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Birding is booming in Colombia helped, in part, by bird fairs and festivals held throughout the country for Colombian birders in addition to the increased interest shown by visiting birders from around the world. Last month, host Nate Swick got to visit the Colombia Birdfair in Calí, where he met Jose Manuel Martinez, a Colombian birder, and one of a team of birders putting on the event.  He’s had a front row seat to Colombia’s fascinating rise as not only a birding destination, but a birding culture. Interested in traveling to some of the places we read more >>

We are in a golden age of bird migration science, and birders can only wonder at the ways in which we learn about bird migration in the 21st Century. Rebecca Heisman's new book, "Flight Paths: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration" tells the story of bird migration research to the present, with all the amazing techniques and entertaining characters involved in figuring so much of it out. Also, the Kowa Scopers are our champions for Champions of the Flyway.   Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, read more >>

Birding editor Ted Floyd returns to join host Nate Swick for "Birding, Annotated".  In the doldrums of early March, both Ted and Nate each took a birding outing to a local spot and return chat about it. Hear their thoughts on the coming spring, junco diversity, counting birds in eBird, the importance of the regular checklist. Check out Ted's checklist from Lafayette, Colorado, and Nate's from Greensboro, North Carolina.  Also, the Dusky Tetraka is back! Or perhaps more accurately, no one was really looking for it. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please read more >>

2022 was an exceptional year for rare bird sightings in the ABA Area, with no fewer than three first ABA records and an absolute avian smorgasbord of interesting and unexpected records from all corners of the US and Canada. As difficult as it is to choose the best, North American Birds editor Amy Davis and writer and teacher Tim Healy join host Nate Swick to attempt to do so, or at the very least, have some fun remembering the highlights of last year. Also, Nate is back from a fantastic trip to the Colombia Birdfair. Subscribe read more >>

February might be the shortest month, but that doesn’t mean it gets the short shrift when it comes to This Month in Birding. We’ve got a great panel this month that absolutely adores birds as is appropriate for the season. Jody Allair from Birds Canada, Sarah Bloemers of the Bird Sh*t Podcast, and our friend Nick Lund, the Birdist, join us to talk about Steller's Jay splits, Hawaiian Island Restoration, the possible return of the Dodo, and much more! Links to stories discussed in this episode: eBird Exotic Species Update Steller's Jay Might be Multiple Species read more >>

You don’t have to be a birder for a long time to appreciate that birds are capable of producing an astonishing array of colors and patterns, even those beyond what our weak human eyes can discern. Hidden in that avian rainbow are clues to bird taxonomy and evolution, which is the work of our guest Whitney Tsai Nakashima, a researcher at Occidental College’s Moore Lab of Zoology. Also, can hummingbirds inspire robot drones? Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate read more >>

Young birders who have participated in the ABA’s Camp Avocet Maine’s well known Hog Island Audubon Camp, are no doubt familiar with Holly Merker. But that only scratches the surface of her contributions to the birding world. A former member of the ABA’s Recording Standards and Ethics Committee, and one of the authors of the well-received and timely Ornitherapy, she is the recipient of the ABA’s Award for Conservation and Education, formerly the Betty Peterson Award. She joins The American Birding Podcast to talk about mindful birding and applying ethics.  Also, the wild story of the read more >>

When it was first released in 1983, Peter Harrison’s Seabirds: An Identification Guide was immediately hailed as a classic of the birding literature, an accolade it not relinquished in 40 years. And so it was with much excitement that Peter released the New Identification Guide in 2021, practically a different and far more comprehensive book. Peter Harrison is an artist, an author and a conservationist, an MBE, and still perhaps the authority on the birds of the world’s largest biome. Plus, an ignoble end to a first ABA Area record. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and read more >>

We have reached the end of the first month of 2023 and it is once again time for This Month in Birding on The American Birding Podcast. For this panel we welcome a fascinating group of birders to geek out a little about birds. Martha Harbison, Dexter Patterson, and Jordan Rutter join us to talk about molt terminology, shushers, bright white woodcock tails and more.  Links to topics discussed in this podcast: WhatsApp-ened to bird news? Moult terminology. Let’s make it simpler! ‘Astonishing’ snowy owl spotted in Southern California neighborhood Eurasian Woodcock has the brightest feathers read more >>

Birding magazine editor and all-around bird-knower Ted Floyd is back for another bout of Random Birds. He joins host Nate Swick, a big bird list, and a random number generator to create podcast magic. This session includes a number of holarctic species, a pair of warblers and one of Ted’s 10 favorite bird species. Well, maybe…  Plus, some thoughts and the most gull rich metro in the ABA Area.  Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it! read more >>

Much of North America is gripped in the depths of winter. It’s cold. It’s snowy. It’s frequently unpleasant. But for those that push through, the birding can be oh so rewarding. This is especially true in places where the winter hits hardest. Diehard Minnesota birder Erik Bruhnke is guide for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours and a stalwart at birding festivals. He joins Nate to talk about winter birding, leading bird tours and cool bird facts. Also, Nate talks Costa Rica birding and a frustrating anti-feeder law. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please read more >>

Happy New Year List! It's finally time to celebrate our 2023 Bird of the Year, the Belted Kingfisher! And to help jumpstart a year of kingfisher content, we're excited to welcome this year's artist, Liz Clayton Fuller. Host Nate Swick chatted with Liz about kingfishers, her 2023 cover art "Queenfisher", and her work streaming art on Twitch. I think you'll agree that she is a delight. Also, Nate shares his first Belted Kingfisher experience and invites listeners to send theirs to podcast@aba.org. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or read more >>

Thanks to all our listeners and supporters for another exceptional year. To wrap up 2022, we welcome back some insightful and entertaining birder friends to the last This Month in Birding for the year. We're joined by Popular Science's Purbita Saha, science writer Ryan Mandelbaum, and The Birdist, Nick Lund to talk about the biggest birding trends of 2022 and our best birding experiences of the year. Links to article discussed in this episode: New Shazam for Birds will Identify that Chipping For You Female Blue Tits Sing Frequently Old Bones Suggest Presence of Thick-billed Parrots read more >>

