November 28, 2025 • 35 mins
Is Florida the birthplace of ostrich racing? Why do male Emperor penguins get an extra stomach flap? And why should you be extra wary of a loose cassowary? Today Mango and Gabe run through some of the world's biggest questions about the world’s biggest birds.
This episode originally aired on July 20, 2018.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Guess what gave what's that mango? So I read this
great story in Scientific American. It's called Saving California Condors
with a chisel and hand puppets, So it has to
be one of the greatest titles I've read in a while.
But are you familiar with these birds?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I mean, I know they're huge birds, and I think
they're in danger too, aren't they.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Yeah, that's right, So they were close to extinction a
few decades ago. I think their count was down to
just over twenty birds in the early eighties, and that's
actually when the Oregon Zoo stepped in. So one of
the strange things about condor eggs is that sometimes the
chicks aren't actually strong enough to break out of the shells.
So the caretakers at the zoo like they stand by
(00:41):
ready with a chisel to help them break out. And
in fact, it worked so well that the zoo has
now raised more than seventy condor chicks.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
That's awesome. But what do they do then? Do they
release them into the while?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, but if the chicks are raised in captivity without
their parents, the minders have to be really careful about
how they feed them, because you know, they don't want
these birds to be too trusting of humans, so they
have these hand puppets made to look like condors, and
that's what they used to feed the little hatchlings. But
reading that story made me think, you know, maybe it's
time to do an episode on some of the world's
(01:14):
largest birds and also all the secrets we definitely don't
know about them, So let's dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners,
(01:42):
welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Mongish articular, and my
good pal Will Pearson's on vacation today. But I'm so
thrilled because I get to hang out with the wonderful
Gave Lucier, who's on the line with me. Hey, Gabe,
how's it going.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Hey, it's going well. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
It's great to have you, Gabe. And on the other
side of the soundproof glass car into the biggest, fattest
turkey I've seen this side of Thanksgiving, that's our friend
and producer Tristan McNeil. And I've got to say, while
Tristan's on theme as usual, it does feel a little
weird to watch him chow down on a bird while
we're also talking about birds. Yeah, I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Was hoping we'd get to see Tristan in like a
big bird costume today, or maybe find out that he's
secretly been taking falconry classes or something.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Well, we should put that in the suggestion box for
next time, I think. But today's episode is all about
the world's largest birds.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
We scoured the skies to find the most oversized birds
out there, and now it's time to spill all their
juicy secrets, like how have large birds adapted for survival
and how they got so big in.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
The first place.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
But you know, a mango, I'm curious, where do you
want to start with this one?
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So I thought I kicked things off with a nice,
feel good story about one of the world's largest birds,
which is the wandering albatross. And this species of albatross
is big by just about any measure. Their bodies are
about three and a half feet from bill to tail.
They weigh twenty some pounds on average. But without a doubt,
their biggest and most striking feature has to be their
(03:12):
enormous wingspan. Because you know, I'm sure you probably know this.
Wandering albatrosses have the largest wingspan of any living bird.
It's between eleven and twelve feet from tip to tip,
and with wings that big, you know, these birds are
obviously built for flight. They've actually been known to circumnavigate
the Southern Ocean up to three times in a single year,
(03:33):
and one bird in particular is known to have traveled
nearly four thousand miles in just twelve days.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Which is so impressive of course, but like, what's their
secret for covering that kind of distance? Because you have
to think that flapping a pair of twelve foot wings
must take an awful lot of energy.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, there's really no way in albatross could do that
by flapping like they'd be exhausted within an hour tops. Instead,
albatross has actually used this method called dynamics soaring, and
it allows them to glide across these incredible distances without
needing to flap their wings. And this works because the
birds have this special tendon in each of their shoulders
that helps lock their wings into place. It's kind of
(04:11):
a birdie cruise control, and once their wings are locked
into position, albatross is simply glide along, swooping as needed
to catch the wind and gradually rise back up.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
That's really cool, but I mean, they never have to
stop and take a rest or anything.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
No, not really, I mean it's hard to walk on
land with that twelve foot wingspan. So apart from mating season,
wandering albatrosses tend to stick to the air as much
as possible. And there is one exception though, if an
albatross goes crazy and just eats way too many fish,
they might need to take a break and float on
top of the water for a while, you know, until
they've digested.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Well that's pretty cute, but I think you said you
had a feel good story about albatrosses, Like, well, what
exactly does that mean?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Yeah, that's right, and it's actually about one albatross in particular.
Name is Wisdom, and as of this year, she's going
to be sixty seven years old, which makes her the
world's oldest known wild bird. She was born sometime in
nineteen fifty one, but this biologist started tracking her in
nineteen fifty six, and since then, Wisdom has managed to
(05:16):
rack up somewhere between two to three million miles in
flying time, which is the equivalent of about four to
six trips to the moon and back.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Gosh, that's incredible, or at least I think it's incredible.
I mean, I actually don't know how long albatross has
typically lived, do you.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, I mean it depends on the species, but they'll
live I guess four to fifty years if they're lucky.
Albatrosses are one of those rare species of birds and
wild animals in general. I guess that sometimes live long
enough to die of old age.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Well, I guess that's, you know, one of the perks
of that wandering lifestyle, right, because I mean, if you're
constantly on the move, flying over an ocean, you pretty
much have an unlimited food supply right there below you,
and most predators wouldn't be able to keep up with
you anyway.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Yeah, that's definitely true, and amazingly the biggest threats to
albatross's are natural disasters and also I guess the consumption
of plastic, both of which Wisdom has managed to avoid
for almost seven decades now. But perhaps the most interesting
thing to me was that she's birth and raised over
forty chicks over her long lifetime, and that includes her
(06:21):
most recent one, which was hatch just this spring.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
I've always thought albatrosses were really cool, you know, partially
because of all the old sea myths around them, and
also that epic Collridge poem. But you know, nowadays they
mostly make the news, you know, and there's like YouTube
videos and stuff that just kind of make fun of
how silly they look when they're trying to walk on land,
which kind of a bummer.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I mean, even the name albatross, which is pretty awkward
in its own right, Like it was apparently just taken
from words used to describe other sea birds. So it
comes from algatas, which was I guess, this Arabic word
for a sea eagle, and then that was adapted into
a Spanish word alcatraz, which was the word for a pelican,
and then finally the word made into English I guess
(07:04):
this was in the seventeenth century, and that's when we
got the word albatross.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Well.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
As poorly conceived as that name is, I think penguins
might have it even worse. And that's because way back
when sailors actually used to call them ourse feet. That's ridiculous,
I know, and I mean you can guess why it's ony, yeah,
I mean, it's on account of their short legs and
(07:30):
their feet being so close to their backsides. But you know,
thankfully the Welsh did come up with their own name penguin,
which literally translates as white head.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
So I like, how both these names that are on
such random characteristics, Like, you know, if I was defining
a penguin, the fact that it's bum touches his feet
like that would be a defining characteristic, you know, or
that they have white heads, like do penguins even have
white heads? Well, I mean the white head name it
was actually another case of mistaken bird identity, you know,
(08:02):
just like with the albatross. The Welsh applied the name
penguin to their local great Auk population, and you know,
an awk being another kind of giant, black and white
sea bird. Sure, so the thinking is that some sailors
just mistook penguins for ox and the name just stuck.
I mean, I think we've got to make emotion to
stop letting sailors name things because they always get it wrong.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
But I'm with you, But also this is kind of random.
