Random Bird Thursday: An Antisocial Bottom-Feeder from the Antipodes

The Science of Birds

Ivan Phillipsen

Biology, Natural History, Birds, Birding, Science, Life Sciences, Birdwatching, Nature

4.8 • 960 Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2026

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In each Random Bird Thursday (RBT) episode, the goal is to highlight a bird species that probably isn't going to get featured in a full-length podcast episode. These are birds we might overlook, even though they certainly deserve some appreciation and attention. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ⚠️ SPOILER ALERT! The featured species in this episode is the Yellow-eyed Penguin (Megadyptes antipodes). Support the show

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome.
0:09.7	This is the Science of Birds.
0:17.0	The Science of Birds podcast is a lighthearted exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners.
0:24.4	Today is the best day of the week, and that is Random Bird Thursday.
0:33.1	Every random Bird Thursday episode is relatively short compared to the normal episodes,
0:39.3	and random bird Thursday episodes are unscripted, so there's a little more off the cuff.
0:43.6	And what we're doing is spotlighting a bird species that probably won't get featured in one of
0:49.1	the full-length episodes. There are over 11,000 bird species in the world, and this is our opportunity to celebrate one of the species that we might otherwise overlook. So which random bird are we talking about? Well, to figure it out, we got to push the random bird selector button and see what comes up.
1:24.5	Ooh, exciting. We have a penguin. The yellow-eyed penguin. Megadiptis antipodes.
1:29.3	That scientific name has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Megadipedes Antipodes. Now many of us think about Antarctica when we think about penguins, but this species is actually
1:35.3	endemic to New Zealand.
1:37.3	It's the largest of the penguin species that breeds on the New Zealand mainland.
1:42.3	Okay, let's dive in and talk all about this bird.
1:46.0	So first, we'll talk about the appearance of the yellow-eyed penguin.
1:59.0	You probably have a mental image of what a typical penguin looks like. So yes, the body shape of the yellow-eyed penguin. You probably have a mental image of what a typical penguin
2:02.2	looks like. So yes, the body shape of the yellow-eyed penguin is similar to that. This species
2:08.2	stands somewhere between 25 and 31 inches or 62 to 79 centimeters tall. And that makes it somewhere
2:16.1	between the fifth or six tallest penguin species.
2:19.3	Of the 19, there are 19 penguin species total, just as of last year because we added a new penguin species.
2:27.3	So picture a penguin, of course it's got the dark back and the white belly.
2:31.3	The key thing about this bird is it indeed does have yellow eyes,
2:35.6	and that sets it apart from the other 18 species. Some other penguins have kind of reddish-orange
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ivan Phillipsen, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ivan Phillipsen and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.