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This week is a little different as we aren't discussing a bird, but rather the cicada phenomenon happening in Illinois right now. Maureen Turcatel of the Field Museum joins us to talk about the two different broods of cicadas both happening at the same time (the 13 year cicada and the 17 year cicada). We talk about how this is impacting birds, the rare blue-eyed cicada, and also the fungus that is making cicadas hyper-sexual.

Maureen is an insect taxonomist and systematist, especially interested in the diversity and phylogeny of horse flies. Her research focuses on using museum specimens to perform revisionary work on horse flies. She is the collections manager of all insects at the Field Museum, so she was happy to jump on and answer all of our cicada questions, as well as talk about horseflies.

Maureen joined John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart for another episode of Birds of a Feather Talk Together.

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Somehow it has taken us 45 episodes to get to our first hummingbird - but it's finally here! We have a ton of fun talking about the ruby-throated hummingbird today. John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart are all here for our hummingbird discussion. Enjoy!

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This week we talk about the house wren, but first we talk a little bit about the newest addition to the Field Museum: The Archaeopteryx. A fossil called Archaeopteryx, with feathers, hollow bones, clawed wings, fifty tiny teeth, and a long bony tail, is the earliest known dinosaur that also qualifies as a bird.

The Chicago Archaeopteryx has the most complete skull of any Archaeopteryx fossil in the world.

We then talk about the House Wren - it's a super fun episode that you'll enjoy. House Wren are so amazing, it was so much fun to learn all about them.

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We talk about a bird that was majorly affected by the parasitic brown-headed cowbird so much that it was on the endangered species list for nearly 50 years. One of the rarest songbirds in North America, the Kirtland’s Warbler migrates back and forth from the Bahamas to Michigan every year. We also learn that this bird was studied back in the 1920’s by Nathan Leopold, one half of the murdering crime pair Leopold and Loeb.

Join John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart as we discuss the Kirtland's Warbler.

We kick it off talking about the Whooping Crane that was spotted in the northern Chicago suburbs. We also answer a mailbag question on using fake calls when looking for birds.

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Brown-headed cowbirds don't build nests - instead they sneak into other nests and lay their eggs and let other birds raise their young for them. Many consider them 'mafia' birds, as they will destroy another bird's nest if they aren't raising their young correctly. These parasitic birds will outgrow the other chicks in the nest, its kind of like a horror story! Hear all about these bizarre birds in this awesome episode of Birds of a Feather Talk Together. John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart discuss the brown-headed cowbird.

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The host of Tooth and Claw Podcast Wes Larson joins us to talk about the Southern Cassowary. Wes is a wildlife biologist, and hosts a podcast that talks about human wildlife conflict, or extreme wild animal attacks. Wes recently went to Australia and saw Cassowaries in the wild, so we asked him to join us for a full episode on what many people call the most dangerous bird on the planet.

Wes Larson is a wildlife biologist who has studied bears, and has a ton of knowledge on human wildlife conflict. Hear us discuss Southern Cassowaries in this episode with our usual hosts John Bates, Shannon Hackett, RJ Pole, and Amanda Marquart.

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Warbler season is officially here. We talk about the Blackpoll Warbler - the warbler with one of the longest and most impressive migration.

Enjoy!

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Bald Eagles are amazing - everyone knows it. We touch on everything from Benjamin Franklin, to how DDT decimated their population and the significant comeback that they've made, to their aerial cartwheel performances. It's a really fascinating episode, and we learn about the 'eagle suit' that Amanda's sister's dog wears so he doesn't get picked up by a bald eagle in his backyard.

Special thanks to photographer Dustin Weidner for suggesting that we do a Bald Eagle episode. Check out his photography on his instagram @chicago.wildlife.photography

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Thanks everyone!