But have you heard Benedict Cumberbatch try to say the
word penguins, Like, for whatever reason, he always winds up
calling them peng wings or penglings. It's just hilarious because
he winds up doing all this like penguin content, Like
he was in this cartoon penguin movie and he did
(08:47):
the narration for a BBC documentary about penguins, and the
whole time he's just butchering the name, Like I have
no idea how he lands these gigs or why no
one corrects it.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
That's pretty hilarious. I had no idea, but I'm going
to YouTube it right after this episode.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Should but you know, since we're on the subject of
penguins or penguins if you prefer, we should really take
a few minutes to talk about the largest of their kind,
which of course are emperor penguins. And these big birds
stand around four feet tall, which makes them the largest
of the eighteen penguin species found on Earth. And you know,
also a far cry from the smallest penguin species, and
(09:26):
that's the little blue penguin, which is only about sixteen
inches tall, and that's when it's fully grown.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
I love that blue penguins are so little, like like
they're almost like a pocket penguin. I just want to
pick one off, like stuff it into my pockets. But
let's talk more about these emperors, Like is it just
their size that sets the emperors apart, or are they
different from other penguins in other ways as well?
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, well, one difference is that emperor penguins don't do
anything the easy way, like, for instance, other penguins in
the southern hemisphere, they make the sensible decision to lay
their eggs, you know, during the relatively warm summer months,
and that's the same time when Antarctic cruises make their rounds.
But emperor penguins they actually wait until winter arrives to
(10:11):
do their mating. And even then, emperors don't head for
the warmth of the coasts, you know, to lay their eggs. Instead,
they do the opposite and head south into the harshest weather.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
That's not if I've learned anything from Marsha the penguins.
It's that emperors don't make things any easier on themselves
during their incubation periods. Like I know, most penguin species
will build nests out of like loose feathers or tiny
pebbles and keep their eggs there until they've hashed. But
emperor penguins have a different system, right, Like, they incubate
their one egg for the entire season, and they do
(10:45):
it by standing still and I think balancing it on
top of their feet.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, that's right, and this method, it really wouldn't work
at all if it weren't for some pretty impressive teamwork
on the part of their parents. Like because as soon
as the mother penguin lays her egg, she high tails
it towards the sea to feed and build up her
fat reserves. So for the next eight or nine weeks
after that, the task of incubation is left to the
emperor dads, who are able to keep their egg warm
(11:12):
thanks to this special loose fold of skin that contains
a high concentration of blood vessels and this featherless patch
of skin it kind of drapes over the egg at
all times to keep it from freezing. And that's while
the father stands still for months on end.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
I've actually read that male emperor penguins typically burn through
nearly half their body weight while waiting for their mates
to return. So this is actually one of those rare
cases in the animal kingdom where the plumpest and pudgest
males are also the most desirable. I mean, there are
you know, easily the best equipped to survive those long
ones without a meal. Yeah that's true, but you know,
(11:51):
just so people know that we aren't body shaming penguins
or anything. I want to mention that emperor penguins male
and female, are actually quite athletic, or you know, at
least they are in the water. In fact, well, most
aquatic birds would be lucky to dive two hundred feet
or so underwater. The emperor penguin is capable of diving
a stunning fifteen hundred.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Feet or more.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
And the amount of time they can stay under is
just as impressive. Like I read, the longest dive on
record for an emperor is just under twenty eight minutes,
so that actually is.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Stunying to me. Like the fact that they can go
fifteen hundred feet under the water, that's incredible. But what
is their secret?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Well, it comes down to this amazing trick of physiology.
So basically, they can metabolize oxygen at a slower rate
during a dive than they would otherwise, like when resting.
And this is how Live Science explains it. Quote, the
penguins can switch between two modes of oxygen use, either
starving their muscles or giving them an extra shot of
(12:53):
oxygen to help keep them working. And so emperors they
actually have one other trick up their sleeves as well,
which is that their brainans have evolved to tolerate extremely
low levels of oxygen without shutting down. So not only
can these birds control their flow of oxygen, they can
survive on a reduced flow for periods of time that
would result in brain damage or even death and just
(13:15):
about any other animal all.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Right, So clearly they're the Olympic divers of the animal kingdom,
even if their parenting habits are a little unusual. But
now that we've covered everyone's favorite flightless waterbirds, what do
you say we switch gears and talk about some of
their land loving cousins.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Plummed out for that.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
But first, let's take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
You listen to part Time Genius and we're talking about
the secrets of the world's largest birds. Okay, Gabe, So
we've already covered the biggest fire a big swimmer, but
inch for inch and pound, the planet's tallest and heaviest
bird actually does neither of those things. And of course
we're talking about the ostridge here. Now. However awkward they
might look, ostriches are actually built for land speed. In fact,
(14:12):
they're capable of sprinting up to forty three miles per
hour in the short bursts, and that actually makes them
the fastest bipedal runners on the planet. But it's not
just their speed that's so impressive. Their endurance is absolutely
staggering as well. Ostriches are able to maintain speeds of
thirty one miles per hour for up to ten miles
at a.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Time, which is you know why you never want to
challenge an ostrich to a foot race, right we all
know that old saying. Yeah, but you know, I did
some reading on what makes ostriches such great runners, and
it turns out the key to their speed is actually
their toes.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Really, so why is that?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Well, so most birds have three or four toes on
each foot, but ostriches only have two. And while you
might think this would hinder the bird's balance in some way,
the reduced number of toes actually greatly improves the running form.
And as it turns out, two toed feet result in
less mass at the end of each leg, and that's
why ostriches can cover up to sixteen feet in a
(15:09):
single stride.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Sixteen feet in a single stride. That's crazy, But you know,
this whole two toe thing actually does make sense. I
read somewhere that hoofed animals once had more toes than
they do now, but gradually, over the course of millennia,
their toes dwindled down to just two per foot, and they,
I guess it, became some of the fastest runners in
the world as a result of that. But that's really
(15:31):
fascinating to me. Yeah, that is interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
And you know, another thing I didn't realize is that
people have been racing ostridges, you know, for sport, like
the way we race horses. And this has been going
on for over one hundred years at this point. And
weirder still, the practice got its start in Florida, and
that's where ostrich of course it did, right, of course,
and that's where ostrich racetracks first started popping up. And
(15:56):
this was in the late nineteenth century. Taurus would pay
fifty cents to mount these giant birds and attempt to
ride them. And you know, I say attempt because of course,
riding an ostrich is easier said than done, right, Like,
they don't take well to training, and it's next to
impossible to make them run in a straight line. Not
to mention how hard it is to hang on to
(16:16):
the back of something that's moving at forty miles per hour.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
You know, there's actually a way around that problem now
that there's this annual event at the Meadowlands called the
Ostrich Derby, and I've never gone, but it just sounds
so great to me. So instead of riding the bird's bareback,
the jockeys are actually being pulled along in these brightly
colored chariots and the whole thing is completely ridiculous, but
it's got its own audience. Twenty eighteen was actually the
(16:41):
seventh year of the races have been held, and you
and I should really go to this.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Oh yeah, we gotta get tickets next year.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
I do want to mention though, that if you ever
come face to face with a wild ostridge, running away
is not in your best interest.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Why not?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Well, I mean there's a good chance the ostrich will
give chase. And remember these things can top out at
like forty five miles per hour, so.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
They will catch you right. And male ostriches can grow
to be I think nine feet tall and over three
hundred pounds, so you definitely don't want to be on
the receiving end of that. But ostriches are sometimes known
to attack humans if they feel their territory is being threatened.
