Tweet of the Day

Tweet of the Day

Discover birds through their songs and calls. Each Tweet of the Day begins with a call or song, followed by a story of fascinating ornithology inspired by the sound.

Episodes

June 1, 2025 1 min

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 iridescent green and purple sheen ...

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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.

Producer : Andrew Dawes Image : Co...

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March 24, 2019 1 min

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

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March 17, 2019 1 min

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

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March 10, 2019 1 min

Welsh poet and playwright Gillian Clarke first saw a red kite in the Welsh mountains as a child, a bird which now has expanded east and now Gillian regularly sees them sky-dancing over Reading while she travels to London on the train.

Producer : Andrew Dawes

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March 3, 2019 1 min

For wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample the strange sound of Dupont's lark is something of an enigma, as despite recording half a dozen birds he has never actually seen one.

Producer : Andrew Dawes

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February 24, 2019 1 min

For wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample hearing the jazz like notes of the Orphean warbler on the island of Lesvos reminds me of the legend of how the bird got its name.

All this week Geoff will be selecting his bird species from the Tweet of the Day archive which can be heard again on the Tweet of the Week Omnibus.

Producer : Andrew Dawes

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February 17, 2019 1 min

For natural history writer, speaker and tour leader Dominic Couzens the impeccably turned out goldfinch is the avian glitterati, bird royalty, star quality on the feeders. Yet it was an encounter with 400 goldfinch feeding on thistle seed heads which captivated Dominic.

Producer Andrew Dawes

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February 10, 2019 1 min

Taking a break from his worldwide travels, natural history writer, speaker and tour leader Dominic Couzens recounts why the moorhen is a comical bird which can hold a few surprises that's no laughing matter.

Producer Andrew Dawes

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February 3, 2019 1 min

For many, actress Trudie Goodwin is best known for her television roles as Sergeant June Ackland in The Bill and latterly in Emmerdale. But during all that time Trudie has possessed a lifelong love of bird watching. At the age of ten she was given the Collins Book of British Birds, which on a well thumbed page contained occasional accidental migrants which could be found in Britain, including the hoopoe. It was not until much later...

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January 27, 2019 1 min

Trudie Goodwin is probably best known for her television roles as Sergeant June Ackland in The Bill and latterly in Emmerdale. But during all that time Trudie has possessed a lifelong interest in birds and bird watching. It was while on holiday in the Caribbean that Trudie first heard the call of the male carib grackle, a tropical blackbird. And she fell in love with this noisy, curious and intelligent bird so much she'd have love...

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January 20, 2019 1 min

For actress Kirsty Oswald, an appreciation of nature has always been a family affair. In this episode of Tweet, she explains how it was her Uncle who sparked her fascination with the natural world, and what the significance of the robin's place in Irish folklore means to her.

Producer Elliott Prince

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January 13, 2019 1 min

Actress Kirsty Oswald has embarked on an ambitious bird-watching feat; over the course of a year, she plans to spot 100 different species of bird in the British Isles. In this episode of Tweet of the Day, she explains how a serendipitous walk led to her undertaking such a task, and how enthusiasm, enjoyment and a love of walking can be more fortuitous than formal ornithological knowledge.

Producer: Elliott Prince

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January 6, 2019 1 min

For Rachel Unthank a lifetime interest in the magpie provides inspiration for this Tweet of the Day.

Along with her sister Becky, Rachel is part of the family affair The Unthanks from the North East of England. As one of the leading exponents of traditional music The Unthanks are equally at home playing to Tyneside folk club one night, 2000 Londoners the next before inspiring the next generation of songwriters at a primary school. ...

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December 30, 2018 1 min

For Becky Unthank her interest in birds goes beyond just watching them while out in the countryside, as she has recently named her son wren to reflect her love of the natural world.

The Unthanks is a family affair from the North East of England and one of the leading exponents of traditional music.. Categorizing their music is difficult, but The Unthanks see their work and songs as less a style of music and more delivering an ora...

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December 23, 2018 1 min

For writer, gardener and TV presenter Monty Don, swallows are as central to his garden as any plant. Their return to the garden in April brings a soaring familiarity of song, which when they depart in September leaves the skies above silent and empty, and for Monty a feeling of loss and longing for their return after the long winter months.

Producer Andrew Dawes

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December 16, 2018 1 min

For writer, gardener and TV presenter Monty Don, the changing seasons herald different sounds and atmospheres in the garden. In autumn as the leaves begin to fall, the arrival of flocks of fieldfares from the north of Europe are as much a part of the garden in winter as are summer migrants during the long days of June. A mixture of truculence and shyness, everything about fieldfares is harsh or jerky, but for Monty he likes them.

P...

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December 9, 2018 1 min

Former Stornoway band member Brian Briggs with a story of how the chaffinch song was the first he recognised. Brian, now a reserve manager at the Wetlands and Wildlife Trust's Llanelli Wetland Centre, remembers how his first job as an ecologist at Oxford's Wytham Woods ignited his journey into learning the language of birds throughout the seasons.

Producer: Andrew Dawes

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December 2, 2018 1 min

Brian Briggs, former singer, lyricist, and guitarist with the band Stornoway, has had a lifelong passion for the natural world and birding, even completed a PhD on ducks. Stornoway, who's third album Bronxie (the colloquial name for the arctic skua) finally disbanded in 2017, allowing Brian to convert his hobby and long standing love affair with birds into a career. He is now is the reserve manager of the Wetlands and Wildlife Trus...

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November 25, 2018 1 min

Although Carry Akroyd, who is is President of the John Clare Society, grew up in the countryside, as a child she was never shown or taught anything of the natural world around her.

It was not until adulthood that a revelatory moment occurred. Walking one day in Wicken Fen, that she heard an unfamiliar noise above her, which she discovered was the drumming flight of an overhead snipe, a bird whose long bill the peasant poet John C...

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