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PODCAST

Tweet of the Day

Discover birds through their songs and calls. Each Tweet of the Day begins with a call or song, followed by a story of fascinating ornithology inspired by the sound.

science

All Episodes

1:39

Juliet Vickery on the Dipper

Tweet of the Day ·

2026/03/15

CEO of the British Trust for Ornithology Juliet Vickery fell in love with dippers while studying them during her PhD in south-west Scotland. She finds them packed full of character, and perfectly adapted to life between water and land. Dippers have to make sure their complex song is heard above the sound of rushing water, and for Juliet the combination of bubbling bird song and bubbling brook is completely magical.Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

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1:39

Roland Arnison on the Manx Shearwater

Tweet of the Day ·

2026/03/08

In 2024 and 2025 expedition leader and film-maker Roland Arnison kayaked along the west coast and isles of Scotland to find and record the sounds of seabird species. As part of his quest he stopped on the island of Lunga, a protected area for its breeding seabird colonies and incredible place to spot them. One night Roland climbed the cliffs to find a colony of Manx shearwaters and recorded them calling from their burrows.Presented by Roland Arnison and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in

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1:31

Horatio Clare on the Buzzard

Tweet of the Day ·

2026/03/01

The writer Horatio Clare remembers the buzzards of his childhood, which soared above his home in the Black Mountains in south Wales.Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

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1:38

Liz Berry on the Wren

Tweet of the Day ·

2026/02/22

Poet Liz Berry lived near the Wren's Nest Nature Reserve in the Black Country for years, but it was only recently that she stopped and listened to a real wren there. It made her think how the bird was hiding in the place name, which is one of Britain's most important geological sites. The wren's latin name Troglodytes troglodytes means 'cave-dweller', reminding Liz of the folk that used to work in the mines that have shaped the Wren's Nest landscape.Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in

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1:37

Hannah Stitfall on the Long-tailed Tit

Tweet of the Day ·

2026/02/15

Every Spring wildlife filmmaker Hannah Stitfall heads out to look for long-tailed tits. She hopes to film them building their nests - intricate, domed structures built out of moss, feathers and spider silk. Unlike many other small birds, the long-tailed tit is capable of cooperative breeding, and will help relatives raise their chicks if their own don't survive. For Hannah the long-tailed tit is one of the quiet wonders of the countryside, and a reminder that even the smallest creatures live

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1:30

Polly Atkin on the Long-eared Owl

Tweet of the Day ·

2026/02/08

The non-fiction writer Polly Atkin is particularly fond of owls. Tawny owls surround her home in Grasmere in Cumbria, and she has observed the wintering of short-eared owls at the coast. One which remains elusive is the highly secretive long-eared owl, which Polly has never seen in the wild. Considered to be thinly but widely-spread in the UK, they are a scarce breeding species and very difficult to survey. Polly recalls stories from centuries ago of large colonies of long-eared owls resident in the

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1:34

George McGavin on the Gannet

Tweet of the Day ·

2026/02/01

As a child, the entomologist George McGavin found a dead gannet on the beach, and set about extracting the skull for his collection. He was fascinated to discover the hundreds of pointed barbs in its mouth. Now years later he marvels at this clever bit of evolution which prevents fish falling out of gannets' beaks as they dive into the water then become airborne again.Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

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1:38

Juliet Vickery on the Brent Goose

Tweet of the Day ·

2026/01/25

CEO of the British Trust for Ornithology Juliet Vickery is particularly fond of brent geese, having studied them on the Norfolk coast for three winters. They are our smallest goose, which migrate from the Arctic Circle every year. She describes what she learnt about fluctuations in their population, and the fascinating connection with lemmings in the Siberian tundra.Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.This programme features recordings from Xeno-Canto by David Darrell-Lambert (XC994302

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1:37

Horatio Clare on the Rook

Tweet of the Day ·

2026/01/18

The writer Horatio Clare has a message from the rooks, pointing out the ways they differ from crows.Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

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1:28

Tolga Aktas on the Jackdaw

Tweet of the Day ·

2026/01/04

Conservation biologist Tolga Aktas shares his fascination with watching jackdaws. He was struck by the contrast between its black plumage and piercing pale eyes, which they likely use as a communication tool. Jackdaws form large, noisy communal winter roosts with other species, and aren't afraid to mob predators behaviour which Tolga finds spectacular to see.Presented by Tolga Aktas and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio Production in Bristol.