But if running is out, like, what is your best
bet for surviving an angry ostrich attack?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Well, I looked into that because obviously ostrich attacks are
such a common threat that it's really just irresponsible to
not be prepared for one. And so this is the
advice I found in Discovery News. Instead of running away
in terror, they recommend quote hiding, playing dead until the
bird becomes bored and leaves, or standing your ground and
(17:50):
fighting the ostriche off with a long pole.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I like this idea of like fighting an ostrich off
in a long pull. It makes a lot of sense
to me.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Yeah, right, never go anywhere without your ostrich pole and
you'll be just fine.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
That's good advice. But you know, before we move on
from ostriches, I do want to talk about a couple
other ways that these massive birds tip the scales. So,
for one thing, they have the largest eyes of any
land mammal on Earth. Each eye is roughly two inches across,
which means they're about as big as a billiard ball
and even larger than the bird's own brains. Ostriches also
have the largest eggs in the world, which I guess
(18:27):
an average one comes in at about six inches in
diameter and weighs more than three pounds, which is about
as much as two dozen chicken eggs.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Good lawyer, That is one big omelet. Also, though, like
people do eat them right like current Ostrich eggs a
delicacy in some.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Places, definitely, and a single egg provides quite a meal.
I think it's roughly two thousand calories, so basically a
day's worth.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Well, I know there's at least one more giant bird
we wanted to cover today, But if you don't mind,
there are a couple misconceptions about oscar that have always
bugged me, So I'd like to take a couple of
minutes to set the record straight on those. And actually
I want to start with the idea that ostriches bury
their heads in the sand.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Sure, so I remember this from mental class, but I
remember thinking it was just an illusion, right, Like, ostrich
heads are pretty tiny compared to the rest of their bodies,
so if you're looking at them at a distance and
they're like nibbling at food, it just might look like
they're heads stuck in the ground.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, that's definitely true. But you know, actually, some researchers
think the real root of the myth has more to
do with the nesting habits of ostriches. So the birds
they have to dig some pretty big holes to stow
those massive eggs you mentioned, and sometimes these holes are
up to eight feet wide and two feet deep. And
you know, it's during the egg incubation period where all
(19:45):
the confusion comes in. Like ostrich parents take turns rotating
their eggs with their beaks, which you know obviously requires
them to stick their heads pretty far into the nest.
So you know, to an observer, it might look like
the ostriches bear its head in the sand, but that's
actually not what's going on at all.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
That's really fascinating. I never heard that. But do you
have like another ostrich myth you wanted to share? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Yeah, And this one it actually goes beyond just ostriches
because it concerns the origin of an entire family of
flightless birds known as ratites. So along with ostriches, the
radites family also includes other big birds like EMUs and rheas,
as well as tiny flightless birds like kiwis. And for
(20:29):
the longest time, researchers have assumed that ratites never had
the ability to fly at all. And that's because we
know that the wings of these birds are still functional
rather than ornamental. So an ostrich for example, uses its
wings like a rudder. Not only are they good for
maintaining balance, they also help the birds turn and break
(20:50):
when running at high speeds. So the thinking has been that,
you know, since their wings don't seem to be vestigial,
ratites probably always lack the ability to fly, and instead
they simply evolved from other ancient flightless birds.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Which is really interesting. But I think we're saying is
that theory is now being challenged. Is that right, right?
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Yeah, that is right.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
More recent research suggests that the ancestors of Ratite spread
to more isolated regions at a time when their wings
were still used for flying, and you know, they likely
did this as a way to avoid becoming the lunch
of their larger dinosaur cousins. And you know, then as
the dinosaurs died out and the continents began to separate,
these now isolated birds found themselves at the top of
(21:33):
the food chain and suddenly without the need to escape
to higher ground anymore. So once the need for flight
was removed, so too was the need to stay small.
And you know, in order to be able to fly,
and that enabled the birds to independently evolve and become
larger as well as flightless.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Which you know, makes a lot of sense, and it
also explains why far flung islands are home to so
many big flightless birds. Right Like New Zealand had this
twelve but tall, five hundred pound moa bird, and that
was until humans hunted it to extinction in the thirteenth century.
And Madagascar was also home to this elephant bird. I'd
never heard of this bird, but it's amazing. It was
(22:12):
an astonishing ten feet tall and nine hundred pounds. Yeah,
and I mean jackbirds can thrive in these island settings,
partially because there aren't any you know, predators for them
to worry about, aside from humans.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Right exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Well, with all that in mind, what do you say
we talk a little about another member of the rat
tite family, one of the world's biggest and most misunderstood birds,
the island dwelling cassowary.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Sure, so this is actually what I've been waiting to
talk about. But before we do, let's take another quick.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Break, all right, Mango, So you said you were excited
to talk about cassawerries, just like I am, so would
(23:03):
you mind giving us a quick rundown of their stats,
because I somehow feel they're not as well known as
ostriches and penguins and.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
All these other birds we've been talking about.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah, that's definitely true. So cassowaries are large, flightless birds.
They've got black and blue feathers and these big protective
frills on the sides of their heads called casks. And
there are only three species in the world at this point.
Two live in the rainforest of New Guinea off the
coast of Australia, and the third and largest one lives
in the wet tropics. This is in the northern tip
(23:34):
of Australia. You know. Birds of this third species are
called southern cassowarys, and they typically weigh in around one
hundred and thirty pounds. They stand about six feet tall,
and they're also fiercely territorial. If you intrude on their habitats,
they'll happily slice you up with their terrifying five inch
long claws. Ough.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Yeah, cassowaries are famous for that kind of deadliness, and
with good reason, honestly, Like, I was reading this article
on smithsonian dot Com and the author Jacob Brogan. He
said that cassawaries resemble quote an ostriche as described by
HP Lovecraft, or maybe a turkey fused with a veloci raptor.
(24:16):
And I mean, if those descriptions don't sell you on
how dangerous these birds are, consider that they're also sometimes
nicknamed murder birds. What yeah, And I mean, not only
do they have those razor sharp clause you mentioned, they
also have one of the strongest kicks of any animal,
and they also have a tendency to charge their victims
(24:36):
at up to thirty miles per hour and then they
pounce on them by leaping up to five feet in
the air.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Ah. That's terrifying. And it also makes me wonder, like
what if they remade the movie Birds with murder birds
like that would be so much scarier. But you know,
you mentioned before the break that cassowaris are somewhat misunderstood,
and I was hoping you clarify that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Yeah, well, it's just like with ostriches, you know, cassawaryes
aren't some kind of malicious human hunters like we might
think of them. They're actually shy, peaceful, and pretty harmless
when left to themselves. And in fact, a cassowary hasn't
killed a human since nineteen twenty six, and even then
that was only in self defense. And you know, while
(25:18):
over one hundred humans have been injured by cassawiris since then,
we've actually done way more damage to them, like car
accidents and habitat loss. Those kinds of things have decimated
the southern cassawary population in Australia and in fact, they're
now listed as endangered and only around fifteen hundred to
(25:38):
two thousand are thought to be left in the wild
at this point, and it really it could be even
fewer than that for all we know.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
So one of the things I didn't get to that
was curious about the castowarrias is how did the locals
feel about them, Because on one hand, I think the
birds would figure into like culture and folklore, and on
the other hand, people probably don't want these giant dinosaur
birds just slicing up their neighbors.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Right, Yeah, that's a good point, and you know, I'd
say it's kind of a rocky relationship at the best.
