BBC Winterwatch fans took to their social media accounts to share their surprise and laughter at the recent innuendo Chris Packham made during the new series of Winterwatch.
Packham, Michaela Strachan and Iolo Williams returned to present the 2025 series from the RSPB Arne reserve on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset.
The latest edition took a look at the wildlife that calls the diverse landscape of Arne home, from the bustling estuary to the ancient heathland.
During the episode, Packham and Strachan took a look at the way Waxwing birds eat up to 1,000 red berries a day, leaving the naturist to delve deeper into their anatomy.
He explained: “No matter how many berries they can eat in a day, let’s take another look at the Waxwing eating the berries.
“It has got special adaptations of the tongue which facilitate a greater efficiency of swallowing. It has got the berry in its mouth, it has inverted its tongue, it has pushed the tongue beyond the berry and you can see that little flange on the tip of the tongue there.
Chris and Michaela were exploring how Waxwing birds eat berries
BBC
“We use our tongue for vocalising, birds don’t do that, they use it as we do as well, manipulating and swallowing food.”
Taking viewers for a more in-depth look, Packham and Strachan walked over to the models where he continued: “We have some models over here and we can start looking at the Waxwing.
“Let me withdraw the specialised tongue of the Waxwing here and you can see that coming out and it does as it is swallowing a berry.
“So the hyoid bone will be at the base of the tongue, it pushes it out here and you have this structure at the front here, called the paraglossum.
Chris Packham demonstrated the way the birds swallow the berries
BBC
“I have a fake berry here so you can see what it does. It pushes the tongue past the berry, and those two spikes then catch on the berry.
“As it brings the tongue back into the mouth it drags the berry back in and facilitates the swallowing of a larger berry, so it allows them to pull that berry back down their throat using their paraglossum.”
Fans of the series were left stunned with the innuendo and the constant reference to the bird’s “tongue action”.
One penned on X: “Amazing muscular tongues. You know exactly what you’re doing @ChrisGPackham #Winterwatch.”
“@ChrisGPackham #Winterwatch …Brilliant, just brilliant as always,” another simply penned before another added: “Loving the tongue facts/information.
“Never knew there was so much to be talked, discovered and learned about tongues in birds!”
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Fans of the show were left stunned by the tongue innuendo
BBC
Someone else noted: “Well, that was some interesting tounge action going on there #winterwatch.”
“That prop was like seeing the real thing, raunchy! #winterwatch,” someone else joked before a sixth expressed: “#winterwatch always good for an inuendo. Tongue action…” (sic)