ABA staffers Katinka Domen and Ted Floyd recently accompanied an ABA excursion to the land of penguins and albatrosses. They join host Nate Swick to talk about what it's like to visit the southernmost continent on Earth, and what ecotourism looks like in this unique place. Also, the ABA Bird of the Year 2023 is Belted Kingfisher! Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it! The American Birding Podcast brings together staff read more >>

It is time once more for the most anticipated Birding Book Club of the year, our annual Best Bird Books of the Year episode for 2022. With the holiday gift-giving season is right around the corner there's no better time to give the gift of bird books to the birder in your life. Or yourself, we don't judge. We are joined by 10,000 Birds book reviewer Donna Schulman and Birding magazine media and book review editor Frank Izaguirre to talk about what we loved this year in bird books. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google read more >>

One of the issues that the birding community has been reckoning with for the last several years is how we can encourage a broader coalition of nature enthusiasts to join us and to share the joy of birding. It’s an issue that Dr. Drew Lanham has given a great deal of thought. Lanham is a distinguished professor of wildlife ecology at Clemson University, a recent MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, and his memoir, The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair With Nature was published in 2017. In this encore episode from 2018, he joins host read more >>

Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating! How about a fun bird discussion to go along with our one and only bird-related holiday? Nate Swick is joined by Bird Sh*t's Mo Stych, aeroecologist Mikko Jimenez, and the ABA's own Greg Neise to talk about eBird status and trends, hybrid chickadees, bird rediscoveries, and our avian zodiac signs. Links to topics discussed in this episode: Smartphone-based Study Reveals Mental Health Benefits of Birding Evaluating crowdsourced data to Quantify Inequitable Access to Urban Biodiversity.  Hybrid Birds in Human-altered Landscapes Researchers Rediscover the Black-naped Pheasant-Pigeon What is Your Birth Month Bird? read more >>

The ABA is gearing up to announce its 2023 Bird of the Year but we’re not ready to say good-bye to the year of the Burrowing Owl just yet. With that in mind, we welcome Colleen Wisinski and Susanne Marczak of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Burrowing Owl Recovery Program to talk about their efforts to protect the local population of Burrowing Owls and what they’ve learned about the species in doing so. Also, Nate is back from a great Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google read more >>

A warmer and drier world means, unfortunately, a world in which wildfire becomes a greater risk. We know, all too well, the risk these fires pose to wild places, but there is surprisingly little we know about the risk to wildlife. That is the work of Dr. Olivia Sanderfoot, a researcher at UCLA looking at the impacts of wildfire smoke on wild birds and trying to answer a few of those increasingly relevant questions. Also, a new bird endurance record! Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review read more >>

If the English language is an amalgamation of words from thousands of other languages and cultures, then English common bird names are that writ small. They're a hodgepodge of from every possible source and an endless supply of amazing bird history and trivia. WINGS guide Susan Myers's new work, called The Bird Name Book, is a fascinating combination of etymology and ornithology, and she joins us to talk about it. Also, a really cool new study about convergent evolution. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if read more >>

It's the end of October and time for our monthly This Month in Birding panel. This week features a fun crew with MD/DC Bird Atlas coordinator Gabriel Foley, Birding magazine editor Frank Izaguirre, and Sarah Swanson, author of the new Best Little Book of Birds: Oregon Coast. The panel geeks out over woodpecker brains, commiserates over the sobering State of the Birds, and suggests exciting bird costume ideas for Halloween, among other things. Links to topics discussed in this episode: 2022 State of the Birds Reveals Widespread Losses of Birds in all Habitats Never Before Seen Colorful Bird Hybrid Surprises read more >>

Every spring, thousands of Red Knots congregate on the Delaware Bay to take advantage of the horseshoe crab spawn. Fueled by crab eggs they finish a migration that spans from the southern tip of South America to the northern reaches of North America. That essential link in this migratory chain is, once again, under threat, which concerns the environmental law group Earthjustice and partners. Tim Preso of the Biodiversity Defense Program is here to talk about what birders need to know about this new threat. Also, check out the new ABA Community! Subscribe to the podcast read more >>

Baby birds are arguably one of the great identification frontiers of birding. Try to identify a gangly, fluffy mess of a bird and you immediately recognize the need for a real resource to help you out. Artist and bird rehabilitator Linda Tuttle-Adams is the author of a new book, Baby Bird Iidentification: A North American Guide, to set us right. She joins the American Birding Podcast to talk about identification of baby birds and why bird rehabilitation matters.  Also, the winter finch report is out! Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave read more >>

We’re certainly in the golden age of bird science, with more birders, more researchers, and more tools available to both of them to solve many of the great ornithological mysteries and to marvel at the capabilities of birds. National Audubon and a few bird science partners have put a lot of this modern science in a sleek simple package called the Bird Migration Explorer, a guide to the annual journeys of 450 birds in the Americas. Audubon scientists Melanie Smith and Chad Witko join us to talk the explorer and the wonders of bird migration. Plus, read more >>

It's time for This Month in Birding with Jody Allair, Jennie Duberstein, and Sean Milnes. The panel joins host Nate Swick to talk about the biggest bird news of the month with a wide-ranging discussion that covers a last gasp for the 'Akikiki, how vultures reduce carbon emissions, the state of the exotic bird trade and the answer to the question birders know all too well, "What's your favorite bird?" Links to topics discussed in this episode: Important Changes to Exotic Birds in eBird 'Akikiki Rescued Amidst Extinction Crisis Vultures Prevent Tens of Millions of Carbon read more >>

There is nothing like birding the American tropics, among iconic families like toucans, motmots, antbirds, tanagers, and more! Both Birding editor Ted Floyd and podcast host Nate Swick were fortunate enough to take part in this birding splendor in recent weeks, Ted in Colombia and Nate in Panama, and they share their experiences through their eBird checklists in another edition of the “eBird Annotated” series. Links to the checklists discussed: Valle Bonito, Panama Finca Candalaria, Panama Playa Rico, Colombia Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or read more >>

