Birds are rapidly disappearing from all around us. Habitat reduction, climate change, pesticides, invasive pests and many more factors are causing the reduction in the numbers of all species, and more species face the increased threat of extinction.
Ann Göth spent some of her formative years as a scientist studying one of the most curious birds on the planet, the Tongan Megapode, that uses the heat of the volcanoes of the isolated islands of Tonga, in the Pacific Ocean, to incubate their eggs, rather than build a mound like their close relatives. Learn about this astounding bird, and the adventues Ann had as a budding ecologist! Ann has collected her experiences with the Tongan Megapode, and turned them into a book, that has been recently published. You can check out the first chapter of Ann's book here . The book is available as ebook…
You have probably seen the devastating reports about the infestations of avian influenza sweeping parts of the world, affecting nesting colonies of seabirds, migratory birds and domesticated birds? I invited Dr Michelle Wille back to the show to talk about the current situation with bird flu. Follow Michelle on Twitter @duckswabber . Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency and on Mastodon , because, you know, Elon. You can support the show by making a contribution by buying Grant a coffee here - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birdemergency You can now…
Almost exactly a year ago, Milly Formby told me about the planning and the extraordinary fundraising campaign that had enabled her to embark on a flight around the continent of Australia, in a microlight aircraft that she built herself (with some great mates assisting), as part of a mission to raise awareness of the extraordinary migrations undertaken each year by shorebirds, flying from the arctic regions, to Australia, and back! MIlly is now about half way through the journey, and has been visiting schools to let the students and teachers know about these amazing birds, and share the…
Have you heard the term "DeGrowth" being thrown around in recent years? Have you wondered what it really means, and can it be achieved in a modern society? Hear Martin Tye explain to Grant what it means, and how a modern, industrialised society might move towards a sustainable existence. Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency and we are beginning on Mastodon , because, you know, Elon. You can support the show by making a contribution by buying Grant a coffee here - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birdemergency If you enjoy the show, how about share…
How does art influence attitudes to nature, and how can it help to create positive outcomes in conservation? These two artists who put nature and wildlife at the centre of their art, and birds feature prominently. Meet Brenton See and Sally Edmonds, prominent artists based in Perth in Western Australia. See the artwork mentioned in this episode, and get all the links at thebirdemergency.com/Art Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency and we are beginning on Mastodon , because, you know, Elon. You can support the show by making a contribution by…
Predation by feral cats is one of the biggest threats to the unique wildlife of Australia. The WA Feral Cat Working Group is working to reduce the threat. Feral cats are a major threat to wildlife in Australia, with their predation causing declines in many native species. These non-native predators were introduced to the continent by European settlers and have since spread widely to almost all of the continent, causing significant damage to the delicate ecosystem. Feral cats prey on a wide range of animals, including small mammals, reptiles, and birds. They are particularly dangerous to…
Gregory Andrews is a D'harawal man and was Australia's first-appointed Threatened Species Commissioner. He owns and manages Wombat Ridge Nature Reserve near Goulburn in NSW and is an Associate Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra's Institute for Applied Ecology. Grant spoke with Gregory about his project at Wombat Ridge, where he has placed a covenant over land he owns with his wife, and is managing for wildlife, in a way that uses time honoured and tested methods employed by the First Australians, for thousands of years. Gregory also shared how he is creating a garden for…
Giving you a special Christmas present, and celebrating the work Dr. Matt Herring and the team behind the Tracking Australia's Painted Snipe crowdfunding effort , Dr. Matt Herring and I talk about Matt's back story, the need for the project, and we recognise and celebrate the research team, and the fabulous Bird Nerds who have donated to make the project a reality. BIrd Nerds are the best nerds, without a doubt! Thank you all, and Good onya! I have one wish for the season - please head over to YouTube and subscribe to The Bird Emergency channel. I will be doing much more there in 2023, in…
Maybe you have seen the great photos that Dr. Nick and Lucy have been posting on Twitter and other social media of the Powerful Owls they have come to know in Brisbane? They discuss these #Powls with Dr. Holly Parsons, Manager of Birdlife Australia's Urban Birds program and Birds In Backyards, and Grant. Get to know how these impressive, nocturnal raptors are thriving in the inner suburbs of one of Australia's largest cities. If you want to see The Bird Emergency interviews as they happen, bookmark thebirdemergency.com/live Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram…
Managing isoloated populations is difficult, more so when bushfire places and entire population in peril. Sarah Comer explains how the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions is managing Western Ground Parrot, Noisy Scrub-birds, Western Bristlebird and Western Whipbird. If you want to see The Bird Emergency interviews as they happen, bookmark thebirdemergency.com/live Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency and we are beginning on Mastodon , because, you know, Elon. You can support the show by making a…
