Best of Natural History Radio

Mar 22 2020 370 ep. 60.6k

Best of Natural History Radio Podcast artwork

The BBC Natural History Unit produces a wide range of programmes that aim to immerse a listener in the wonder, surprise and importance that nature has to offer.

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Living World : My Living World : Woodcock

Mar 22 2020 21 mins

Wildlife filmmaker Hannah Stitfall and wildlife film researcher Dom Davies enjoy a close encounter with one of our most mysterious birds, the woodcock, when they review another selection from the LIVING WORLD archive. The woodcock is a wader which spends most of its life in woodland where its wonderful mottled plumage makes it very hard to see, especially as they are nocturnal so m

Living World : My Living World : Winter Flies

Mar 10 2020 21 mins

Where do flies go in winter and what happens to them? Wildlife filmmaker Hannah Stitfall and wildlife film researcher Billy Clark review another selection from the Living World archive to try and find out the answer. The original programme was recorded beside an icy pond in a woodland near Kidderminster where, with the help of pooters and ‘ghostbuster gear’, a surprising number

Living World : My Living World : The Spined Loach

Dec 29 2019 21 mins

Keen naturalist Hannah Stitfall is joined by wildlife film researcher Dom Davies to review another programme from the LIVING WORLD archive. The subject today is Spined Loach - a fish you might never heard of because, whilst locally they are abundant, they are classified as a rare protected species and are only found in a handful of places in the UK. Also known as the Spotted Weathe

Living World : My Living World : Jackdaw Roost

Dec 15 2019 21 mins

In this episode from 2011 Joanna Pinnock wonders what makes jackdaws roost together, and to find out more heads to the Cambridgeshire countryside with corvid scientist Dr Alex Thornton. Arriving in the dead of night they await one of nature’s spectacles, of thousands of jackdaws simultaneously leaving their night roost in a cacophony of sound. It is one of those winter spectacles

Natural Histories : Aye-Aye

Nov 29 2019 27 mins

Think sprite or hobgoblin and you are nearly there when it comes to the Aye-Aye, surely one of the weirdest looking creatures on earth? With its large saucer-like eyes, massive ears, and long skeletal middle finger which its uses to tap for grubs on logs, this lemur both fascinates and terrifies us. Endemic to the forests of Madagascar, some local people believe that if one looks a

Natural Histories : Pigeon

Nov 22 2019 27 mins

The relationship between humans and pigeons is one of the oldest on the planet. They have been our co-workers; delivering messages, assisting during the war, providing a source of food, a sport and obsession for many, and a suitable religious sacrifice. They helped Darwin with his theory of Natural Selection, have become a powerful symbol of peace and helped us unravel some of the

Natural Histories : Fern

Nov 15 2019 27 mins

For a plant that we generally associate with shady, damp places, a plant that has no flowers or scent, the Fern has drawn us into her fronds and driven an obsession that is quite like any other. Pteridomania or Fern Madness swept through Victorian Britain in part thanks to the availability of plate glass from which manufacturers could build glass cases for growing ferns. The trade

Natural Histories : Poppy

Nov 08 2019 27 mins

Poppies are associated with many things but to most people they are a symbol of remembrance or associated with the opium trade. Natural Histories examines our fascination with the flower. Lia Leendertz visits the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew where James Wearn shows her a collection of poppy paraphernalia from around the world. Andrew Lack, of Oxford Brookes University and author of Po

Natural Histories : Chicken

Nov 01 2019 27 mins

How did we get from the gorgeous red junglefowl scratching away in the jungles of south-east Asia to the chicken now eaten in its millions? Brett Westwood and Joanna Pinnock trace the trail. The story's told by Greger Larson, Director of the Palaeogenomics & Bio-Archaeology Research Network; Annie Potts, Director, New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies; Dr Joanne Edgar, Un

Natural Histories : Bee

Oct 25 2019 27 mins

Bees have been the subject of fascination and reverence since ancient times. Natural Histories explores the story of bees and why humans like to compare themselves to them, seeing ourselves as either virtuous workers or moral examples. The ancient Greek poets thought of themselves as bees who foraged and chose the sweetest words to produce great art, while the Victorians admired be