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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

1:35

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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1:37

Hannah Stitfall on the Firecrest

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/09/28

As autumn ripens in Cornwall, wildlife filmmaker and TV presenter Hannah Stitfall goes out in search of the firecrest. For Hannah, the firecrest is a jewel of the forest, with its dazzling golden crest and bright white eye-stripe. The dense evergreen woodlands and mild climate in Cornwall offer the perfect shelter and feeding grounds. Most firecrests seen in Cornwall in autumn are migrants from central Europe, pausing here on their way to their wintering grounds in southern Europe and north Africa

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1:30

Jo Wimpenny on the Moorhen

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/09/14

Standing on a lake edge and eager to spot some wildlife, zoologist and author Jo Wimpenny is disappointed to just find a moorhen. But then she stops herself - why does no one get excited about seeing these birds? From climbing trees to promiscuity and egg dumping, Jo finds out there is far more to moorhen life than its humble status suggests.Presented by Jo Wimpenny and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in BristolThis programme features recordings from Xeno-Canto by Simon Elliott (Common

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1:28

Tolga Aktas on the Jay

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/09/07

Conservation biologist Tolga Aktas remembers his first encounter with a jay, in a busy park in south London. Even though jays are widespread in the UK, they can be elusive, so to see such a colourful and exotic-looking bird in his humble park was a special moment. Autumn is a great time to look out for jays, when they're foraging for and burying acorns, to retrieve later in the winter.Presented by Tolga Aktas and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in BristolThis programme features a recording

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1:37

Amy-Jane Beer on the Song Thrush

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/08/24

The song thrush's morning proclamations remind naturalist and writer Amy-Jane Beer that she's home. In this episode Amy describes how she finds the confident delivery of this species' song reassuring and grounding in troubled times.Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

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1:34

George McGavin on the Snowy Owl

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/08/17

Entomologist and wildlife presenter George McGavin describes a magical encounter with a snowy owl. The sighting happened while George was on a university field recording trip fifty years ago, on the island of Unst in Shetland. Snowy owls primarily live in the polar Arctic regions, and while a small number have previously bred in Shetland, they remain rare visitors, so to spot one in the British Isles is incredibly lucky. Presented by George McGavin and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in

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1:35

Hannah Stitfall on the Chiffchaff

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/08/10

For wildlife filmmaker and TV presenter Hannah Stitfall, the chiffchaff's song is the first sign of Spring. Each year in March and April she will spend hours following these little birds along the hedgerows trying to get some good shots, watching them feeding from flowering blackthorn, with their beaks covered in pollen. By mid-summer chiffchaffs shift their energy from courtship to preparation, as they will soon be off on their long migration to their wintering grounds. Hannah always listens out

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1:35

Paul Farley on the Reed Bunting

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/08/03

In poet Paul Farley's house the reed bunting is known as The Vicar. For Paul, the way it finds a high place on the tip of a reed from which to call gives off a pulpit vibe, and the contrast between the jet-black head and the brilliant white collar beneath makes it like a bird of the cloth. Whenever he sees a reed bunting in the reedbeds at the Leighton Moss nature reserve in Lancashire, a poem always writes itself.Presented by Paul Farley and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio Production in

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1:32

Jo Wimpenny on the New Caledonian Crow

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/07/27

If you were walking past the Zoology building at the University of Oxford in the mid-noughties, you might have heard an unusual bird call. It’s undeniably crow-like, but not a UK native. It’s the New Caledonian crow, and zoologist and author Jo Wimpenny was studying them for her PhD. Jo describes her fondness for this bird, which is one of nature's smartest, due to its ability to make and use tools.Presented by Jo Wimpenny and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio Production in Bristol.Featuring a

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1:36

Amy-Jane Beer on the Reed Warbler

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/06/29

For naturalist and writer Amy-Jane Beer, the scratchy song of a reed warbler reminds her of a superstar DJ. In a marshy corner of a lake in Yorkshire she comes across this tiny brown-beige bird – or ‘classic little brown job’. But Amy finds the reed warbler’s song anything but nondescript – from his spot in the reedbed he is holding space like a DJ in an Ibiza club, scratching and mixing a hypnotic blend of sound.Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio Bristol Production

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1:29

Tolga Aktas on the Wood Pigeon

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/06/15

For conservation biologist Tolga Aktas, a walk through the city is an opportunity to observe different species of pigeon. His favourite is the wood pigeon, which is the UK’s most widespread and common pigeon. Walking through London’s parks and squares, Tolga spots the differences between wood pigeons and feral pigeons by the colours of their neck patches. Now he’s moved to the Gloucestershire countryside, the cooing call of a wood pigeon is one of the sounds that evokes the feeling of home and

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1:28

Anita Sethi on the Lapwing

Tweet of the Day ·

2025/06/01

Nature author and travel writer Anita Sethi describes a vivid experience of seeing - and hearing - lapwings while walking on the West Pennine Moors. While being too fast for her to capture on camera, she recognised their distinctive call, and was stuck by their "acrobatics of sound" as they soared above her. Anita has also seen lapwings up close too, admiring their "funky hairdo" and the way their iridescent green and purple sheen lights up in the sun. Lapwings can be seen throughout the UK and

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1:38

Satish Kumar and the Peacock

Tweet of the Day ·

2019/03/31

Satush Kumar was born in Rajasthan, India, where the Peacock, the Mayura, is a sacred bird and also associated with the monsoon. In India, it is believed that after the long, hot summer peacocks come out and display their bright and vibrant feathers in an extravagant dance to please Indra, the god of rain, before calling to let the rains begin, bringing relief to plants, animals, soils and humans. Producer : Andrew DawesImage : Copyright Resurgence Magazine

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1:38

Satish Kumar on the Blackbird

Tweet of the Day ·

2019/03/24

Peace & environment activist, Satish Kumar has lived in Devon for many years. In his garden he loves hearing the sweet melodious calls from a blackbird singing on a stone wall. Producer : Andrew Dawes Picture : Copyright Gregg Dalgllish / Resurgence Magazin

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1:34

Gillian Clarke and the Grey Heron

Tweet of the Day ·

2019/03/17

For Welsh poet and playwright Gillian Clarke she has had two close encounters with a grey heron, including the one in her garden reminding her of a Bishop wearing vestments.You can hear more from Gillian in the Tweet of the Week Omnibus available on BBC SoundsProducer : Andrew Dawes

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