Several years ago, birding dads Ted Floyd and Nate Swick recorded their first Birding Without Tears episode, but they told only half the story. What about birding moms?? To help tell the rest of the story, I’m joined by Seattle-based writer Bryony Angell, who draws on her experience as a birding mom and her past as a birding kid to offer insight into a topic that many birders deal with at some point–“how do I get my kids to go birding and all of us have a good experience?” Also, Nate talks Panama. Wanna travel with read more >>

ABA Birders overlook Mexican birding at their own peril. The nation just to the south of the ABA Area hosts amazing culture, friendly people, and fantastic birds. Guest host Frank Izaguirre welcomes Mexican birder, artist, and photographer Jesús Antonio "Chucho" Moo Yam, who brings tales of birding adventure and community involvement, and reports on the the growth of ecotourism in Mexico. Also, check out the new Codebreakers feature in Birding magazine! Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it! read more >>

The first week of September is the official start of fall, meteorologically at least, though ornithologically it’s been on for weeks. It’s a wonderful season for birding and general naturing, but it does require a certain mindset and certain strategies. Who better, then, to talk about it than two legends of the fall, Greg Neise and Amy Davis. They join host Nate Swick to talk about what to expect as birds start moving south.  Also, we're hosting our 2023 Bird of the Year party in Nashville, Tennessee! More information to come. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple read more >>

At the end of every month, we host a roundup of recent bird news on the American Birding Podcast. For August we’re thrilled to welcome Stephanie Beilke, Jordan Rutter, and Brodie Cass Talbott to the panel to talk about homogenization of bird species, bird habitats in urban landscapes, wild Rock Pigeons, and how birding has changed in our lifetimes.  Link to articles discussed in this episode: As more bird species go extinct, those left may be more alike The strange reason migrating birds are flocking to cities Rare wild ancestors of domestic pigeon found on Scottish read more >>

One of the most iconic and beloved birds of the North American west is the Clark’s Nutcracker, the highlight of anyone’s trip to the high country. It will come as no surprise to anyone that the bird’s relationship to the ecosystem goes beyond begging for trail mix from hikers, a fascinating symbiosis that was recently the topic of Glacier National Park’s Headwaters podcast, whose host, Peri Sasnett, joins us to talk nutcrackers and conservation. Also, changes to the ABA Checklist are here, with more potentially on the way. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, read more >>

Earlier this year the ABA was delighted to award our Lifetime Achievement Award to a pair of birders who have made a very big impact not only on the places where they live, but on the birding community across the continent. J. Drew Lanham is a birder, poet, academic, award-winning memoirist, and JB Brunfield is an environmental educator, artist, and the undefeated Big Year champion of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. We welcome them both to talk about the state of birding, mentorship, and whether Ohio or South Carolina are better for birds.  Subscribe to the podcast at Apple read more >>

Close observers of the ABA might remember when we launched a new publication completely produced by a team of teen birders from all over the ABA Area. It's called The Fledgling, and after two issues it is well on its way to being something special. Hannes Leonard and Adrianna Nelson and members of The Fledgling team and they join Nate Swick to talk about this publication and the needs of young birder more generally. Also, why do field guides to the US and Canada call themselves field guides to "North America"? Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, read more >>

July is awfully hot across most of the ABA Area, and we’ve got a panel with no shortage of hot takes for the July 2022 This Month in Birding. Martha Harbison, Nicole Jackson, and Nick Lund join host Nate Swick to talk about national birds, woodpecker myths, ravens, macaws, and how your brain works when you bird. Don't forget to join the ABA for FREE coffee or join Nate in Panama in September! Links to topics discussed: Study Upends Theory that Woodpeckers have Shock-absorbant heads Common Ravens Repopulating the Eastern US Spix's Macaws Return to the read more >>

Back in May of this year, the American Birding Association announced the hiring of Nikki Belmonte as the organization’s newest Executive Director. She comes to us with a background in non-profit management, environmental education, and as a hobby birder. We’re excited to welcome her to the podcast to talk about birding community, CBCs, and the best flannel to cover up your nerdy bird shirt. Also, hoat is the deal with the Hoatzin? Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it! read more >>

Birding magazine editor and all-around bird-knower Ted Floyd is back for another bout of Random Birds. He joins host Nate Swick, a big bird list, and a random number generator to create podcast magic. They talk Eared Grebes, Black Vultures, and whatever other birds the magic number tells them to talk about. Also, the Duck Stamp is back and you can get yours at the ABA! Join the ABA and get a FREE bag of Song Bird Coffee! Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you read more >>

Birders love bird books, and we at the American Birding Podcast love to get together to discuss bird books in the Birding Book Club segment. Donna Schulman from the website 10,000 Birds and Birding magazine’s Frank Izaguirre join Nate Swick to talk about our favorite Bird and Birding Reference guides. It’s a broad topic, but if you’re looking for books to fill out your bird library, we’re here to help.  Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it! Nate's read more >>

It's the last episode of the month and that means it's time for This Month in Birding, featuring a fun panel of ABA friends discussing the biggest birding news of the month and more. On our panel this month, Sarah Bloemers from the hilarious Bird Sh*t podcast, Frank Izaguirre of the ABA's Birding magazine, and aeroecologist and birder Mikko Jimenez. They join host Nate Swick to talk Grasshopper Sparrow success, a new invasive bird in the UK, and the features you'd want in your ultimate birding vehicle. Links to articles discussed: Recovery of one of North America's Most read more >>

Mention Panama to a bunch of birders and typically only one place comes to mind - beautiful Canopy Tower. A former radar station and military installation west of Panama Cit, Canopy Tower has, over the last couple decades, transformed into one of the most well-regarded ecolodges in the Americas. And when you talk about Canopy Tower you cannot help but talk about Carlos Betancourt, whose work as a guide and mentor has helped to put Canopy Tower on the map and help establish a community of guides throughout Latin America. He joins us to talk about read more >>

In early summer eager birders turn to bird taxonomy, and we at the podcast turn once again to our friend Nick Block, professor of Biology at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts to read the tea leaves for American Ornithological Society’s North America Classification Committee and explain the latest in bird taxonomy. He joins Nate Swick to talk about new meadowlarks, Mew Gulls, and the House Wren MEGASPLIT. Also, some thoughts from Nate about using Merlin on Breeding Bird Surveys. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if read more >>

