In Your Nature

Apple, Spotify

Bird Sh*t

Apple, Stitcher

Get Birding

Acast, Apple, Spotify

 

What do Dermot O’Leary, Guy Garvey, Margaret Atwood, Will Young, Bill Bailey, Laura Bush and George Ezra have in common? They are all keen birdwatchers – and they are not alone.

In a study last year in the UK, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reported that birdseed sales increased by 86pc compared to the previous year – and bird baths by 440pc. So if you’re one of the many that has caught the twitching itch, keep scratching with these entertaining avian podcasts. 

Niall Hatch’s enthusiasm and expertise are mainstays on RTÉ Radio 1’s Mooney Goes Wild, and he’s in his element on BirdWatch Ireland’s podcast In Your Nature. As if not already wearing multiple hats for the bird charity – development officer, public relations, magazine editor, membership – this year he added podcaster to his bow, alongside co-presenter Ricky Whelan.

Here, the pair share their considerable intel about the dawn chorus, nesting boxes, buzzards, and the superstar swift, a bird that can spend the first few years of its life eating, sleeping and mating entirely on the wing. And the podcast isn’t exclusively about birds either, with guests such as ecologist Dr Catherine Farrell explaining the myriad reasons why preserving peatland is so important.

Be sure to tune into the cute-as-heck special episode in which Hatch and Whelan answer random questions submitted by children, such as why birds don’t get nettle stings (spoiler: they can) and what do mermaids eat…

The brilliantly monikered Bird Sh*t is the brainchild of American-Midwest millennials Mo and Sarah. Boffin guests include Corina Newsome – an avian conservationist and campaigner for fellow people of colour to embrace twitching – and New York filmmaker/songwriter Ryan Moritz, who spent five years creating a bird opera.

The hosts also profile different species, such as corvids and Arctic migrators, and offer practical advice on choosing binoculars, feeders and seed, all imbued with activism.

At the age of just 17, British Bangladeshi ornithologist Mya-Rose Craig, aka Birdgirl, became the youngest person in the UK to receive an honorary doctorate in science. She is on a mission to prove that birdwatching is not just for old white guys.

Her podcast, Get Birding, has also drawn guests of note, such as naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham, Scottish comic Susan Calman, nature beatboxer Jason Singh and actor Sam West, each of whom share Craig’s quest for inclusive birding.