Podcast: Play in new window
BOB HIRSHON (host):
Dinosaurs at your bird feeder. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
Birds are descended from dinosaurs, a fact that led Science Update listener Russell Ginns of Bethesda, Maryland to call our 1-800-WHY-ISIT line as he watched birds squabbling at his bird feeder.
RUSSELL GINNS (Bethesda, MD):
Is it possible I’m watching dinosaur behavior exhibited?
HIRSHON:
Paleontologist Joe Sertich at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science says it’s plausible.
JOE SERTICH (Denver Museum of Nature and Science):
The behavior of birds in your backyard probably is very similar to at least the small theropod or meat-eating dinosaurs.
HIRSHON:
For instance, he says theropod brain structure indicates they moved like birds.
SERTICH:
So the way they kind of hop around and kind of jerk and move their head from side to side, that’s probably something you’d see in a small meat-eating dinosaur as well.
HIRSHON:
If you have a science question, call us at 1-800-WHY-ISIT or email us from our website, scienceupdate.com. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.