In this 1st birthday episode, I find out about some more avian criminals of the animal kingdom. I learn that most birds can’t taste sugar, but hummingbirds can, and I learn how. And in the Scientific Spark, I talk to Marlene Zuk, Professor of behavioural and evolutionary biology at the University of Minnesota. Together with Bill Hamilton, Marlene proposed the good genes hypothesis of sexual selection

Download the MP3

Quicklinks:

Maude Baldwin's Science paper on Hummingbird sweet taste page

Prof. Marlene Zuk's webpage

Dr Toni Shephard's paper on magpies

Crab Exeter on twitter