Home Planet - 23/11/2010

During last year's exceptionally cold winter, a solitary male blackbird in a listener's garden learnt how to hover and take food from handing bird feeders. He passed this ability on to his mate and now other species are learning the trick, including magpies. Have they all been paying attention to the original blackbird or is something else helping them acquire new skills? There's also the question of can we live without domestic livestock, what is the agricultural impact of the gradual reduction in smoking, and why the Icelandic volcano might bring a hidden benefit to British farmers. And as the festive season approaches, is it really better for the environment to buy a real Christmas tree? On the panel this week are Dr Ros Taylor, an expert in sustainability from Kingston University; soil scientist Dr Chris Collins of Reading University and ornithologist Graham Appleton of the British Trust for Orninthology. Contact: Home Planet BBC Radio 4 PO Box 3096 Brighton BN1 1PL Or email [email protected] Or telephone: 08700 100 400 Presenter: Richard Daniel Producer: Toby Murcott A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.