But the cassowaries definitely have their supporters, like in fact,
you'll often see signs along the highways in Australia now
that encourage motorists to be CASSOWERI fun, right, and you
(26:23):
know that's just a you know, get people to keep
an eye out for the birds while they're driving. And
as for folklore, cassowaries have always been a big part
of the mythologies of Australia's rainforest tribes. For example, some
locals believe the cassawerys are cousins to human beings, while
others say that they are human beings who have been
reincarnated as birds. And actually, this last part there, it's
(26:46):
actually even inspired a bit of envy in some of
the female locals, Like they'll joke that they'd like to
reincarnate as female cassowaries since it's the males of that
species rather than the females who sit on all the
eggs and then raise the chicks that hatch from them.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well, you know, even apart from the stress free reincarnation
for females, Australians do have another reason to stand up
for the cassawerret cousins.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Oh yeah, what's that.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Well, apparently cassowarys are masters of seed dispersal, which means
they're a big part of why Australia still has as
much rainforest as it does. And this is something I
learned from a NAT Geo article by Olivia Judson, so
I just want to go ahead and read her explanation
of this relationship quote as Australia's fruit eaters and chief
cassawerres are also chief architects of the forest. In the
(27:35):
course of a day, a single adult cassowery eats hundreds
of fruits and berries. Cassowary digestion is gentle, though, and
does not harm the seeds which emerge intact. And so
as a cassawery wanders through its territory, eating, drinking, bathing,
and defecating, it moves seeds from one part of the
forest to another, sometimes over distances of half a mile
or more. It also moves seeds uphills and across rivers.
(27:58):
In short, it transports the seeds in ways that gravity
alone cannot by means of their fruit scented droppings, then
cassawerris are a powerful vehicle for spreading seeds around.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
That is pretty awesome, and you know now that you
mention it. That's something I read about large birds in general,
like how the growth or loss of rainforests is directly
tied to their presence. I mean, the tallest, hardiest trees,
those tend to come from bigger seeds, and without birds
big enough to carry or swallow them, the odds of
(28:29):
those seeds ever taking root is pretty slim. So in
a very real way, the future of our rainforest depends
on the existence of big, weirdo birds like the castlary.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
And you know, in fact, there was this one study
done on a particular tree that only grows in a
small region of Australia's coastal rainforests, and it went a
long way towards showing just how crucial castaways are for
the trees survival. And that's because, according to the report,
without passing through one of these giant bds, only four
percent of these tree seeds ever take root and grow.
(29:05):
But after passing through a casawary a lopping ninety two
percent were shown to grow into adult trees.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
I mean, that's remarkable, Like ninety two percent of the
seeds that go through casseawarris end up growing into trees.
But why is that exactly?
Speaker 3 (29:21):
That's the thing no one knows exactly.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
It's it's still one of the best kept bird secrets
out there. And you know, because I like that idea
of going out, you know, with an air of mystery.
What do you say we just leave the discussion there
and jump straight into.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
The fact off.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
I'm for it.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Let's do it, Okay, So I'll go first, because I
can't bear going through an episode like this without at
least mentioning the fastest predator on the planet, the peregrine falcon,
And they have two unbelievable abilities. The first is their eyesight,
(29:59):
and I read somewhere that their vision it's about twelve
times that of humans, and they can actually use it
to spot a smaller bird from up to five miles away.
And once this prey is spotted, I mean it might
as well call it quits. Because peregrine falcons can fly
over one hundred and eighty miles per hour when they
hit peak speed.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeh, that's terrifying.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
You know.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
I was at the beach and walking with like a
tray of food and fries on it for my kids,
and this seagull just swooped down and picked up one
fry off the plate, and I just remember being stunned
at like how fast it was, and how accurate, and
the fact that like a falcon can do that at
one hundred and eighty miles per hour is so scary
(30:41):
to me. But you know, we talked about penguins earlier,
but I wanted to note that while we think of
penguins mainly being at the South Pole, there are definitely
a few other spots where you can find them. In fact,
the majority of the world's eighteen penguin species also live
around New Zealand. But the reason I bring this up
is because a few years ago there was this fossil
that was discovered on what might be the largest penguin
(31:03):
species to ever live. It was probably over fifty million
years ago, but the penguin was six feet tall and
two hundred twenty pounds, So even the Emperor penguin, which
is gigantic, would seem tiny next to this thing.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
That's scary to even think about.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
If if you search online for the bird hat craze
of the late eighteen hundreds, or if you listen to
the podcast Dressed, you will realize that this was a
really serious fad.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
At some point these bird hats.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Women all over the US and Europe were wearing these
hats with feathers and even entire birds propped on top.
Like I was reading an article from Popular Science that
talked about how someone reported back after taking two strolls
through Manhattan in eighteen eighty six, and on this stroll
they counted seven hundred hats, and five hundred and twenty
(31:55):
five of them were topped by feathers or just entire birds.
So I mean the craze it actually got so big
that several bird species became at risk of or even
outright endangered, and a campaign to stop the practice launched,
and much of this work led to the birth of
the earliest autobonn societies, as well as the first federal
(32:17):
conservation legislation, which was the Lacy Act of nineteen hundred.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
So do you know that one of the ways researchers
can take a census of large birds on remote islands
is from space, And this is how a researcher is
studying albatross in New Zealand and on islands off the
coast of Argentina actually keep a better count of the birds.
So it's with a little help from cameras on satellites
orbiting the Earth, researchers can actually look at images and
count the pixelated white dots to see how many albatrosses
(32:46):
are there, and ends up being way cheaper and much
less labor intensive than having to travel and count them
all in person.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Oh I bet.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Well, you know, they might be able to count birds
from space, but one thing they won't be able to
do is take birds into space.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Why is that, Well, it's because.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
Birds need gravity to swallow.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
So unless we come up with another way to assist
birds in swallowing, chances are you know, NASA's not going
to be bringing any birds on future Shuttle launches, at
least not anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Well, it just seemed wrong to me to do an
episode on Big Birds and not at least mentioned Big
Bird himself. So, you know, Carol Spinney, who is the
voice of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. It turns
out that if it wasn't for the encouragement of a mentor,
he might not have made it past the first year
of the show. When Spinney moved to New York City,
he didn't have much money. New York City is obviously
(33:39):
very expensive, and he didn't feel like he was fitting
in with the rest of the cast. So just a
few months into the gig. He mentioned this to Kermit Love,
who's the man who built Big Bird, and you know,
he said I might be quitting, and Kermit encouraged him
to give it some time, and in fact, he told him,
you'll never get an opportunity like this again. It'll get
better given another momth and nearly five decades later, I'm
(34:02):
pretty sure he's glad he got that advice.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Yeah, I would say so, and I mean, because there's
just no way I could beat a Big Bird. Fact,
I think you'll have to take the trophy for today.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Well, I'll take that honor from you, Gabe. So thank
you so much, and for all you out there. If
we missed any Bird facts, be sure to email us
at part Time Genius at HowStuffWorks dot com, where hit
us up on Facebook or Twitter. Thank you so much
for listening.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Thanks again for listening.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
Part Time Genius is a production of How Stuff Works
and wouldn't be possible without several brilliant people who do
the important things we couldn't even begin to understand.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Christa McNeil does the editing thing.
Speaker 5 (34:53):
Noel Brown made the theme song and does the mixy
mixy sound thing.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Jerry Roland does the exact producer thing.
Speaker 5 (34:58):
Gabe Bluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the
Research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams
and Eves.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Jeffcote gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.