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1:37

Polly Atkin on the Short-Eared Owl

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/12/28

The poet and non-fiction writer Polly Atkin observes the wintering of short-eared owls in Cumbria. They are the UK's most nomadic owl, with residents joined by migrants from Scandinavia, Iceland and Russia, seeking a gentler version of the season. Fellow owl-lovers have told Polly of the moment they arrive exhausted at the coast, and she has watched a pair nest in a building site near the sea, concerned how they would survive.Polly Atkin is the author of The Company of Owls (Elliott &

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1:38

Liz Berry on the Robin

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/12/21

For poet Liz Berry, December is the robin's month, when our hearts are warmed by its singing under frosty streetlights. She wonders if its midwinter song is one of the reasons why we feel close to robins, and imagine them as our companions in the thin places between living and dying. Liz tells the story of how the robin brought her hope during a difficult pregnancy, inspired by its fierceness and willingness to survive. Presented by Liz Berry and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in

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1:34

Horatio Clare on the Pheasant

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/12/14

The author and journalist Horatio Clare reflects on the cultural history of the human relationship with pheasants. Its Latin name Phasianus Colchicus links the pheasant to the ancient kingdom of Colchis on the shores of the Black Sea, made famous in Greek mythology as the land of the Golden Fleece. These large, colourful long-tailed birds are native to Asia, and likely journeyed to western Europe with the Romans, becoming a symbol of wealth and status. The Normans are credited with popularising the

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1:37

Paul Farley on the Starling

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/12/07

In the season where starlings gather to murmurate in our winter skies, poet Paul Farley is admiring this dazzling bird up close. Every spring a pair of starlings used to nest in a hollow wall in the house where Paul grew up, and he never got tired of studying its dark iridescent plumage. Laying in bed at night Paul would hear the starlings' impressive mimicry, and remembers the sound of a radio being tuned and even human voices, imagining that these intelligent birds have been curiously studying

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1:35

Amy-Jane Beer on the Carrion Crow

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/11/16

When nature writer Amy-Jane Beer moved to her current home, it seemed like the perfect rural dream. However, there then came an insistent knocking sound every morning - a pair of carrion crows would tap the windows, affronted by their reflections. Amy describes watching and learning to love these birds, which she sees as her quirky, idiosyncratic neighbours.Presented by Amy-Jane Beer and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.Featuring a recording by Martin Billard from Xeno-Canto

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1:39

Polly Atkin on the Tawny Owl

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/11/09

The home of poet and non-fiction writer Polly Atkin is surrounded by tawny owls. They are the most common owl in Britain, ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 breeding pairs, though we don't know exactly how many. Polly describes hearing the first melancholy call of a tawny owl in autumn, echoing around the lake at Grasmere. Kept awake by chronic illness, the owls' nighttime calls remind Polly that we are not alone, the sound means company, community and home.Polly Atkin is the author of The Company of

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1:38

Paul Farley on the Shelduck

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/11/02

Poet Paul Farley welcomes the return of the shelduck to our shores, back after their summer migration to the Wadden Sea. These vast mudflats off the coast of The Netherlands and Germany provide a refuge for shelducks as they go through their so-called 'catastrophic moult' where they simultaneously loose all their flight and tail feathers. Paul imagines this vast gathering of around 200,000 birds as sort of 'Shelduck Glastonbury' where they get completely flightless, and is always glad to see them

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1:37

Roland Arnison on the Leach's Petrel

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/10/19

In 2024 and 2025 expedition leader and film-maker Roland Arnison kayaked along the west coast and isles of Scotland to find and record the sounds of seabird species. His quest took him 40 miles out into the Atlantic to St Kilda in search of the Leach's petrel, one of Britain's rarest birds that only nests on a handful of offshore rocky islands. We join Roland scrambling up a cliff at midnight to hear the extraordinary call of this nocturnal bird.Presented by Roland Arnison and produced by Sophie

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1:38

George McGavin on the Red-backed Shrike

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/10/12

Entomologist and wildlife presenter George McGavin describes his lifelong fascination with the red-backed shrike. When George bought his first bird guide at the age of 10, this small shrike caught his eye because of its habit of impaling large insects and small vertebrates on thorns. This 'butcher bird' was once a common visitor to the south of England but was lost as a British breeding species by the 1990s - and it wasn't until 50 years after first reading about it that George finally got to see

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1:34

Paul Farley on the Redwing

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/10/05

Poet Paul Farley muses on the autumnal arrival of redwings, small thrushes that migrate here from continental and northern Europe to spend the winter. Paul watches a flock of redwings feast on a rowan tree laden with berries, and listens out for their high-pitched nocturnal call as they move under the cover of darkness.Presented by Paul Farley and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.This programme features a recording from Xeno-canto by Mats Rellmar (Redwing - XC711115)

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