Best of Natural History Radio

By BBC Radio 4

What's Best of Natural History Radio about?

The BBC Natural History Unit produces a wide range of programmes that aim to immerse a listener in the wonder, surprise and importance that nature has to offer.

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Best of Natural History Radio episodes:

11.29.2019
Natural Histories : Aye-Aye
Think sprite or hobgoblin and you are nearly there when it comes to the Aye-Aye, surely one of the weirdest looking creatures on earth? With its large saucer-like eyes, massive ears, and long skeletal middle finger which its uses to...
11.22.2019
Natural Histories : Pigeon
The relationship between humans and pigeons is one of the oldest on the planet. They have been our co-workers; delivering messages, assisting during the war, providing a source of food, a sport and obsession for many, and a suitable religious...
11.15.2019
Natural Histories : Fern
For a plant that we generally associate with shady, damp places, a plant that has no flowers or scent, the Fern has drawn us into her fronds and driven an obsession that is quite like any other. Pteridomania or Fern...
11.08.2019
Natural Histories : Poppy
Poppies are associated with many things but to most people they are a symbol of remembrance or associated with the opium trade. Natural Histories examines our fascination with the flower. Lia Leendertz visits the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew where James...
11.01.2019
Natural Histories : Chicken
How did we get from the gorgeous red junglefowl scratching away in the jungles of south-east Asia to the chicken now eaten in its millions? Brett Westwood and Joanna Pinnock trace the trail. The story's told by Greger Larson, Director...
10.25.2019
Natural Histories : Bee
Bees have been the subject of fascination and reverence since ancient times. Natural Histories explores the story of bees and why humans like to compare themselves to them, seeing ourselves as either virtuous workers or moral examples. The ancient Greek...
10.18.2019
Natural Histories : Sloth
The dreamy smile of the sloth has made it wildly popular, but once its slowness was condemned and saw it named after one of the seven deadly sins. Brett Westwood and Joanna Pinnock talk to those who really know, understand...
07.29.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 12: The Puffin Rescuers
In the final episode, Becky Ripley and Emily Knight search for pufflings that have run into trouble on their journey from their burrows to the sea, guided by the light of the moon.
07.15.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 11 Leaving the Nest
The season is ending. Becky Ripley and Emily Knight go in search of the last pufflings left in the burrows on the Isle of May to give them a quick check-up before the birds leave their family homes and head...
07.08.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 10: Puffin Decoys
How do you draw puffins to an island they abandoned long ago? Emily Knight and Rebecca Ripley are on Ramsey Island off the west coast of Wales. Here they're trying a very loud solution - blasting out the sound of...
07.07.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 9: Nuffin' Like a Puffin
Emily Knight and Rebecca Ripley are taking a break from the island in this episode, If you think puffins are just small penguins, Warhorse author Sir Michael Morpurgo is here to tell you how wrong you are in this tale...
07.01.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 8: The Plastic Problem
Becky Ripley and Emily Knight find the Isle of May's beaches awash with plastic waste and discover its not just plastic we can see that is damaging, but tiny fragments shed from our clothes too.
07.01.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 7: Beyond Cuteness
This week Emily and Becky take a break from the Isle of May. In their absence, award-winning author Adam Nicolson presents a rich, visual piece of writing that celebrates the real puffin that's there to be seen when you look...
07.01.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 6: Netting Puffins
Becky Ripley and Emily Knight return to the Isle of May, where they string up a giant net to catch puffins as they fly past. When the fish in their beaks are sent flying, they go running to gather them...
06.06.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 5: Rough Seas and a Wreck
High winds and choppy waters slow Emily Knight and Becky Ripley's return to the island, raising fears for some of the seabirds' chicks, and there's news of a mass puffin death in Alaska
06.06.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 4: The Seabirds' Sound Bath
Becky Ripley and Emily Knight invite you to sink deep in sound as they present an immersive wildlife experience from master recordist Chris Watson
05.23.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 3: Grovelling for Pufflings
Becky and Emily find themselves deep in a game of puffin roulette, all in the name of science. They go grovelling underground into puffin burrows to count how many chicks have been laid in this year's breeding season and the...
05.15.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 2 The Puffins’ Return
Emily Knight & Becky Ripley, from Blue Planet II: The Podcast, explore the Scottish puffin paradise where they’ll be following breeding season in #planetpuffin. In episode 2 the duo stake out in a hide on the Isle of May to...
05.15.2019
Planet Puffin. Episode 1 Island Life
Emily Knight & Becky Ripley, from Blue Planet II: The Podcast, drop anchor at Scotland’s Ilse of May as the puffins return after a winter at sea and the year’s breeding season is getting under way. They meet reserve...
05.15.2019
Welcome to Planet Puffin
Follow the fortunes of a Scottish puffin colony across this year’s breeding season with Emily Knight & Becky Ripley, from Blue Planet II: The Podcast, in #planetpuffin
03.31.2019
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Cuddy's Duck
The eider duck, known locally as "Cuddy's" duck, is regarded as the first bird in the world to have been given conservation protection, when St Cuthbert offered the eider duck sanctuary on the Farne Islands in the seventh century. Today,...
03.25.2019
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Hares
We all know about the myth of the Mad March Hare, but what is the background to it? Is there any biological reason for the name? Lionel Kelleway meets Gill Turner, who has observed the behaviour of brown hares since...
03.25.2019
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Hares
We all know about the myth of the Mad March Hare, but what is the background to it? Is there any biological reason for the name? Lionel Kelleway meets Gill Turner, who has observed the behaviour of brown hares since...
03.21.2019
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Bobby Tulloch
In the 50 years of Living World has traveled across almost every corner of the British Isles, sometimes it is a contributor rather than the wildlife which attracts attention. In this Living World from 1974 Peter France headed up to...
03.11.2019
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Stoats
One of our most engaging mustelids, the stoat is the subject of this Living World from 2003. Normally stoats are more often only seen in open countryside dashing across open ground and out of sight. Yet in North Yorkshire stoats...
03.03.2019
Lindsay Chapman's Living World from the Archives - The Green Isle
