Okay, but can birds predict the weather?
5/14/202634 min
E22. Folklore says birds know a storm is coming before we do. Scott talks with Dr. Gunnar Kramer, Iowa State University, about what's actually happening when a tiny warbler decides it's time to fly, or time to bail.
In this episode:
- Why the question itself might be slightly wrong, and what's really going on inside that bird
- A storm, some missing warblers, and a discovery nobody set out to make
- What 300 birds falling out of the sky over Texas can tell you about how much fuel is in the tank
Listen, follow, and tell a friend who’s a little superstitious.
All 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:
- Yellow-billed cuckoo audio, Wil Hershberger, ML94446
- Barnacle goose audio, Bob McGuire, ML235525
- Golden-winged warbler video, Benjamin Clock, ML476422
- Blue-winged warbler video, Eric Liner, ML469433
- Yellow-billed cuckoo video, Larry Arbanas, ML466566
- Eastern kingbird audio, Wil Hershberger, ML534398
- Tennessee warbler audio, Wil Hershberger, ML85236
- Tennessee warbler video, Eric Liner, ML466381
- Wood thrush video, Benjamin Clock, ML471755
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsGunnar Kramer· Guest0:00
Everyone has an uncle or something who had a joint replaced, right?
Scott Taylor· Host0:02
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Gunnar Kramer· Guest0:03
And, and complains of joint pain when the storms get bad, right?
Scott Taylor· Host0:06
Yeah.
Gunnar Kramer· Guest0:06
Or the pressure changes.
Scott Taylor· Host0:07
[upbeat music] December 26th, 2004. An undersea earthquake triggers the Indian Ocean tsunami, but along much of the coast people don't feel a thing. In Yala National Park, some elephants and other large animals start moving inland before the waves arrive. Afterward, there were surprisingly few large animal deaths compared to the devastation nearby. Elsewhere, there are smaller stranger moments. In Phuket, people later recall dogs refusing to walk. Along the coast, birds abandon the shore. Nothing dramatic enough to trigger an alarm at the time, just off. It's not a one-off. Before the 1975 Haicheng earthquake, reports of unusual animal behavior alongside smaller foreshocks helped prompt an evacuation. And before the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, researchers observed toads abandoning a breeding site days in advance. You don't have to go to a tsunami or earthquake to hear this kind of story, though. Cattle lying down in a field is supposed to mean rain is coming. Frogs going quiet at dusk is supposed to mean a shift in the weather. Bees disappearing into the hive in the middle of the afternoon, a barometer falling without