As part of its celebration of the third Black Birders Week, please enjoy highlights from the ABA’s two-part panel “Black Birders: Embracing the Beauty Within.” The panel session co-hosts are Sheridan Alford and Chelsea Connor. They are joined in the first session by Alex Troutman, Sharon Scott, and Scott Edwards, and in the second session by Alex Troutman and Danielle Belleny. Panelists explores such topics as childhood experiences with birds, how to pass on generational knowledge of birds, and whether things have changed since the first Black Birders Week. For the panels in their entirety as read more >>

Maybe more than anyone in North America in the last 20 years, Brian Sullivan has been deeply involved in things that birders do. He was one of the original developers of eBird, which hardly needs an introduction to listeners, and is now project lead of Cornell’s Birds of the World. In the last couple years Birds of the World has absolutely become an essential collection of bird knowledge which is all the more amazing considering the scope of the project. Also, Merlin's Sound ID is better than you think. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google read more >>

Julie Zickefoose scarcely needs an introduction. A prolific artist and an award-winning writer, much of her work is inspired by her home in southeast Ohio. It's the topic of a piece she has written for the May special issue of Birding magazine, Wildlife Gardening in Appalachian Ohio. She joins us talk about the satisfactions and frustrations that come from building a wildlife sanctuary and a little bit about the return of BWD. Also, we've got a new Executive Director! And some thoughts on the Biggest Week American Birding has seen in 3 years. Subscribe to the read more >>

It is the end of the month, and with it, comes the This Month in Birding panel. Because May is arguably the best month of the year for birding in the US and Canada we have a panel this month that attempts to meet those expectations. Mollee Brown of the Life List Podcast, Gabriel Foley of the Maryland/DC Bird Atlas, and Purbita Saha of Popular Science. Also, wanna travel to Panama with Nate?  Topics discussed in this episode include: Language Barriers in Local Bird Conservation Broken Wing Tactic More Widespread Than Thought Songbirds More Colorful the read more >>

Finding birds in places where you shouldn’t expect to find them if certainly one of the more exciting aspects of birding. In fact, it might well be the reason for the American Birding Association’s very existence. The unpredictability, the excitement, the community that builds around these sorts of birds are certainly appealing even the mechanisms that bring them to these places are not always known. Alex Lees is a senior researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University and, along with James Gilroy, the author of Vagrancy in Birds, which attempts to answer some of those questions of how read more >>

Friend of the ABA Nick Lund has had a busy spring! He not only published his first book, but his first two books. The ABA Guide to Birds of Maine is the newest installment in the well-regarded ABA guide series from Scott & Nix, and The Ultimate Biography of Earth seeks to reach science fans of all ages with its fun text and colorful illustrations. Nick joins Nate Swick to talk about them both and whatever else they get to. Also, turns out Nate had Covid, and he does not recommend getting it during spring migration. read more >>

It’s the last Thursday of the month and that means it is time for the American Birding Podcast This Month in Birding panel where we talk some bird news, share some sightings, and generally have a good time. We welcome to the panel this month Portland Audubon's Brodie Cass Talbott, the American Bird Conservancy's Jordan Rutter, and Birds Canada, Jody Allair.   Also, wanna travel to Panama with Nate?  Topic's discussed on this month's episode: Can birds keep up with earlier springs? Shakespearian Tall Tale Shaped how we see Starlings Discovering New Species by Listening for Them read more >>

The incredible variety of bird song in a morning chorus on a spring or summer day is a phenomenon that a lot of birders are familiar with. But even after centuries of study there is still a lot we don’t know about bird vocalizations, especially the world of female birdsong. The vocalizations of female birds are frequently as complex and important to the lives of birds as the songs we associate with male birds, and it’s only relatively recently that we’ve begin to really look into that. Dr. Lauryn Benedict, from the University of Northern Colorado, read more >>

As interest in birding has grown in the last couple years, birders have turned up in some really interesting places, including the streaming platform Twitch. Dr WD40, Liz Clayton Fuller, and Ian Davies are birders who have figured out this live streaming thing and are using it to build a community of bird and nature fans in a seemingly unconventional place, and they join host Nate Swick to talk all about it. Plus, if you want prairie-chickens, you've got to get to Kansas. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating read more >>

Birding editor Ted Floyd is back and ready to remember some birds! He joins host Nate Swick to put their fates in the hands of chance and a random number generator to find some birds to talk about woodpeckers, wrens, and warblers. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it! The American Birding Podcast brings together staff and friends of the American Birding Association as we talk about birds, birding, travel and conservation read more >>

It's time again for This Month in Birding! While March is arguably the slowest month of the year for birding in the ABA Area, we haven't given the short shrift with this excellent panel of returnees. From Sonoran Join Venture, Jennie Duberstein, from Birds Canada and The Warblers podcast, it's Andrés Jimenez, and from Birdmodo and a thousand other fun sciency things, it's Ryan Mandelbaum. They join host Nate Swick to talk indigenous science, hardcore eBirders, crafty magpies and Daylight Savings Time. Links to topics discussed: US Senate Passes Bill to make Daylight Savings Time Permanent read more >>

Forrest Rowland advocates for ecotourism around the world as a tour leader for Rockjumper and for ecotourism close to home with Landtrust, an effort to connect landowners in the west and outdoor recreationists in some pretty interesting ways. Birders get access to private ranches full of amazing birds and wildlife and landowners get to put their properties to work in an environmentally sustainable way. It's a win-win-win for birders, landowners, and the birds they are working to protect. He joins Nate Swick to talk about how it works and why people need more places to enjoy read more >>

In many many parts of the country, and the world, the most accessible greenspaces are cemeteries. And while they have a morbid reputation, they can offer lots of great nature opportunities for those willing to explore. Danielle Belleny is a wildlife biologist in San Antonio, Texas, a co-founder of Black Birders Week, and the author of the essay Lawn of the Dead: Finding Solace, Ecological Integrity, and Good Birding in America’s Cemeteries, which will run in the next issue of Birding magazine. Her new book This is a Book for People who Love Birds is also read more >>