The Island of Islay is probably best known for the production of fine peaty whiskies. Yet each winter thousands of geese and other northern birds find refuge on this Scottish island. It also has Britain's most thriving colony our rarest...
12.30.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Wild Boar
The wild boar has had a checkered history in the British countryside. This once native species was hunted out of existence in the 13th Century and despite a number of reintroductions finally disappeared from our fauna in the 17th Century....
12.23.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Winter Ravens
The raven is both agile and majestic in flight but shrouded in mystery, superstition and folk law. How was it that our biggest member of the crow family, a bird once protected as an important scavenger in ancient times, was...
12.16.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Caledonian Pine forest
Standing next to a tree which was likely a sapling when wolves roamed freely in Scotland is a humbling experience. And so it was that Lionel Kelleway began this Living world from 2002. Joining Lionel next to a venerable 'granny...
12.09.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Avocet
As the logo of the RSPB, the slender black and white avocet is a familiar bird in winter on the river Exe in Devon, but not in the summer. By the mid Victorian era the avocet had all but stopped...
10.21.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Dungeness
The shifting shingle world of Dungeness is a remarkable place. There are four internationally important shingle peninsulas in the world. Two in Germany, one in America, (Cape Canaveral) and yes you've guessed it, Dungeness in Kent. The unique landscape of...
10.14.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - The Oak Tree Planters
The jay is one of Britain’s most colourful birds. A kaleidoscope of fawns, pinks, greys, black and white, alongside striking blue wing patches which, if you’re lucky enough to get close to see, alter in graduated shades of blue and...
10.07.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Underwater Architects
Today’s fashion for self-built homes may have started a few decades ago, but for nearly 200 million years, a family of insects have been quietly developing their own, des res. Depending on where you come from, they are sometimes known...
09.30.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - The World's Largest Slug
In this episode, Lindsey Chapman will bring this story up to date since this episode was first broadcast in 2008, offering some up to date thoughts on all things molluscan. It is not often on the Living World that the...
09.23.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Hen Harrier
Ghosts of the Moor are how the pale grey male hen harrier is sometimes referred to as it glides seemingly without effort across an upland landscape. To find out more and to revel in actually seeing a hen harrier on...
07.01.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Blackbirds
Possibly our most familiar songster,a blackbird singing high up on a rooftop is one of the real pleasures of living cheek by jowl with the natural world. These woodland edge members of the thrush family have over centuries become a...
06.24.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Woolston Eyes
Often we think of nature reserves are a product of preserving pristine or unique habitat for wildlife. Yet many nature reserves are products of reclaiming man made activity and letting nature take its course, with a little help. For this...
06.17.2018
Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Catch the Pigeon
The humble pigeon is an often overlooked bird. We pass by it often without a second glance as we rush along our busy city streets, but if we stop and wonder, how does the pigeon know where it is and...
06.10.2018
Living World From the Archives - The Machair Of The Western Isles
The machair is a unique coastal grassland, rich in wildflowers, that form one of the rarest habitats in Europe, and for this Living World wildlife presenter Lindsay Chapman relives the magic of this man made but fragile landscape which Brett...
03.25.2018
Living World from the Archives - The Celtic Rainforest
High in the hills of the Snowdonia National Park in Wales, can be found a rare and fascinating habitat. We all know of the importance of the Tropical Rainforests, however these Celtic Rainforests are in a way even rarer, with...
03.25.2018
Living World from the Archives - Celtic Rainforest
High in the hills of the Snowdonia National Park in Wales, can be found a rare and fascinating habitat. We all know of the importance of the Tropical Rainforests, however these Celtic Rainforests are in a way even rarer, with...
03.18.2018
Living World from the Archives - Essex Geese
Around 100,000 dark bellied brent geese head to Britain every winter to escape the extreme cold weather of their arctic breeding grounds in Russia. Britain is therefore an important wintering ground for these geese with many thousands heading to the...
03.18.2018
Living World from the Archives - Essex Geese
Around 100,000 dark bellied brent geese head to Britain every winter to escape the extreme cold weather of their arctic breeding grounds in Russia. Britain is therefore an important wintering ground for these geese with many thousands heading to the...
03.11.2018
Living World from the Archives - A Starling Eruption
The famous evening murmuration, fantastic formations of huge flocks of starlings coming in to roost, brings hundreds of visitors to the levels each winter. But far fewer people see the spectacle of the dawn eruption when the starlings take off...
03.11.2018
Living World from the Archives - A Starling Eruption
The famous evening murmuration, fantastic formations of huge flocks of starlings coming in to roost, brings hundreds of visitors to the levels each winter. But far fewer people see the spectacle of the dawn eruption when the starlings take off...
03.04.2018
Living World from the Archives - Snowdrops
There are 19 species of the wild snowdrop in the world, all in the genus Galanthus. Wild snowdrops are found across much of Europe from Spain to the Caucasus , with Turkey being a hot spot for these 'milk flowers',...
01.07.2018
Living World from the Archives - Mountain Hares
The Mountain Hare, sometimes called the Arctic or Blue Hare, is a native of Scotland but to most people's surprise a colony also live in England. Brett Westwood relives programmes from The Living World archives. This episode from 2005...
12.31.2017
Living World from the Archives - Winter Ponds
Brett Westwood relives programmes from the Living World archives. This episode from 2012 sees Miranda Krestovnikoff with Jeremy Biggs then from Pond Conservation (now known as Freshwater Habitats Trust) for a special Living world devoted to the ponds of the...
12.24.2017
Living World from the Archives - Ancient Holly
Brett Westwood relives programmes from the Living World archives. In this episode from 2011 Joanna Pinnock travels up to the Stiperstone Hills of Shropshire where she meets up with Sara Bellis and Carl Pickup from the Shropshire Wildlife Trust at...
12.17.2017
Living World from the Archives - Godwits
Black-tailed godwits are an elegant long legged bird about the size of a pigeon. In the summer they are found in the arctic where the Icelandic race of this species then migrates to Britain to spend the winter in relatively...

