive Nests, Aerial Cartwheels, and Coming Back From DDT
38: Florida Trip - Osprey, Brown Pelican, Shorebirds, and we also talk about the Eclipse
37: European Roller - Migration Across the Sahara, Vomiting for Self-Defense
36: The Brown Creeper, How Animals Evolved to Fly, and Round 2 of Round Robin Voting!
35: European Starlings: The Invasive Bird Rapidly Evolving Across North America 🐦
34: European Goldfinches with Louise Bodt - European birds introduced in the U.S.
33: Tufted Puffins - Shannon's Favorite Puffin
32: Atlantic Puffins: The Incredible Seabird That Made a Comeback 🐧 - John's Favorite Puffin
31: Limpkins Interview Part 2 with Marky Mutchler
30: Limpkins Interview Part 1 with Marky Mutchler
29: Flame Bowerbird - Building A Bower and Attracting A Mate
28: Blue Jays - Acorns and Oak Trees
27: Birds of a Feather Talk Together Backstory - Our Origin Story
26: Mallard Duck - We Also Talk About Christmas Bird Count
25: Puteketeke or Great Crested Grebe - Thanks John Oliver for Making This 'Bird of the Century'
24: The Hoatzin - A Link To The Dinosaurs?
23: Rock Pigeons (Rock Doves) - You see them everywhere in the city, but did you know how amazing they are?
22: Hawaiian Honeycreepers with Jacob Drucker - Part 2
21: Hawaiian Honeycreepers with Jacob Drucker - Part 1
20: Wild Turkey - Conservation success, magnificent feathers, sexual dimorphism
Teaser: Sticker Giveaway + Update on New Episodes
19: Ravens - How Smart Are Birds? Using Tools and Imitating Calls
18: Shoebills: The Massive African Bird That Terrifies the Internet 🦤
17: Bloodsucking Birds! Vampire Finches, Oxpeckers, and Egyptian Plovers - Oh my!
16: Bird Collisions in Chicago - Nearly 1,000 Birds Die In A Single Night
15: Ring-Billed Gull - Not A Seagull! Also, That Diet is Trash...
14: Willard's Sooty Boubou - A New Species Discovered; John and The Field Museum's Involvement
13: Killdeer - The 'Broken Wing' Display, Also a Discussion on Wildfire Smoke Impacting Birds
12: Roseate Spoonbill - The Color Pink, Birds Going Bald
11: Oilbirds - Using Echolocation and Living in Caves
10: Why Are Northern Cardinals So Bright Red? 🐦 The Science Explained
9: Great Horned Owl - An Elusive Predator! Also, What Is A Species?
8: Purple Martin - Living in Man-Made Homes + A Killer Grackle
7: Mailbag + Teaser
6: Frigatebird, The Gular Pouch, and Flying High For Fun?
5: Sandhill Cranes - Migration, and Mating for Life (a myth?)
4: American Woodcock - Dancing and Peenting
Teaser: Upcoming Episodes!
3: Mailbag! Travel, Genetic Mutations and Color
2: Birds of Paradise
1: Ivory Billed Woodpecker