PODCAST | The Khwezi Science Report: Singing for sex, and other urban tales

In this episode of the Khwezi Science Report, Tanya Farber takes us into the world of birds in the concrete jungle. She shares a harrowing urban story of an avian pet, shares some fascinating studies, and speaks to Dr Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk who is an obsessive twitcher.

Rijsdijk shares some gripping tales of a killing he witnessed while in a traffic jam, and why a weaver's nest is an architectural marvel.

“You almost can't imagine that a human could weave something that intricate and fine and yet the bird is doing it with its claws and beak, complete mastery of the materials,” he says.

Home-building is one thing — but what's a home without a sex partner with whom to create offspring? Farber explains the frenetic vocal activity that happens backstage and when the curtain finally rises on the dawn chorus.