Speaker 5 (35:07):
If you like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe,
And if you really really like what you've heard, maybe
you could leave a good review for us.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Do we forget Jason?
Speaker 3 (35:14):
Jason who
Guess what gave what's that mango? So I read this
great story in Scientific American. It's called Saving California Condors
with a chisel and hand puppets, So it has to
be one of the greatest titles I've read in a while.
But are you familiar with these birds?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I mean, I know they're huge birds, and I think
they're in danger too, aren't they.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Yeah, that's right, So they were close to extinction a
few decades ago. I think their count was down to
just over twenty birds in the early eighties, and that's
actually when the Oregon Zoo stepped in. So one of
the strange things about condor eggs is that sometimes the
chicks aren't actually strong enough to break out of the shells.
So the caretakers at the zoo like they stand by
(00:41):
ready with a chisel to help them break out. And
in fact, it worked so well that the zoo has
now raised more than seventy condor chicks.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
That's awesome. But what do they do then? Do they
release them into the while?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, but if the chicks are raised in captivity without
their parents, the minders have to be really careful about
how they feed them, because you know, they don't want
these birds to be too trusting of humans, so they
have these hand puppets made to look like condors, and
that's what they used to feed the little hatchlings. But
reading that story made me think, you know, maybe it's
time to do an episode on some of the world's
(01:14):
largest birds and also all the secrets we definitely don't
know about them, So let's dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners,
(01:42):
welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Mongish articular, and my
good pal Will Pearson's on vacation today. But I'm so
thrilled because I get to hang out with the wonderful
Gave Lucier, who's on the line with me. Hey, Gabe,
how's it going.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Hey, it's going well. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
It's great to have you, Gabe. And on the other
side of the soundproof glass car into the biggest, fattest
turkey I've seen this side of Thanksgiving, that's our friend
and producer Tristan McNeil. And I've got to say, while
Tristan's on theme as usual, it does feel a little
weird to watch him chow down on a bird while
we're also talking about birds. Yeah, I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Was hoping we'd get to see Tristan in like a
big bird costume today, or maybe find out that he's
secretly been taking falconry classes or something.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Well, we should put that in the suggestion box for
next time, I think. But today's episode is all about
the world's largest birds.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
We scoured the skies to find the most oversized birds
out there, and now it's time to spill all their
juicy secrets, like how have large birds adapted for survival
and how they got so big in.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
The first place.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
But you know, a mango, I'm curious, where do you
want to start with this one?
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So I thought I kicked things off with a nice,
feel good story about one of the world's largest birds,
which is the wandering albatross. And this species of albatross
is big by just about any measure. Their bodies are
about three and a half feet from bill to tail.
They weigh twenty some pounds on average. But without a doubt,
their biggest and most striking feature has to be their
(03:12):
enormous wingspan. Because you know, I'm sure you probably know this.
Wandering albatrosses have the largest wingspan of any living bird.
It's between eleven and twelve feet from tip to tip,
and with wings that big, you know, these birds are
obviously built for flight. They've actually been known to circumnavigate
the Southern Ocean up to three times in a single year,
(03:33):
and one bird in particular is known to have traveled
nearly four thousand miles in just twelve days.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Which is so impressive of course, but like, what's their
secret for covering that kind of distance? Because you have
to think that flapping a pair of twelve foot wings
must take an awful lot of energy.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, there's really no way in albatross could do that
by flapping like they'd be exhausted within an hour tops. Instead,
albatross has actually used this method called dynamics soaring, and
it allows them to glide across these incredible distances without
needing to flap their wings. And this works because the
birds have this special tendon in each of their shoulders
that helps lock their wings into place. It's kind of
(04:11):
a birdie cruise control, and once their wings are locked
into position, albatross is simply glide along, swooping as needed
to catch the wind and gradually rise back up.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
That's really cool, but I mean, they never have to
stop and take a rest or anything.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
No, not really, I mean it's hard to walk on
land with that twelve foot wingspan. So apart from mating season,
wandering albatrosses tend to stick to the air as much
as possible. And there is one exception though, if an
albatross goes crazy and just eats way too many fish,
they might need to take a break and float on
top of the water for a while, you know, until
they've digested.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Well that's pretty cute, but I think you said you
had a feel good story about albatrosses, Like, well, what
exactly does that mean?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Yeah, that's right, and it's actually about one albatross in particular.
Name is Wisdom, and as of this year, she's going
to be sixty seven years old, which makes her the
world's oldest known wild bird. She was born sometime in
nineteen fifty one, but this biologist started tracking her in
nineteen fifty six, and since then, Wisdom has managed to
(05:16):
rack up somewhere between two to three million miles in
flying time, which is the equivalent of about four to
six trips to the moon and back.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Gosh, that's incredible, or at least I think it's incredible.
I mean, I actually don't know how long albatross has
typically lived, do you.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, I mean it depends on the species, but they'll
live I guess four to fifty years if they're lucky.
Albatrosses are one of those rare species of birds and
wild animals in general. I guess that sometimes live long
enough to die of old age.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Well, I guess that's, you know, one of the perks
of that wandering lifestyle, right, because I mean, if you're
constantly on the move, flying over an ocean, you pretty
much have an unlimited food supply right there below you,
and most predators wouldn't be able to keep up with
you anyway.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Yeah, that's definitely true, and amazingly the biggest threats to
albatross's are natural disasters and also I guess the consumption
of plastic, both of which Wisdom has managed to avoid
for almost seven decades now. But perhaps the most interesting
thing to me was that she's birth and raised over
forty chicks over her long lifetime, and that includes her
(06:21):
most recent one, which was hatch just this spring.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
I've always thought albatrosses were really cool, you know, partially
because of all the old sea myths around them, and
also that epic Collridge poem. But you know, nowadays they
mostly make the news, you know, and there's like YouTube
videos and stuff that just kind of make fun of
how silly they look when they're trying to walk on land,
which kind of a bummer.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
I mean, even the name albatross, which is pretty awkward
in its own right, Like it was apparently just taken
from words used to describe other sea birds. So it
comes from algatas, which was I guess, this Arabic word
for a sea eagle, and then that was adapted into
a Spanish word alcatraz, which was the word for a pelican,
and then finally the word made into English I guess
(07:04):
this was in the seventeenth century, and that's when we
got the word albatross.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Well.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
As poorly conceived as that name is, I think penguins
might have it even worse. And that's because way back
when sailors actually used to call them ourse feet. That's ridiculous,
I know, and I mean you can guess why it's ony, yeah,
I mean, it's on account of their short legs and
(07:30):
their feet being so close to their backsides. But you know,
thankfully the Welsh did come up with their own name penguin,
which literally translates as white head.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
So I like, how both these names that are on
such random characteristics, Like, you know, if I was defining
a penguin, the fact that it's bum touches his feet
like that would be a defining characteristic, you know, or
that they have white heads, like do penguins even have
white heads? Well, I mean the white head name it
was actually another case of mistaken bird identity, you know,
(08:02):
just like with the albatross. The Welsh applied the name
penguin to their local great Auk population, and you know,
an awk being another kind of giant, black and white
sea bird. Sure, so the thinking is that some sailors
just mistook penguins for ox and the name just stuck.
I mean, I think we've got to make emotion to
stop letting sailors name things because they always get it wrong.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
But I'm with you, But also this is kind of random.
