Episode 6 of Series 15: Animal Communications - Transcript (linked)

I’m joined by Dr. Kaeli Swift and Dr. William Feeney to explore how birds learn from one another—sometimes within a species, sometimes across species lines. From crows passing along reputations to magpies inheriting the neighbourhood’s opinion of a cuckoo in seconds, we dive into the fast, social, and surprisingly nuanced ways information moves through bird communities, and what these systems reveal about communication, cooperation, and survival.

Guest Bios: William Feeney currently works as a Research Fellow at Griffith University in Australia and at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany. His PhD focused on understanding the ecology and evolution of cuckoo-host arms races in Australia, and since finishing his PhD he has continued working on this as well as predator-prey relationships in coral reef fishes. His current work is split between working on fishes and birds, and in particular at two long-term projects in Australia.

Dr. Kaeli Swift is a research scientist with the University of Washington. For the past 5 years she has lived and worked on the remote island of Tinian, where she studies the ecology of the endemic Tinian monarch. She received her PhD from the University of Washington where she studied crow funerals.

Book Recommendations: Will's Recommendation- Letters to a young Scientist by EO Wilson, Kaeli's Recommendation- Any local birding book you can find! Here is one for England and Europe

Related Links: Episode 2 of Series 13, Sex and Animals

Episode 1 of Series 13, Sex and Animals

Mentioned in this episode:

PHAIR Conference Coverage

New Miniseries begins Summer 2026