The birding world was shocked and more than a little saddened late last year when the venerable magazine Bird Watcher’s Digest announced that it was ceasing operations. Famously founded by Elsa Thompson and Bill Thompson Jr in 1978 it was a real tent pole of the birding community in North America. But the exciting news is that the magazine will be back in 2022, rechristened as BWD and with many of the same people involved. Jessica Vaughan will be the editor and Mike Sacopulos the publisher. They join us to talk about the magazine relaunch and read more >>

If a bird calls in a forest, or a swamp, or a grassland, and no birder is there to hear it, did that vocalization really happen? The birds sounds we miss contain so much information about bird behavior and populations, wouldn’t it be useful if we could hear those sounds surreptitiously. That’s the work of Tessa Rhinehart, a researcher, birder, and mathematician at the University of Pittsburgh who trains computers to identify birds for science and conservation. Also, birders in Nova Scotia get a car company to overhaul their commercial. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, read more >>

It’s the last week of the month and that means it’s time for This Month in Birding. And while February is the shortest month, we do not give you the short shrift with our panel this month. We're joined by Sam D'Jarnett from Always Be Birdin', Orietta Estrada from Amplify the Future, and podcast regular Frank Izaguirre of Birding magazine to talk about murmuration dangers, Rare Bird Alerts pros and cons, and a Black Birders Week temperature check among other things. Links to topics discussed: Birds Fall From the Sky in Mexico Lead Bullets Stunt Bald Eagle Recovery read more >>

There is no question that climate change is having an impact on bird populations, but dig a little deeper and you find a tangled web of changing weather patterns, land use, habitat loss, and the different needs of individual species and groups of species that make coming up with management practices a real challenge. But birds, more than most other taxa, have the benefit of decades of data from both professional and community scientists perhaps best exemplified by the Christmas Bird Count. Dr. Sarah Saunders and Geoff LeBaron are authors of a paper published last month read more >>

We have seen, in recent years, an increased awareness of the need to make birding welcoming, inclusive, and accessible. There are many many avenues to making a reality. Birdability is an organization that seeks to do so for people with a wide range of disabilities, from mobility challenges to chronic illness to neurodivergence. My guests are Virginia Rose, the president and founder of Birdability and Freya McGregor, Birdability’s coordinator. Also, if not Burrowing Owl, perhaps Manuring Owl? Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are read more >>

We might be well into 2022, but it’s not too late to look back at the previous year in bird and birding phenomena. While the year started slowly, it built into an exceptional one for rare birds, with amazing individuals and stories that captivated birders across the ABA Area. To talk about it we're joined by Amy Davis, associate editor of the ABA's North American Birds journal and Tom Johnson of the ABA Checklist Committee. Also, have you been playing Brdl? Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review read more >>

It’s the last week of the first month of 2022, and time again for This Month of Birding. One of our panelists Brooke Bateman was scheduled to be with us but unfortunately came down with COVID, and we hope that she is on the mend soon. In her place steps the ABA's Greg Neise, who joins a panel of scientists Mikko Jimenez and Joanna Wu to chat about Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, bird migration science, and how we intend to celebrate Gullentine's Day. Links to articles discussed in this episode: USFWS re-opens comment period on Ivory-billed Woodpecker extinction read more >>

Texas birder Tiffany Kersten did not start 2021 with an ambitious year of birding in mind. But out of a job because of Covid closures, and with other hobbies unaccessible, the opportunity opened up to do something special. At the end of the year, she had traveled across the Lower 48 US states, raised awareness on the issue of women’s safety in the outdoors, set a new Lower 48 Big Year record of 726 species, and launched her own bird tourism business. She joins us to talk about her Big Year and her bigger purpose. Also, read more >>

Editor of the ABA's Birding magazine and frequent podcast guest Ted Floyd just returned a few weeks ago from a trip to Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, for the African Bird Expo. It just so happens to be a place that host Nate Swick has been as well, on an earlier incarnation of that same trip. So with that in mind, they thought it would be fun to apply the random number generator to their lists and remember some birds in Random Birds. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a read more >>

Last month the ABA officially announced the 2022 ABA Bird of the Year, which is Burrowing Owl! The excitement over the owl is, no doubt, helped along by the exceptional artwork of our Bird of the Year artist, Christina Baal, whose colorful and personable style seems to fit this species like an owl nestled in a subterranean PVC pipe. She’s with host Nate Swick to talk about Burrowing Owls, inspiration, and art. Plus, send us your Burrowing Owl stories, like the one Nate shares this week. This episode is brought to you by Buteo Books. Subscribe read more >>

We’re at the end of the month and the end of 2021. So it's time for the This Month in Birding panel. We bring back some of our birding friends from the year that was in the form of The Birdist Nick Lund, Bird Sh*t's Mo Stych, and Portland Audubon's Brodie Cass Talbott. We talk about the brand new ABA Bird of the Year, Burrowing Owls and rats, cursing crows, and our best and worst birding holiday gifts. Links to articles discussed in this episode: Burrowing Owl is the 2022 ABA Bird of the Year! Farallon read more >>

It is one of the great dreams of many birders, to be part of the discovery and description of a bird species that is brand new to science. But it is a process that can be long and involved. Ryan Terrill, an ornithologist at the Moore Lab of Zoology at Occidental College, was in the middle of it with the recent formal recognition of the Inti Tanager, a stunning South American bird known for years as the "Kill Bill" Tanager. Ryan's work surveying the bird's breeding territory in western Bolivia was a big part of that read more >>

Hawk-watchers are easily the most established sub-groups within the birding community, and the hawk-watching community in North America is close-knit and passionate. One of its undisputed authorities is Jerry Liguori of Salt Lake City, Utah, the author of Hawks at a Distance and Hawks from Every Angle, two of the most influential family-specific field guides in North America. He is the 2017 recipient of the ABA’s Robert Ridgway Award for publications in field ornithology and his articles have appeared many times in ABA’s Birding magazine. Jerry joins host Nate Swick to talk about the magic of watching hawks, his read more >>

