How Birds Breathe: The Avian Respiratory System

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This is Episode 125. Host Ivan Phillipsen takes listeners inside the amazing respiratory system of birds. He starts by grounding the topic in familiar territory—how mammal lungs work—before revealing how different the avian system really is.

The episode walks through the unique division of labor between birds’ small, rigid lungs and their large air sacs, and explains the elegant, one-way flow of air that keeps oxygen constantly moving across gas exchange surfaces.

The episode also looks back in time, exploring how this respiratory design first evolved. Listeners will come away with a deeper appreciation of what’s happening inside every bird with each breath.

Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website

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