Hello and welcome.

This is the Science of Birds.

I am your host, Ivan Philipson.

The Science of Birds podcast is a light-hearted exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners.

This episode, which is number 59, is a bit different.

Today, I'm going to be answering questions from my listeners.

More specifically, these questions come from my supporters

on Patreon. I have several tiers or membership levels on my Patreon page. Each level comes with perks.

One perk for the helpful hornbill and awesome Osprey tiers is getting to submit questions for episodes like this.

So today we've got a fun grab bag of questions to ponder. I have no shame in admitting that to

find the answers for some of these I had to do a little research. As is often the case here on

the science of birds,

I also learn a lot about birds when I research these episodes.

And I love that.

I always want to be learning and expanding my own knowledge.

I'm a lifelong learner just like you.

All right, let's quit goofing around and have a look at these questions.

Judy Houston has a question that relates to bird evolution and biogeography. Her question is, and I'm paraphrasing a bit,

quote, it would be really convenient if the breakup of pangia could explain bird radiations and migration,

but the continents were already widely dispersed by the time of the Great Extinction, 66 million

years ago. What is the timing and pathway by which our North American passerines came to be,

if indeed they all have a New Zealand slash Gondwana origin? End quote. That is a fantastic

...