Tweet of the Day

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BBC Radio 4 LW

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: Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird

BBC Radio 4 - Tweet of the Day, Red-winged Blackbird

Sir David Attenborough presents the North American red-winged blackbird.

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
 
Sir David Attenborough presents the North American red-winged blackbird.  The arrival of spring in the USA is heralded by the unmistakable "conk-ra-lee" call of the red-winged blackbird.  The male blackbirds, who are un-related to the European blackbird, flutter their red and yellow wing-patches like regimental badges to announce their territories.  The numbers of Red-winged blackbirds has increased spectacularly in the mid 20th century as more land was converted to growing crops on which the birds feed. Today at a winter roost hundreds of thousands, even millions of birds darken the skies over the plantations or marshes in which they will spend the night - a loud and unforgettable spectacle.

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Tweet of the Day

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