But have you heard Benedict Cumberbatch try to say the
word penguins, Like, for whatever reason, he always winds up
calling them peng wings or penglings. It's just hilarious because
he winds up doing all this like penguin content, Like
he was in this cartoon penguin movie and he did
(08:47):
the narration for a BBC documentary about penguins, and the
whole time he's just butchering the name, Like I have
no idea how he lands these gigs or why no
one corrects it.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
That's pretty hilarious. I had no idea, but I'm going
to YouTube it right after this episode.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Should but you know, since we're on the subject of
penguins or penguins if you prefer, we should really take
a few minutes to talk about the largest of their kind,
which of course are emperor penguins. And these big birds
stand around four feet tall, which makes them the largest
of the eighteen penguin species found on Earth. And you know,
also a far cry from the smallest penguin species, and
(09:26):
that's the little blue penguin, which is only about sixteen
inches tall, and that's when it's fully grown.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
I love that blue penguins are so little, like like
they're almost like a pocket penguin. I just want to
pick one off, like stuff it into my pockets. But
let's talk more about these emperors, Like is it just
their size that sets the emperors apart, or are they
different from other penguins in other ways as well?
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, well, one difference is that emperor penguins don't do
anything the easy way, like, for instance, other penguins in
the southern hemisphere, they make the sensible decision to lay
their eggs, you know, during the relatively warm summer months,
and that's the same time when Antarctic cruises make their rounds.
But emperor penguins they actually wait until winter arrives to
(10:11):
do their mating. And even then, emperors don't head for
the warmth of the coasts, you know, to lay their eggs. Instead,
they do the opposite and head south into the harshest weather.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
That's not if I've learned anything from Marsha the penguins.
It's that emperors don't make things any easier on themselves
during their incubation periods. Like I know, most penguin species
will build nests out of like loose feathers or tiny
pebbles and keep their eggs there until they've hashed. But
emperor penguins have a different system, right, Like, they incubate
their one egg for the entire season, and they do
(10:45):
it by standing still and I think balancing it on
top of their feet.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, that's right, and this method, it really wouldn't work
at all if it weren't for some pretty impressive teamwork
on the part of their parents. Like because as soon
as the mother penguin lays her egg, she high tails
it towards the sea to feed and build up her
fat reserves. So for the next eight or nine weeks
after that, the task of incubation is left to the
emperor dads, who are able to keep their egg warm
(11:12):
thanks to this special loose fold of skin that contains
a high concentration of blood vessels and this featherless patch
of skin it kind of drapes over the egg at
all times to keep it from freezing. And that's while
the father stands still for months on end.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
I've actually read that male emperor penguins typically burn through
nearly half their body weight while waiting for their mates
to return. So this is actually one of those rare
cases in the animal kingdom where the plumpest and pudgest
males are also the most desirable. I mean, there are
you know, easily the best equipped to survive those long
ones without a meal. Yeah that's true, but you know,
(11:51):
just so people know that we aren't body shaming penguins
or anything. I want to mention that emperor penguins male
and female, are actually quite athletic, or you know, at
least they are in the water. In fact, well, most
aquatic birds would be lucky to dive two hundred feet
or so underwater. The emperor penguin is capable of diving
a stunning fifteen hundred.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Feet or more.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
And the amount of time they can stay under is
just as impressive. Like I read, the longest dive on
record for an emperor is just under twenty eight minutes,
so that actually is.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Stunying to me. Like the fact that they can go
fifteen hundred feet under the water, that's incredible. But what
is their secret?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Well, it comes down to this amazing trick of physiology.
So basically, they can metabolize oxygen at a slower rate
during a dive than they would otherwise, like when resting.
And this is how Live Science explains it. Quote, the
penguins can switch between two modes of oxygen use, either
starving their muscles or giving them an extra shot of
(12:53):
oxygen to help keep them working. And so emperors they
actually have one other trick up their sleeves as well,
which is that their brainans have evolved to tolerate extremely
low levels of oxygen without shutting down. So not only
can these birds control their flow of oxygen, they can
survive on a reduced flow for periods of time that
would result in brain damage or even death and just
(13:15):
about any other animal all.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Right, So clearly they're the Olympic divers of the animal kingdom,
even if their parenting habits are a little unusual. But
now that we've covered everyone's favorite flightless waterbirds, what do
you say we switch gears and talk about some of
their land loving cousins.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Plummed out for that.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
But first, let's take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
You listen to part Time Genius and we're talking about
the secrets of the world's largest birds. Okay, Gabe, So
we've already covered the biggest fire a big swimmer, but
inch for inch and pound, the planet's tallest and heaviest
bird actually does neither of those things. And of course
we're talking about the ostridge here. Now. However awkward they
might look, ostriches are actually built for land speed. In fact,
(14:12):
they're capable of sprinting up to forty three miles per
hour in the short bursts, and that actually makes them
the fastest bipedal runners on the planet. But it's not
just their speed that's so impressive. Their endurance is absolutely
staggering as well. Ostriches are able to maintain speeds of
thirty one miles per hour for up to ten miles
at a.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Time, which is you know why you never want to
challenge an ostrich to a foot race, right we all
know that old saying. Yeah, but you know, I did
some reading on what makes ostriches such great runners, and
it turns out the key to their speed is actually
their toes.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Really, so why is that?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Well, so most birds have three or four toes on
each foot, but ostriches only have two. And while you
might think this would hinder the bird's balance in some way,
the reduced number of toes actually greatly improves the running form.
And as it turns out, two toed feet result in
less mass at the end of each leg, and that's
why ostriches can cover up to sixteen feet in a
(15:09):
single stride.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Sixteen feet in a single stride. That's crazy, But you know,
this whole two toe thing actually does make sense. I
read somewhere that hoofed animals once had more toes than
they do now, but gradually, over the course of millennia,
their toes dwindled down to just two per foot, and they,
I guess it, became some of the fastest runners in
the world as a result of that. But that's really
(15:31):
fascinating to me. Yeah, that is interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
And you know, another thing I didn't realize is that
people have been racing ostridges, you know, for sport, like
the way we race horses. And this has been going
on for over one hundred years at this point. And
weirder still, the practice got its start in Florida, and
that's where ostrich of course it did, right, of course,
and that's where ostrich racetracks first started popping up. And
(15:56):
this was in the late nineteenth century. Taurus would pay
fifty cents to mount these giant birds and attempt to
ride them. And you know, I say attempt because of course,
riding an ostrich is easier said than done, right, Like,
they don't take well to training, and it's next to
impossible to make them run in a straight line. Not
to mention how hard it is to hang on to
(16:16):
the back of something that's moving at forty miles per hour.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
You know, there's actually a way around that problem now
that there's this annual event at the Meadowlands called the
Ostrich Derby, and I've never gone, but it just sounds
so great to me. So instead of riding the bird's bareback,
the jockeys are actually being pulled along in these brightly
colored chariots and the whole thing is completely ridiculous, but
it's got its own audience. Twenty eighteen was actually the
(16:41):
seventh year of the races have been held, and you
and I should really go to this.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Oh yeah, we gotta get tickets next year.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
I do want to mention though, that if you ever
come face to face with a wild ostridge, running away
is not in your best interest.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Why not?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Well, I mean there's a good chance the ostrich will
give chase. And remember these things can top out at
like forty five miles per hour, so.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
They will catch you right. And male ostriches can grow
to be I think nine feet tall and over three
hundred pounds, so you definitely don't want to be on
the receiving end of that. But ostriches are sometimes known
to attack humans if they feel their territory is being threatened.
