Tweet of the Day

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Factual: Science & Nature

Discover birds through their songs and calls. 265 programmes of 90 seconds, over a year

Discover birds through their songs and calls. Each Tweet of the Day begins with a call or song, followed by a story of fascinating ornithology inspired by the sound.

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Tweet of the Day 

Tweet of the Day: Red-throated Caracara

Red-throated Caracara

BBC Radio 4 - Tweet of the Day, Red-throated Caracara

Sir David Attenborough presents the red-throated caracara from the Amazonian rainforest.

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
 
Sir David Attenborough presents the red-throated caracara from the Amazonian rainforest.  The size of buzzards, red-throated Caracaras are black- and -white birds of prey that travel together when searching for paper wasp nests among the leaves. While some birds search for food, others act as sentinels on the lookout for predators. If a monkey or a spotted cat approaches, the sentinel will alert the flock and together they will mob the intruder with loud calls. They specialise in bee and wasp grubs, but seem impervious to stings and it was once thought that they may possess a special repellent which deters the adult insects. Latest research now shows that when they are disturbed by the caracaras, paper wasps keep away from their damaged nest to avoid further danger and so the birds simply take advantage of the wasp's absence. 

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