The last Thursday of the month means it’s time for This Month in Birding, a very special This Month in Birding for a couple reasons. First, it is Thanksgiving in the United States, the birdiest of our national holidays. And second, it’s a special all Galbatross panel of This Month in Birding, featuring a whole 60% of the Galbatrosses. We're joined by Senior Manager of Conservation Science at Audubon Great Lakes, Stephanie Beilke, Audubon Network Content Editor Martha Harbison, and Popular Science writer and editor Purbita Saha, to talk condor virgin births, shrinking amazon birds, and read more >>

It is time once more for the most anticipated Birding Book Club of the year, our annual Best Bird Books of the Year episode for 2021. And while it is still November, holiday gift-giving season is right around the corner so we want to get this conversation out there for our listeners' sake. We are joined by 10,000 Birds book reviewer Donna Schulman and Birding magazine media and book review editor Frank Izaguirre to talk about what we loved this year in bird books. Also, the New Zealand Bird of the Year is a bat for some read more >>

The annual Winter Finch Forecast is easily one of the highlights of the birding year for many, and a perfect combination of birding science and birding art. When Ron Pittaway retired in early 2020, birders worried that the forecast would be retired as well, but that was happily not the case. Tyler Hoar stepped in and with the help of the Finch Research Network, brought the forecast into the 21st Century. He  joins us to talk about how it all works and what it was like filling the shoes of a birding giant. Plus, come join read more >>

Perhaps more than any bird in North America, Rock Pigeons suffer for their omnipresence and familiarity. But there is more to the humble and ubiquitous species than meets the eye. They are a great opportunity to learn not just about the wonders of birds, but about the interconnectedness of humans and nature. Naturalist and creator of Bird and Moon comics, Rosemary Mosco dives into the weird world of pigeons in her new book, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to know the World’s Most Misunderstood Bird, and joins the American Birding Podcast to talk all about read more >>

The last Thursday of the month is This Month in Birding with a panel of Jennie Duberstein, Nicole Jackson, and Sean Milnes. We have a wide range of stories to discuss, from escaped birds to birding by ear to landfills to domestic carrowaries. Links to topics discussed this month: Steller's Sea Eagle and Eurasian Eagle Owl escape from captivity. Blind Uruguayan birder creates sound may of Uruguay. Bird diversity at landfills. Hummingbirds smell their way our of danger. Papuans might have domesticated cassowaries. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or read more >>

The second half of 2021 has been an exciting half-year for the ABA, not least of which because we got to welcome two new colleagues. Katinka Domen and Laura Guerard are the Coordinators of our Travel and Events program and our Young Birder programs respectively. Both come to their positions having worked extensively in their field and with big ideas about how to make these two pillars of American Birding Association bigger, better, and more fun for birders of every age and station. We're excited to introduce them to you. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, read more >>

There's no place on Earth like Colombia. One of the world's only "megadiverse" nations, Colombia boasts friendly people, stunning landscapes, and absolutely mind-blowing birds. Join host Nate Swick and Colombian birders Diego Calderón (The Birders Show) and Eliana Ardila (Birding by Bus) as we travel through the Colombian Central Andes and explore what makes this place so amazing for birders, and how nature tourism is making a positive impact on the lives of so many people there. Check out some of the birds we talk about here! Thanks to Diego, Eliana, Roger Rodriguez, Nature Colombia, ProColombia, read more >>

When Jonathan Slaght’s Owls of the Eastern Ice came out last year, it was met with high praise. Slaght’s search for the enigmatic Blakiston’s Fish-Owl is a part of natural history, part adventure, and part character study set in a part of the world that very few of us know at all, except, perhaps, as the place many of our rare birds come from. It is out now in paperback, and Slaght joins host Nate Swick to talk about owls, writing, and conservation work in the Russian Far East. Also, Nate considers the official extinction of read more >>

It's the last episode of September 2021, and to add to this fall birding bounty comes a super panel featuring Birds Canada's Jody Allair, the Finch Research Network's Ryan Mandelbaum, and Jordan Rutter of the American Birding Conservancy. We're excited to chat about this winter's finch forecast, cutthroat birding, and some analysis of the Covid pandemic pause on birds in urban areas. Links to topics discussed this month: Last Week Tonight satirizes the Duck Stamp Contest (language warning) Birding is a Cutthroat Test of Skill, Strategy, and Endurance The 2021-22 Winter Finch Forecast is out! Birders read more >>

Birding editor Ted Floyd returns to join host Nate Swick in another round of "Random Birds", the most fun you can have with a bird list and a random number generator. Ted and Nate talk mergansers, bluebirds, nighthawks, and more as they continue their journey through the combined list of the birds of North Carolina and Colorado. Plus, Short-tailed Albatross stunts provide an opportunity to talk about birding ethics. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Play, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it! read more >>

Few birders in North American have taken on the mantle of urban birding like Ohio native J.B Brumfield. Their Cuyahoga County big years are the stuff of legend, not only for their high totals but for the passion they throw into birding their hometown of Cleveland and getting others excited about the birdlife and birding opportunities there. Chicago native Greg Neise has his own long history birding in urban areas, and steps in to talk to J.B. about Big Years, favorite local patches, and what to love about birding in the city. Birding editor Ted Floyd shares read more >>

What can we learn from one of the most familiar birds in North America? A bird so well-known that it’s migration is remarked upon by friends and colleagues who might otherwise have no knowledge about birds at all. The American Robin, of course, is ubiquitous but there is a lot left to learn. That is, in part, the work of Emily Williams, an avian ecologist at Georgetown University, currently studying the migration ecology of American Robins. She joins us to talk about what we don't know about a bird everyone knows. Plus, a Pileated Woodpecker story read more >>

The time of year for messy birds is here. It’s molt season, and nearly every bird you encounter in the late summer and fall is replacing something. Even though we are familiar with molt in theory, it’s still a confusing and intimidating process for many birders in practice. Dani Kaschube is the MAPS coordinator and bird banding guru for the Institute for Bird Populations. She has taught banders the ins and outs of molt for decades and she joins us to demystify molt, or at least make our best effort to do so. Also, Greg Neise talks read more >>