But if running is out, like, what is your best
bet for surviving an angry ostrich attack?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Well, I looked into that because obviously ostrich attacks are
such a common threat that it's really just irresponsible to
not be prepared for one. And so this is the
advice I found in Discovery News. Instead of running away
in terror, they recommend quote hiding, playing dead until the
bird becomes bored and leaves, or standing your ground and
(17:50):
fighting the ostriche off with a long pole.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I like this idea of like fighting an ostrich off
in a long pull. It makes a lot of sense
to me.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Yeah, right, never go anywhere without your ostrich pole and
you'll be just fine.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
That's good advice. But you know, before we move on
from ostriches, I do want to talk about a couple
other ways that these massive birds tip the scales. So,
for one thing, they have the largest eyes of any
land mammal on Earth. Each eye is roughly two inches across,
which means they're about as big as a billiard ball
and even larger than the bird's own brains. Ostriches also
have the largest eggs in the world, which I guess
(18:27):
an average one comes in at about six inches in
diameter and weighs more than three pounds, which is about
as much as two dozen chicken eggs.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Good lawyer, That is one big omelet. Also, though, like
people do eat them right like current Ostrich eggs a
delicacy in some.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Places, definitely, and a single egg provides quite a meal.
I think it's roughly two thousand calories, so basically a
day's worth.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Well, I know there's at least one more giant bird
we wanted to cover today, But if you don't mind,
there are a couple misconceptions about oscar that have always
bugged me, So I'd like to take a couple of
minutes to set the record straight on those. And actually
I want to start with the idea that ostriches bury
their heads in the sand.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Sure, so I remember this from mental class, but I
remember thinking it was just an illusion, right, Like, ostrich
heads are pretty tiny compared to the rest of their bodies,
so if you're looking at them at a distance and
they're like nibbling at food, it just might look like
they're heads stuck in the ground.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, that's definitely true. But you know, actually, some researchers
think the real root of the myth has more to
do with the nesting habits of ostriches. So the birds
they have to dig some pretty big holes to stow
those massive eggs you mentioned, and sometimes these holes are
up to eight feet wide and two feet deep. And
you know, it's during the egg incubation period where all
(19:45):
the confusion comes in. Like ostrich parents take turns rotating
their eggs with their beaks, which you know obviously requires
them to stick their heads pretty far into the nest.
So you know, to an observer, it might look like
the ostriches bear its head in the sand, but that's
actually not what's going on at all.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
That's really fascinating. I never heard that. But do you
have like another ostrich myth you wanted to share? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Yeah, And this one it actually goes beyond just ostriches
because it concerns the origin of an entire family of
flightless birds known as ratites. So along with ostriches, the
radites family also includes other big birds like EMUs and rheas,
as well as tiny flightless birds like kiwis. And for
(20:29):
the longest time, researchers have assumed that ratites never had
the ability to fly at all. And that's because we
know that the wings of these birds are still functional
rather than ornamental. So an ostrich for example, uses its
wings like a rudder. Not only are they good for
maintaining balance, they also help the birds turn and break
(20:50):
when running at high speeds. So the thinking has been that,
you know, since their wings don't seem to be vestigial,
ratites probably always lack the ability to fly, and instead
they simply evolved from other ancient flightless birds.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Which is really interesting. But I think we're saying is
that theory is now being challenged. Is that right, right?
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Yeah, that is right.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
More recent research suggests that the ancestors of Ratite spread
to more isolated regions at a time when their wings
were still used for flying, and you know, they likely
did this as a way to avoid becoming the lunch
of their larger dinosaur cousins. And you know, then as
the dinosaurs died out and the continents began to separate,
these now isolated birds found themselves at the top of
(21:33):
the food chain and suddenly without the need to escape
to higher ground anymore. So once the need for flight
was removed, so too was the need to stay small.
And you know, in order to be able to fly,
and that enabled the birds to independently evolve and become
larger as well as flightless.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Which you know, makes a lot of sense, and it
also explains why far flung islands are home to so
many big flightless birds. Right Like New Zealand had this
twelve but tall, five hundred pound moa bird, and that
was until humans hunted it to extinction in the thirteenth century.
And Madagascar was also home to this elephant bird. I'd
never heard of this bird, but it's amazing. It was
(22:12):
an astonishing ten feet tall and nine hundred pounds. Yeah,
and I mean jackbirds can thrive in these island settings,
partially because there aren't any you know, predators for them
to worry about, aside from humans.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Right exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Well, with all that in mind, what do you say
we talk a little about another member of the rat
tite family, one of the world's biggest and most misunderstood birds,
the island dwelling cassowary.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Sure, so this is actually what I've been waiting to
talk about. But before we do, let's take another quick.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Break, all right, Mango, So you said you were excited
to talk about cassawerries, just like I am, so would
(23:03):
you mind giving us a quick rundown of their stats,
because I somehow feel they're not as well known as
ostriches and penguins and.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
All these other birds we've been talking about.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah, that's definitely true. So cassowaries are large, flightless birds.
They've got black and blue feathers and these big protective
frills on the sides of their heads called casks. And
there are only three species in the world at this point.
Two live in the rainforest of New Guinea off the
coast of Australia, and the third and largest one lives
in the wet tropics. This is in the northern tip
(23:34):
of Australia. You know. Birds of this third species are
called southern cassowarys, and they typically weigh in around one
hundred and thirty pounds. They stand about six feet tall,
and they're also fiercely territorial. If you intrude on their habitats,
they'll happily slice you up with their terrifying five inch
long claws. Ough.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Yeah, cassowaries are famous for that kind of deadliness, and
with good reason, honestly, Like, I was reading this article
on smithsonian dot Com and the author Jacob Brogan. He
said that cassawaries resemble quote an ostriche as described by
HP Lovecraft, or maybe a turkey fused with a veloci raptor.
(24:16):
And I mean, if those descriptions don't sell you on
how dangerous these birds are, consider that they're also sometimes
nicknamed murder birds. What yeah, And I mean, not only
do they have those razor sharp clause you mentioned, they
also have one of the strongest kicks of any animal,
and they also have a tendency to charge their victims
(24:36):
at up to thirty miles per hour and then they
pounce on them by leaping up to five feet in
the air.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Ah. That's terrifying. And it also makes me wonder, like
what if they remade the movie Birds with murder birds
like that would be so much scarier. But you know,
you mentioned before the break that cassowaris are somewhat misunderstood,
and I was hoping you clarify that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Yeah, well, it's just like with ostriches, you know, cassawaryes
aren't some kind of malicious human hunters like we might
think of them. They're actually shy, peaceful, and pretty harmless
when left to themselves. And in fact, a cassowary hasn't
killed a human since nineteen twenty six, and even then
that was only in self defense. And you know, while
(25:18):
over one hundred humans have been injured by cassawiris since then,
we've actually done way more damage to them, like car
accidents and habitat loss. Those kinds of things have decimated
the southern cassawary population in Australia and in fact, they're
now listed as endangered and only around fifteen hundred to
(25:38):
two thousand are thought to be left in the wild
at this point, and it really it could be even
fewer than that for all we know.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
So one of the things I didn't get to that
was curious about the castowarrias is how did the locals
feel about them, Because on one hand, I think the
birds would figure into like culture and folklore, and on
the other hand, people probably don't want these giant dinosaur
birds just slicing up their neighbors.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Right, Yeah, that's a good point, and you know, I'd
say it's kind of a rocky relationship at the best.
