Urban Wildlife Podcast

Evolution by natural selection is happening all around us, all the time, even in our cities. Biologist Menno Schilthuizen, author of Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution, talked with Billy about how species adapt to urban … Continue reading →

This year we honor World Sparrow Day with a look at how they got to North America and the Sparrow War of the 1870s that followed. Matt Halley joins us to talk about the weird but true history of exotic … Continue reading →

What can cities do to connect kids with nature? Billy and frequent guest host Robin Irizarry of the Tookany/Tacony/Frankford Watershed Partnership (TTF) interview Richard Louv to find out. Richard will be speaking on February 28th, 6pm at the Friends Center … Continue reading →

Pete Marra joins us for a special episode to talk about his (and Chris Santella’s) book Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer. We originally posted this for his talk last year at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. … Continue reading →

When is a raccoon not just a raccoon? What can a dandelion teach us about changing the world? We talk with Evan Lovett of V.U.R.T. about their Philly Local Critter series of murals, including a pretzel-eating raccoon. We also hear … Continue reading →

Dr. Christian Hunold, a political scientist at Drexel University, is a dedicated wildlife photographer and wrote a paper, Why not the City?, about the hawks of Center City Philadelphia, the humans who watch and love them, and what all that … Continue reading →

It’s the worst thing humans do, but nature fills in the scars on city landscapes. We discuss how naturalists from London to Berlin studied the ruins, and we hear from the Urban Birder, David Lindo, about the black redstart, a … Continue reading →

This summer our frequent guest host Robin Irizarry (Philadelphia Watershed Coordinator for the Tookany/Tacony Frankford Watershed Partnership) took a trip to Rome. Lots of people see the history, enjoy the culture and food of the eternal city. Robin brought his binoculars … Continue reading →

It’s easy to be a birder in Philadelphia, but what about Bethlehem (not the one near Allentown) or the Gaza Strip? Learn about nature and nature loving under occupation, and hear about two organizations training citizen scientists, educating children about nature, … Continue reading →

Nighthawks and bats come out at dusk to fatten up on cemetery bugs before migration and hibernation. In this special mini episode, we take a page from the Field Guides and record a full episode outside at one of our … Continue reading →

Tony and Billy join Robin Irizarry (Philadelphia Watershed Coordinator for the Tookany/Tacony Frankford Watershed Partnership) at his Irizarry Hillstead and hear Bryan Windmiller talk about Grassroots Wildlife Conservation‘s work with marbled salamanders and bridle shiners in the Boston area and … Continue reading →

What’s it like to be a rattlesnake in an urbanizing landscape, keeping to your patch, dodging car tires if you leave? In this special episode we air an interview that listener and wildlife biologist Pete Havlik did with Ecologist/Conservation Biologist … Continue reading →

Zya Levy and Kaitlin Pomerantz of the We the Weeds project join us for a weed walk in the neighborhood. Then we retire back at the Urban Wildlife Podcast studio with invasive species beverages, including a cocktail featuring utopic/dystopic bitters. … Continue reading →

On this impromptu, patched-together, mini episode, we present recordings in the moment: Mike McGraw, Billy, and Magnolia check out a Philadelphia black rat snake; Billy nerds out over urban short-headed garter snakes in Pittsburgh; and a red-tailed hawk picks up some squirrel … Continue reading →

Urban wildlife is great to look at, but what about when it makes your home its home? Guest host Christian Hunold (dig his photos) joins us as we look at cute omnivorous mesofauna in this episode: opossums, possums, skunks, palm … Continue reading →

Urban wildlife is great to look at, but what about when it makes your home its home? Guest host Christian Hunold (dig his photos) joins us as we look at cute omnivorous mesofauna in this episode: opossums, possums, skunks, palm … Continue reading →

In this mini episode Dr. Seth Magle of the Urban Wildlife Institute of Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo talks with Billy about the Institute and how they’re remotely monitoring urban wildlife in Chicago and beyond. (you might remember Dr. Magle from … Continue reading →

Irish hares dig Belfast’s airport and rare El Segundo blue butterflies persist on dunes protected by the the airplane noise of LAX. Dr. Neil Reid of Queen’s University Belfast talks to us about the hares, and we hear from Dr. Travis Longcore … Continue reading →

Tony doesn’t take it easy on vacation. In December he flew to Australia to bird, herp, and explore. Of course he checked out some urban wildlife while he was down there, and in this episode we listen to his interviews … Continue reading →

[This is a re-post of our World Sparrow Day episode in honor of… World Sparrow Day 2017!!!] We celebrate World Sparrow Day (March 20th) with a look at Passer domesticus, a bird North American birders love to hate but that … Continue reading →