It’s the last week of August and that means it’s time for This Month in Birding featuring a panel containing some folks familiar to those who are keeping up with the growing birding podcast scene. It's a fun group with some birdosphere podcast crossover energy.  Mollee Brown from The Birding Co-op and the Life List podcast, Andrés Jiménez of Birds Canada's new podcast The Warblers, and our old friend Nick Lund, The Birdist, join host Nate Swick to talk about birding ethics, trash parrots, fur thieves, and whether we have saved a bird. Links to topics discussed read more >>

How would you describe summer birding? Hot? Humid? Buggy? Unbearable? For many birders it has always been the least exciting and most taxing season for getting in the field, but there's a lot to be excited about for those who make the effort.  ABA colleagues Jennie Duberstein and Greg Neise join host Nate Swick to talk about what excites them about the season, from molt to shorebirds to birding camp, and how to be prepared to handle the difficulties. Special granola bars for everyone! Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave read more >>

Parrots and parakeets are among the most spectacular and diverse birds on the planet, but also among the most adaptable. Urban parrots have made their way into dozens of places around the world and in many cities are a regular feature of city and suburban landscapes. The many ways that dynamic manifests is the subject of a new book, Naturalized Parrots of the World: Distribution, Ecology, and Impacts of the World’s Most Colorful Colonizers, edited by Dr Stephen Pruett-Jones who joins Nate Swick to talk parrots of all kinds. Also, Ed Yong has some fascinating things to read more >>

Kaua'i's forest birds are on the brink, says guest Dr. Lisa Crampton, but a new mosquito control effort offers a ray of hope for some of the most endangered birds in the world.

The last episode of the month means This Month in Birding, with a panel of Orietta Estrada, Gabriel Foley, and Mikko Jimenez. We have some interesting topics to chat about this week including that mystery bird illness and a possible connection to cicadas, a historical perspective on bird names in a major ornithological journal, how bird science is furthered by indigenous languages, Piping Plover movies and birds in the Olympics. Also, want to win some stuff from the ABA? Get information here! Links to topics discussed include: Thoughts on the mystery bird illness in the east. read more >>

Birding editor Ted Floyd joins host Nate Swick to once again chat about recent birding experiences in eBird Annotated. This time Ted and Nate have been on the road, birding in places that meant something to them in the past. For Ted, this is Pittsburgh's Frick Park, and for Nate, Sanibel Island in south Florida. As promised, enjoy their eBird checklists yourself! From Pennsylvania https://ebird.org/checklist/S91550753 https://ebird.org/checklist/S91550757 https://ebird.org/checklist/S91496800 https://ebird.org/checklist/S91565994 From Florida: https://ebird.org/checklist/S91433356 https://ebird.org/checklist/S91461785 https://ebird.org/checklist/S91229868 Plus, Nate is happy to report that the Duck Stamp will no longer require a hunting element. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, read more >>

We at the ABA are big fans of the growing birding podcast scene and one of the more interesting ones out now is Your Bird Story, which focuses on everyday people’s experiences with birds in cities. The host of Your Bird Story, Dr. Georgia Silvera Seamans, is, among other things, the director of Washington Square Park Eco Projects, an urban and community forester, and one of the co-organizers of Black Botanists Week. She joins us to talk about collecting bird stories from everyone and the importance of wild places in urban spaces. Also, Nate is back read more >>

In demand actor, 7 time winner of the Teen Choice Award, and avid birder? Ian Harding is best known for his work on the Freeform network’s teen-drama Pretty Little Liars, but in his new memoir Odd Birds he talks about how birds and birding have provided him with opportunities to find peace and focus in a life in the public eye. Ian joins host Nate Swick to share some stories from his new book and thoughts on what it could mean for birding to have such a high-profile advocate. This interview originally ran on June 29, 2017. Also, Birding editor Ted Floyd read more >>

It's Canada Day and this week sees an all Canada special episode of the American Birding Podcast, a tip of the cap to our friends in the northern part of the ABA Area. The Canada panel consists of some birders from across the country and features voices that podcast regulars probably recognize. From St, John’s, Newfoundland, we welcome Bird the Rock’s Jared Clarke. From Drumheller, Alberta (by way of Ontario) is Birds Canada's Jody Allair. And from Richmond, British Columbia, it's wildlife biologist and keeper of the BC Rare Bird Alert, Melissa Hafting. We talk about the read more >>

For June, the The Month in Birding Panel consists of Mo Stych of Bird Sh*t Podcast, Brodie Cass Talbott of Portland Audubon, and newcomer Joanna Wu of Audubon. The panel chats about Black Birders Week, bird habitat as climate sinks, and the many amazing uses of googly eyes. Links to items discussed: The second year of Black Birders Week (05:03) Floating Googly Eyes Scare Birds Away from Nets (10:35) Bird Habitats are Climate Sinks (16:35) Birds Respond More Aggressively in Multi-species Groups (28:25) Herpers Move Away from Cute Names, Birders Lean in (39:46) Subscribe to the read more >>

It’s time for the American Birding Podcast Birding Book Club and host Nate Swick welcomes bird media reviewers Frank Izaguirre from the ABA’s Birding magazine and Donna Schulman from the website 10,000 Birds to finally tackle birding's great contribution to world literature, the field guide. We start with guides to Mexico and Central America, popular destinations for US and Canada birders and a great place to begin the discussion about what makes a good field guide and who and what field guides are for. Help support the ABA and the American Birding Podcast by contributing to our Nesting Season Appeal. Books read more >>

Early summer means that it’s time to talk taxonomy, and that means Nick Block, professor of Biology at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. For the last several years, Nick is person we like to talk to when it comes to reading the tea-leaves of the American Ornithological Society’s North America Classification Committee. We chat storm-petrels, bunting lumps, and the curious case of the Swainson's Thrushes. Also, there's no better time to sign up to run your own Breeding Bird Survey route! Help support the ABA and the American Birding Podcast by contributing to our Nesting Season Appeal. read more >>

