Okay, but what happens when a bird gets sick?

E42. Birds get sick too, and a lot of what happens next looks surprisingly familiar. Dr. Andrea Townsend of Hamilton College has spent two decades following American crows through outbreaks, and she walks Scott through what illness really does to a bird, from the family it belongs to down to the clever brain it depends on.
In this episode, you'll hear about:
• The surprising way crows choose their partners, and what it costs them when disease comes around
• What a stomach bug does to one of the cleverest birds you'll ever meet
• Why going it alone can be the riskier move while a virus is spreading
All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:
• American Crow video contributed by Jay McGowan, ML472843
• Common Raven audio contributed by Gerrit Vyn, ML137574
• Burrowing Owl audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML188805