Today we welcome back friend of The Bird, Mr David Clay, as we discuss that one time China tried to eliminate all the sparrows in their nation. Did the plan work, were there unforeseen consequences, is this another tale of human folly? Almost certainly. Join us as we look at another strange avian story from history.

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Notes

Sorry I meant to have notes, but I'm not as organised this time. The story is quite well documented though in numerous online sources.

Bird of the Week special announcement: there is a baby on the way so there's no better time to talk about Storks and what they have to do with baby delivery. Where did that myth of the Stork bringing babies to expectant parents come from? Well, today we are going to find out.

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Want birds in your inbox? Drop me a line at weekly.bird@outlook.com and I'll hook you up with a free weekly bird.

Notes

• Storks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stork
• Saddle-Billed Stork: https://ebird.org/species/sabsto1
• Marabou: https://ebird.org/species/marsto1?siteLanguage=en_AU
• White Stork: https://ebird.org/species/whisto1?siteLanguage=en_AU
• Black Stork: https://ebird.org/species/blasto1
• Migration: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1733312/episodes/9912409-migration-part-ii
• Speared Stork: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfeilstorch
• Hera: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230119-the-weird-history-of-baby-myths
• Hans Christian Andersen: http://hca.gilead.org.il/storks.html
• Work Without Hope: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43999/work-without-hope

In our follow up episode on avian flight we dive deeper into the question of how birds get into the air. In part two we look at the machinery birds have and the physiological attributes they needed to make a flapping wing work. But do we answer the question, 'how do birds fly?', almost certainly not.

To support Bird of the Week and gain access to our second podcast, What's up with that's Bird's Name? click on through to Patreon: www.patreon.com/birdoftheweek

Want birds in your inbox? Drop me a line at weekly.bird@outlook.com and I'll hook you up with a free weekly bird.

Notes

• Part 1: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1733312/episodes/16146149-power-of-flight-part-1
• Feather episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1733312/episodes/8438286-the-heck-s-a-feather
• Keel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keel_(bird_anatomy)#:~:text=A%20keel%20or%20carina%20(%20pl,the%20plane%20of%20the%20ribs.
• hollow bones: https://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/news/some-birds-have-hollow-bones-and-new-research-helps-us-understand-why
• lungs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXuWi_ODAgo
• feathers: https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/
• wing design: https://www.birds.cornell.edu/k12/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Bird-Wing-Types-Handout.pdf