Here is the audio of the recent live stream, in the Monday with Holly regular Monday spot, where Dr. Matt Herring talked about his current crowdfunding campaign, to raise about $70,000 dollars to attempt to track about a dozen of one of the least known, and rarest birds in Australia, the Australian Painted Snipe. Please make a contribution to the campaign - https://chuffed.org/project/paintedsnipe If you would like to check out the Bitterns In Rice project, just visit https://www.bitternsinrice.com.au/ Thanks to Leo and Patrick, two terrific photographers and friends of birds, who have…
A year or so back I spoke with Dan Nugent about one of Australia's strangest and rarest birds, the Plains-wanderer, and the work that Dan was doing monitoring the birds in the grasslands of Victoria and New South Wales. (If you haven't heard that episode already, you can grab it here ) In this episode we will hear about current work monitoring a western population of the Plains-wanderer that occurs in the state of South Australia, with Saskia Gerhardy, from the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, at the University of Adelaide. Saskia's work has been conducted alongside a project…
Here is a bonus for you - audio of the live stream where Grant spoke with Dr. Michael Mulvaney about the (recently listed as Endangered) Gang-gang Cockatoo, and community efforts, by the Red Hill Regeneration Group in Canberra to assist it, as well as some interesting observations that have been collected via Citizen Science projects. Grant and Michael were joined by Ellen Rykers, award winning science writer, from Forest and Bird in Aotearoa New Zealand about the BIrd Of The Year (which was announced on that morning!) Find out which species won the title, and a little more about it, and the…
Dr. David Watson, is an ornithologist, and Professor in Ecology in the school of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences at Charles Sturt University , in Albury in regional, New South Wales, Australia. David and post-Doc researcher, Elizabeth Znidersic have recently released a paper where they present a new approach for the resoration of habitat on the broad scale, acoustic restoration, where broadcasting soundscapes can entice animals to recolonise areas that have been disturbed, or suffered major impacts from events such as bushfires. David shares his thoughts in this episode.…
There is a new birder/birdwatching podcast on the scene, it's produced in Melbourne as well, and I am really excited that it's another avenue for people to discover the joy of getting to know birds, and to become a certified Bird Nerd! I spoke with the host and producer of the show, Kirsty Costa, recently, and I am pleased to be able to introduce Kirsty to you in this bonus episode. will let Kirsty's words describe her show, and her; "Birdwatching is for everyone. Anyone of any age can go birdwatching, no matter where they live. Weekend Birder is a podcast that shares the knowledge and…
For almost 30 years, ornithologist, Neil Hamilton has been caring for, working with and studying birds, and many of Australia's unique animals. Beginning as teenager at Tooronga Zoo, Neil has gone on to senior keeper positions at Perth Zoo, and moved on to practical conservation work and research with the WA government. Neil has devoted much of his time in recent years studying the elusive Ghost Bird of the Australian Outback, the Night Parrot, listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN , with perhaps as few as 200 mature individuals existing out there in the dry spinifex plains of the…
This bonus episode is the audio from the live stream recently conducted with Robert Ashworth , A Masters student at Melbourne University. Robert is running a Citizen Science project about known nesting sites and hollows used by the Australian grass-parrot, the Red-rumped Parrot ( Psephotus haematonotus). Robert is looking for you to report any instance you know of Red-rumps using a hollow for nesting, no matter when you witnessed it! To get involved with Robert's Red-rump project, Rumpuary , follow this easy link - thebirdemergency.com/redrumps Contact Robert on social media; Twitter -…
Here is the Fotography Friday conversation that Grant and Nicolas Rakotopare had with Sandy Horne, recounting her introduction to photography, and bird photography in particular. The photographs discussed are on this webpage and also check out Sandy's Flickr albums . Follow Sandy on Twitter @SandyHorne61 Don't forget to have a look at Nico's pics... You can find some really lovely shots from Nicolas on his website, not limited to his work with birds at lerako.net Follow Nicolas on Twitter - @le_rako And still more great images from Nicolas on Instagram @lerako Follow The Bird Emergency on…
Another Bonus episode - the audio of a live stream where Grant Williams and Dr. Holly Parsons suggest some plants they like to use in a bird and wildlife-friendly garden, and give some design tips. Grant draws upon his knowledge as a horticulturist to suggest an approach to structure, and to suggest a few plants from each category that he suggests using stratification as a major design principle - thinking like a bird! Holly draws upon her experince with the Birds In Backyards program to add more useful species suggestions. If you are designing or improving a bird-friendly garden, listening…
What do you think is the rarest bird in New Zealand? Perhaps, you immediately think of the Kakapo ? But the title probably belongs to a seabird, or a little-known shorebird, the Southern Dotterel (or the Southern Red-breasted Plover ) ( Chadrius obscurus ), which has been described as a distinct species and listed as such on the IUCN Red LIst. It is listed as Critically Endangered and the population trend is indicated as Decreasing . Last assessed in 2017, the IUCN estimates that the population is between 60 and 80 individuals, which is limited to one population, which occurs (fortunately)…