But the cassowaries definitely have their supporters, like in fact,
you'll often see signs along the highways in Australia now
that encourage motorists to be CASSOWERI fun, right, and you
(26:23):
know that's just a you know, get people to keep
an eye out for the birds while they're driving. And
as for folklore, cassowaries have always been a big part
of the mythologies of Australia's rainforest tribes. For example, some
locals believe the cassawerys are cousins to human beings, while
others say that they are human beings who have been
reincarnated as birds. And actually, this last part there, it's
(26:46):
actually even inspired a bit of envy in some of
the female locals, Like they'll joke that they'd like to
reincarnate as female cassowaries since it's the males of that
species rather than the females who sit on all the
eggs and then raise the chicks that hatch from them.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well, you know, even apart from the stress free reincarnation
for females, Australians do have another reason to stand up
for the cassawerret cousins.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Oh yeah, what's that.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Well, apparently cassowarys are masters of seed dispersal, which means
they're a big part of why Australia still has as
much rainforest as it does. And this is something I
learned from a NAT Geo article by Olivia Judson, so
I just want to go ahead and read her explanation
of this relationship quote as Australia's fruit eaters and chief
cassawerres are also chief architects of the forest. In the
(27:35):
course of a day, a single adult cassowery eats hundreds
of fruits and berries. Cassowary digestion is gentle, though, and
does not harm the seeds which emerge intact. And so
as a cassawery wanders through its territory, eating, drinking, bathing,
and defecating, it moves seeds from one part of the
forest to another, sometimes over distances of half a mile
or more. It also moves seeds uphills and across rivers.
(27:58):
In short, it transports the seeds in ways that gravity
alone cannot by means of their fruit scented droppings, then
cassawerris are a powerful vehicle for spreading seeds around.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
That is pretty awesome, and you know now that you
mention it. That's something I read about large birds in general,
like how the growth or loss of rainforests is directly
tied to their presence. I mean, the tallest, hardiest trees,
those tend to come from bigger seeds, and without birds
big enough to carry or swallow them, the odds of
(28:29):
those seeds ever taking root is pretty slim. So in
a very real way, the future of our rainforest depends
on the existence of big, weirdo birds like the castlary.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
And you know, in fact, there was this one study
done on a particular tree that only grows in a
small region of Australia's coastal rainforests, and it went a
long way towards showing just how crucial castaways are for
the trees survival. And that's because, according to the report,
without passing through one of these giant bds, only four
percent of these tree seeds ever take root and grow.
(29:05):
But after passing through a casawary a lopping ninety two
percent were shown to grow into adult trees.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
I mean, that's remarkable, Like ninety two percent of the
seeds that go through casseawarris end up growing into trees.
But why is that exactly?
Speaker 3 (29:21):
That's the thing no one knows exactly.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
It's it's still one of the best kept bird secrets
out there. And you know, because I like that idea
of going out, you know, with an air of mystery.
What do you say we just leave the discussion there
and jump straight into.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
The fact off.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
I'm for it.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Let's do it, Okay, So I'll go first, because I
can't bear going through an episode like this without at
least mentioning the fastest predator on the planet, the peregrine falcon,
And they have two unbelievable abilities. The first is their eyesight,
(29:59):
and I read somewhere that their vision it's about twelve
times that of humans, and they can actually use it
to spot a smaller bird from up to five miles away.
And once this prey is spotted, I mean it might
as well call it quits. Because peregrine falcons can fly
over one hundred and eighty miles per hour when they
hit peak speed.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeh, that's terrifying.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
You know.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
I was at the beach and walking with like a
tray of food and fries on it for my kids,
and this seagull just swooped down and picked up one
fry off the plate, and I just remember being stunned
at like how fast it was, and how accurate, and
the fact that like a falcon can do that at
one hundred and eighty miles per hour is so scary
(30:41):
to me. But you know, we talked about penguins earlier,
but I wanted to note that while we think of
penguins mainly being at the South Pole, there are definitely
a few other spots where you can find them. In fact,
the majority of the world's eighteen penguin species also live
around New Zealand. But the reason I bring this up
is because a few years ago there was this fossil
that was discovered on what might be the largest penguin
(31:03):
species to ever live. It was probably over fifty million
years ago, but the penguin was six feet tall and
two hundred twenty pounds, So even the Emperor penguin, which
is gigantic, would seem tiny next to this thing.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
That's scary to even think about.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
If if you search online for the bird hat craze
of the late eighteen hundreds, or if you listen to
the podcast Dressed, you will realize that this was a
really serious fad.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
At some point these bird hats.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Women all over the US and Europe were wearing these
hats with feathers and even entire birds propped on top.
Like I was reading an article from Popular Science that
talked about how someone reported back after taking two strolls
through Manhattan in eighteen eighty six, and on this stroll
they counted seven hundred hats, and five hundred and twenty
(31:55):
five of them were topped by feathers or just entire birds.
So I mean the craze it actually got so big
that several bird species became at risk of or even
outright endangered, and a campaign to stop the practice launched,
and much of this work led to the birth of
the earliest autobonn societies, as well as the first federal
(32:17):
conservation legislation, which was the Lacy Act of nineteen hundred.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
So do you know that one of the ways researchers
can take a census of large birds on remote islands
is from space, And this is how a researcher is
studying albatross in New Zealand and on islands off the
coast of Argentina actually keep a better count of the birds.
So it's with a little help from cameras on satellites
orbiting the Earth, researchers can actually look at images and
count the pixelated white dots to see how many albatrosses
(32:46):
are there, and ends up being way cheaper and much
less labor intensive than having to travel and count them
all in person.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Oh I bet.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Well, you know, they might be able to count birds
from space, but one thing they won't be able to
do is take birds into space.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Why is that, Well, it's because.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
Birds need gravity to swallow.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
So unless we come up with another way to assist
birds in swallowing, chances are you know, NASA's not going
to be bringing any birds on future Shuttle launches, at
least not anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Well, it just seemed wrong to me to do an
episode on Big Birds and not at least mentioned Big
Bird himself. So, you know, Carol Spinney, who is the
voice of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. It turns
out that if it wasn't for the encouragement of a mentor,
he might not have made it past the first year
of the show. When Spinney moved to New York City,
he didn't have much money. New York City is obviously
(33:39):
very expensive, and he didn't feel like he was fitting
in with the rest of the cast. So just a
few months into the gig. He mentioned this to Kermit Love,
who's the man who built Big Bird, and you know,
he said I might be quitting, and Kermit encouraged him
to give it some time, and in fact, he told him,
you'll never get an opportunity like this again. It'll get
better given another momth and nearly five decades later, I'm
(34:02):
pretty sure he's glad he got that advice.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Yeah, I would say so, and I mean, because there's
just no way I could beat a Big Bird. Fact,
I think you'll have to take the trophy for today.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Well, I'll take that honor from you, Gabe. So thank
you so much, and for all you out there. If
we missed any Bird facts, be sure to email us
at part Time Genius at HowStuffWorks dot com, where hit
us up on Facebook or Twitter. Thank you so much
for listening.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Thanks again for listening.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
Part Time Genius is a production of How Stuff Works
and wouldn't be possible without several brilliant people who do
the important things we couldn't even begin to understand.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Christa McNeil does the editing thing.
Speaker 5 (34:53):
Noel Brown made the theme song and does the mixy
mixy sound thing.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Jerry Roland does the exact producer thing.
Speaker 5 (34:58):
Gabe Bluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the
Research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams
and Eves.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Jeffcote gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.
Speaker 5 (35:07):
If you like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe,
And if you really really like what you've heard, maybe
you could leave a good review for us.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Do we forget Jason?
Speaker 3 (35:14):
Jason who
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