Summary

This is the annual review of fascinating ornithology stories from 2025. Learn about a handful of standout studies that deepened what we know about birds, from major developments in global bird taxonomy to surprising insights about behavior, evolution, and conservation.

After a few featured deeper dives, the episode shifts into a rapid-fire “Speed Round,” spotlighting a flurry of bite-sized discoveries.

The episode wraps with some notable 2025 taxonomy updates (splits, lumps, and reclassifications) and a brief personal year-in-review for Ivan and the podcast itself.

Research Citations

• AviList: a unified global bird checklist
• Arctic bird nesting traces back to the Cretaceous
• Environmental Variability Shapes Life History of the World's Birds
• Continental-scale behavioral response of birds to a total solar eclipse
• Does biofluorescence enhance visual signals in birds-of-paradise?
• The Bearded Vulture as an accumulator of historical remains: Insights for future ecological and biocultural studies
• Avian telencephalon and cerebellum volumes can be accurately estimated from digital brain endocasts
• Social associations across species during nocturnal bird migration
• Earliest short-tailed bird from the Late Jurassic of China
• North American bird declines are greatest where species are most abundant
• Flamingos use their L-shaped beak and morphing feet to induce vortical traps for prey capture
• A complete and dynamic tree of birds
• Street smarts: a remarkable adaptation in a city-wintering raptor