This episode is a little different than our usual "regular" episode, in that is the audio of the video live stream, and a number of images and videos are referenced in the recording. Because the subject matter is so shocking, and really should be a wake up call for many people (listen for the distressing stats of how many chicks are found to have ingested plastic in the colony of Flesh-footed Shearwaters on Lord Howe Island). Dr. Jennifer Lavers is on of the co-leads of The Adrift Lab , based at the University of Tasmania. Jenn has been studying the same colony of Flesh-footed Shearwaters on…
Fotography Friday has been given a bit of an overhaul, and will be an irregular regular bonus in The Bird Emergency feed. The reboot episode features Nicolas Rakotopare, who is based in the northern Australian state of Queensland. His work focuses on documenting science and nature, bringing stories of science, conservation and nature to a general audience through all the channels available today. Nicolas has a degree in Ecology and Conservation Biology and grew up in Madagascar. He has been based in Australia for over a decade and was the science communication and media specialist for the…
Professor Hugh Possingham is widely know in Australia, as the Chief Scientist in the State of Queensland, but also as a champion of birds, and for his work assisting to develop conservation stragegy and plans utilising his skills as a mathematician, combined with his training as an ecologist to devise conservation initiatives that integrate spatial planning and economic factors. He has co-authored more than 650 peer-reviewed papers, with more than 30 in the world's top two scientific journals Science and Nature, and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in. In 2016, Hugh was…
Continuing with our regular theme exploring the interactions between birds in urban settings, and the humans that have created and live in them, Grant spoke with ecologist and author, Emeritus Professor Darryl Jones, of the Centre for Planetary Health & Food Security and the School of Environment & Science at Griffith University about the idea some some species are adapting their behaviours to thrive in the built environment, perhaps on the road to becoming new species. You can read Darryl's Griffith University academic profile here You can follow Darryl on these social media platforms;…
Should we be feeding our local wild birds? Dr. Holly Parsons, Manager of the Urban Birds program at Birdlife Australia, Dr. Johanne Martens and Prof. David Phalen from the University of Sydney, discuss this issue with Grant, who has been feeding his local birds in the park. Where did they end up on this disputed topic? If you are interested in this issue, be sure to batch Grant talking to Darryl Jones, who wrote "The Birds At My Table" which you can find at thebirdemergency.com/live Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency You can support the show by…
Camilo Carniero is a biologist and ecologist and postdoc researcher at the South Iceland Research Centre, after completing a PhD in Biology and Ecology of Global Change; University of Aveiro. His masters thesis was the " Breeding parameters, diet and growth of the Red Heron ( Ardea purpurea ) in Salreu, Aveiro " and his PhD thesis was about whimbrels in Iceland, titled " Bridging from the arctic to the tropics: implications of long-distance migration to individual fitness ." I spoke with Camilo about his long-term observations of the Whimbrels in Iceland, and what it was like to work in a…
Yoav Perlman is based in a region of the world that is not often the first thought when bird nerds begin thinking about destinations to sate our birdwatching desires, but the Middle East is a great destination. It is on an avian highway, and the movement between Africa and Europe and Asia is comparable to the annual migrations between the American land masses. Yoav is into birding, photography, ringing, sound recording, twitching, and dipping. In this episode her shares his experiences with Grant about the birds he see and studies in Israel and the Middle East in general. If you want to…
The term "biodiversity" is thrown around and inserted into conversations all the time. But when one person says biodiversity, is the full meaning of the term conveyed to anybody listening? Dr. Holly Parsons from Birdlife Australia (Birds In Backyards) is joined by Jacinta Humphrey, a PhD candidate at LaTrobe University in Melbourne. Her research focuses on the impacts of urban development on birds at the landscape scale. Holly and Jacinta kick around a lot of the issues that are picked up in any discussion about biodiversity in an urban setting with Grant. Did we reach any consensus? BTW…
What is it like to be involved in a breeding program and managing part of an insurance population of an endangered species that is under human care? How important are the birds that you see in free-flight displays at zoos and sanctuaries around the world? How do the birds in those shows get selected, and is it a good purpose for those birds to be put to? If you have ever wondered about any of those issues, you will enjoy hearing Chad Crittle, Senior Keeper of Birds and Free Flight at Adelaide Zoo, who supervises a wonderful team of animal professionals, delivering care for 1000 individual…
About The Bird Emergency
Birds are rapidly disappearing from all around us. Habitat reduction, climate change, pesticides, invasive pests and many more factors are causing the reduction in the numbers of all species, and more species face the increased threat of extinction.
The Bird Emergency is a English tech & science podcast from Grant Williams. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
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