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Okay, But... Birds

Okay, but do birds have culture?

April 2, 2026·35 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

From sparrow songs that go viral across a continent to cockatoos that watch each other to learn how to open bins, Dr. Lucy Aplin, Australian National University / University of Zurich, studies how birds learn from each other and why it matters. Doing it for the culture? Yep. Birds are that impressive!In this episode you'll hear about:How a new white-throated sparrow song spread over 3,000 kilometers in just two decades, replacing a tune that had been stable since the 1950sThe experiment that proved wild great tits can establish lasting cultural traditions through their social networksWhy losing a population of birds might also mean losing knowledge that took generations to buildAll audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML219799White-throated Sparrow audio contributed by Jocelyn Lauzon, ML121581051Great Tit audio contributed by Arnoud B. van den Berg, ML36198Eurasian Sparrowhawk audio contributed by Ben F. King, ML335224Regent Honeyeater audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML223277Pink-footed Goose audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML235508

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