Tweet of the Day

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BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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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: Adelie Penguin

Adelie Penguin

BBC Radio 4 - Tweet of the Day, Adelie Penguin

Liz Bonnin presents the adelie penguin on a windswept Antarctic shore.

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
 
Liz Bonnin presents the adelie penguin on a windswept Antarctic shore.  A huddle of braying shapes on a windswept shore in Antarctica reveals itself to be a rookery of Adelie Penguins. These medium sized penguins whose white eye-ring gives them an expression of permanent astonishment were discovered in 1840 and named after the land which French explorer Jules Dumont d'-Urville named in honour of his wife Adele. They make a rudimentary nest of pebbles (sometimes pinched from a neighbour) from which their eggs hatch on ice-free shores in December, Antarctica's warmest month, when temperatures reach a sizzling minus two degrees.  In March the adult penguins follow the growing pack ice north as it forms, feeding at its edge on a rich diet of krill, small fish and crustaceans. But as climate change raises ocean temperatures, the ice edge forms further south nearer to some of the breeding colonies, reducing the distance penguins have to walk to and from open water. But, if ice fails to form in the north of the penguin's range it can affect their breeding success, and at one research station breeding numbers have dropped by nearly two thirds.

Producer : Andrew Dawes

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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