Tweet of the Day

Conservation biologist Tolga Aktas shares his fascination with watching jackdaws. He was struck by the contrast between its black plumage and piercing pale eyes, which they likely use as a communication tool. Jackdaws form large, noisy communal winter roosts with other species, and aren't afraid to mob predators behaviour which Tolga finds spectacular to see. Presented by Tolga Aktas and produced...

The poet and non-fiction writer Polly Atkin observes the wintering of short-eared owls in Cumbria. They are the UK's most nomadic owl, with residents joined by migrants from Scandinavia, Iceland and Russia, seeking a gentler version of the season. Fellow owl-lovers have told Polly of the moment they arrive exhausted at the coast, and she has watched a pair nest in a building site near the sea, con...

For poet Liz Berry, December is the robin's month, when our hearts are warmed by its singing under frosty streetlights. She wonders if its midwinter song is one of the reasons why we feel close to robins, and imagine them as our companions in the thin places between living and dying. Liz tells the story of how the robin brought her hope during a difficult pregnancy, inspired by its fierceness and...

The author and journalist Horatio Clare reflects on the cultural history of the human relationship with pheasants. Its Latin name Phasianus Colchicus links the pheasant to the ancient kingdom of Colchis on the shores of the Black Sea, made famous in Greek mythology as the land of the Golden Fleece. These large, colourful long-tailed birds are native to Asia, and likely journeyed to western Europe...

In the season where starlings gather to murmurate in our winter skies, poet Paul Farley is admiring this dazzling bird up close. Every spring a pair of starlings used to nest in a hollow wall in the house where Paul grew up, and he never got tired of studying its dark iridescent plumage. Laying in bed at night Paul would hear the starlings' impressive mimicry, and remembers the sound of a radio be...

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...

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 ar...

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 a...

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 h...

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...

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...

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 ce...

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 f...

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 b...

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

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 Is...

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, a...

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 alw...

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 tool...

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 hypnoti...

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 coun...

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...

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....

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

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 Sounds Producer : Andrew Dawes