What's Best of Natural History Radio about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Best of Natural History Radio episodes:

Natural Histories : Aye-Aye

Natural Histories : Pigeon

Natural Histories : Fern

Natural Histories : Poppy

Natural Histories : Chicken

Natural Histories : Bee

Natural Histories : Sloth

Planet Puffin. Episode 12: The Puffin Rescuers

Planet Puffin. Episode 11 Leaving the Nest

Planet Puffin. Episode 10: Puffin Decoys

Planet Puffin. Episode 9: Nuffin' Like a Puffin

Planet Puffin. Episode 8: The Plastic Problem

Planet Puffin. Episode 7: Beyond Cuteness

Planet Puffin. Episode 6: Netting Puffins

Planet Puffin. Episode 5: Rough Seas and a Wreck

Planet Puffin. Episode 4: The Seabirds' Sound Bath

Planet Puffin. Episode 3: Grovelling for Pufflings

Planet Puffin. Episode 2 The Puffins’ Return

Planet Puffin. Episode 1 Island Life

Welcome to Planet Puffin

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Cuddy's Duck

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Hares

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Hares

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Bobby Tulloch

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Stoats

Lindsay Chapman's Living World from the Archives - The Green Isle

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Wild Boar

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Winter Ravens

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Caledonian Pine forest

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Avocet

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Dungeness

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - The Oak Tree Planters

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Underwater Architects

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - The World's Largest Slug

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Hen Harrier

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Blackbirds

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Woolston Eyes

Lindsey Chapman's Living World From the Archives - Catch the Pigeon

Living World From the Archives - The Machair Of The Western Isles

Living World from the Archives - The Celtic Rainforest

Living World from the Archives - Celtic Rainforest

Living World from the Archives - Essex Geese

Living World from the Archives - Essex Geese

Living World from the Archives - A Starling Eruption

Living World from the Archives - A Starling Eruption

Living World from the Archives - Snowdrops

Living World from the Archives - Mountain Hares

Living World from the Archives - Winter Ponds

Living World from the Archives - Ancient Holly

Living World from the Archives - Godwits