If you've ever taken part in the American holiday of Thanksgiving, you've probably eaten

some turkey.

And just perhaps you have participated in the ancient and barbaric ritual of getting the turkey's

wishbone and breaking it into two pieces, with your little brother Jimmy or your uncle

Fred or whoever.

The one who gets the largest piece of the wishbone gets their wish granted, right?

Because that's how magic works. So if you know about that weird ritual, if you've done that,

then you've held in your hand a bone known as a furcula, formed by the fusion of clavicle bones in a

bird. It turns out that the furcula has been one of the focal pieces of

evidence that scientists have used to figure out where exactly birds came from and where they

belong on the great tree of life. Hello and welcome. This is the Science of Birds podcast.

I'm your host, Ivan Philipson, and I'm really excited because this is the very first episode.

I'm jazzed that you're here with me as we get this podcast off the ground.

So thanks so much for being here.

The goal of the Science of Birds podcast is to provide fun information about bird biology that isn't super technical, dry, stale, boring, or crusty. I do have a background in biology,

so I can, if I'm not careful, go down that slippery slope into jargon world. That said, scientific terminology isn't always avoidable,

and I hope we can have some good times learning some of the specialized vocabulary of ornithology.

But overall, I'll do my best to keep this digestible and accessible,

something that you would enjoy listening to in the car or while you're out jogging, that kind of thing.

I want the podcast to be educational but lighthearted and fun.

Perhaps you are wondering, who is this Ivan character?

Alternatively, you might be asking yourself, why do they call those little candy bars fun size?

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