One of the dreams of the "internet of nature" was a device that birders could put in their yard that picks up GPS fitted and tracked wildlife, and maybe even identifies them when they pass over your home. That device is here and it is called Terra. Mike Lanzone of Cellular Tracking Technologies and birder and writer Scott Whittle, are the creators of this magic device. They both join me to talk about what it can do, and how it will change migration monitoring forever. If you want to contribute to their kickstarter, here's the link. read more >>

Sean Milnes, Jordan Rutter, and Purbita Saha join the May 2021 This Month in Birding panel to talk about some of the most important bird and birding related news items of the month. Links to items discussed: Female Bird Day (6:56) Colombia boycotts the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Global Big Day (8:52) AOS moves forward on changing English bird names (17:25) The period cicada's Brood X is here and impacting birds (24:15) Chicago releases feral cats into the city (33:40) Estimates of bird populations mean there are 6 wild birds per human (42:35) And don't forget read more >>

In the United States, we’re over 100 days into a new administration and five months into a new Congress, and our elected officials have been busy with some interesting environmental policies and legislation in that time. Interestingly, many of them impact birds. To chat about it, we bring back to the podcast, Tykee James, host of the On Word for Wildlife podcast from the Wildlife Observer Network. Tykee lays out what birders should be paying attention to, and talks about his new project, Freedom Birders. Plus, another Pileated Woodpecker story from Christy Esmahan in Austin, Texas, read more >>

Birding editor Ted Floyd is back to play a new birder game we're calling "Random Birds". Host Nate Swick has a list of birds and a random number generator and is ready to chat about whatever bird pops up. Nate and Ted chat about Snow Geese, Red Knots, Bobolinks, Blue Grosbeaks and more. Also, some birds in the news! California Condors and Vaux's Swifts invading homes in California. Thanks to Field Guides for sponsoring this episode. Check out their new video series, Out Birding with Field Guides. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave read more >>

Hummingbirds, perhaps more than any other bird family in the world, seem to elicit a strange sort of mania, and this seems to have been true for as long as human beings have been aware of them. Writer Jon Dunn is one of the obsessed, and his new book The Glitter in the Green - In Search of Hummingbirds is part history, part travelogue, and part quest to see as many of the world’s hummingbirds as possible, including some of the most iconic species on Earth. Also, another Pileated Woodpecker story from Lerena in Toronto, Ontario read more >>

The last Thursday of the month and that means it's time for the This Month in Birding panel. April 2021 is a special month because it marks one year from the 1st This Month in Birding, and one year since the podcast went to a weekly format. We're joined by a panel of Birds Canada's Jody Allair, Orietta Estrada of the Birder's Fund, and The Birdist, Nick Lund, who come to talk about the AOS Bird Names Congress, Bald Eagles, big news for the Black & Latinx Scholarship Fund, and thoughts on the accuracy of nature documentaries. read more >>

This time of year is a tough one for many birds, as they make their long dangerous journey from wintering grounds to breeding territories. The path taken by many sees them passing over or stopping to nest in increasingly urban landscapes. These landscape changes affect birds in many ways, some obvious, some more subtle. That is the work of researcher Lauren Pharr, a PhD student at North Carolina State studying urban noise and light pollution and their affect on birds. She’s with me now to chat about her work, wildlife research in urban settings, and community read more >>

There are a few lucky places in the ABA Area where parrots still fly free, even if most have captive origins these day. But these big loud flashy birds have a history and future than is perhaps more interesting than many birders might imagine and these feral populations can even give us some insights into the frequently threatened wild birds in Mexico and Central America. John McCormack, director of the Moore Lab of Zoology at Occidental College in Los Angeles, is one of the authors of a paper about how two closely related Amazon parrots in read more >>

Migratory birds undertake some of the most extraordinary and exhausting journeys of any living thing on the planet, an endurance test made all the more difficult by climate change, habitat loss, and illegal hunting. Few know this better than Scott Weidensaul, a bird researcher, prolific nature writer, and the author of more than 30 books. He first tackled bird migration with 2000’s Living on the Wind. He comes back to the topic with a new book A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds, out this month. He joins Nate Swick to talk read more >>

It’s the time of year when Arctic birds are heading back north, out of the range of citizen scientists who spent the winter trapping them, and using cutting edge technology to track their movements. It’s a testament to our interest in nomadic tundra birds that that could apply to a couple different projects, but this time around we are talking about Snow Buntings and the Canadian Snow Bunting Network. Dr. Emily McKinnon is a researcher at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and the administrator of this project that has found out a number of fascinating read more >>

This Month in Birding, featuring a panel of Nicole Jackson, Mikko Jimenez, and Ryan Mandelbaum, recap the bird news of March 2021, including old gulls, the anthropause, and Lights Out Philly.

Spring is here and birders across North America, including new pandemic birders for whom this might be their very first spring migration as a birder, are looking forward to birds return. And to help them along, we're starting a new regular feature on the American Birding Podcast, an identification roundtable. This time we tackle early spring ID challenges with a couple crack birders, Tom Johnson from Field Guides and artist and ornithology graduate student Marky Mutchler. Join us as we chat waterthrushes, blackbirds, and strategies for approaching big groups of migrating birds. Also, it's March Madness read more >>

Birding editor Ted Floyd and host Nate Swick try something a little different this time around. They went birding, each in their respective neighborhoods, and come back together to talk about it. Join them as they wend our way through sparrows, crows, and Bushtits around their homes, with a detour into gannets and gulls (which neither saw). It's birding, annotated. And in case you wanted to follow along, here's Ted's checklist from Lafayette, Colorado, and here's Nate's from Greensboro, North Carolina. Plus, congratulations to our 2021 ABA Young Birders of the Year, Katie Warner of Vancouver, Washington, read more >>

GPS backpacks have revealed the migratory routes of the mysterious Common Nighthawk. Researcher Elly Knight joins us to talk about her findings and what it's like working with such an idiosyncratic bird.

Jennie Duberstein, Jordan Rutter, and Brodie Cass Talbott join host Nate Swick to round up the birding news of the month, including owl drama in NYC and the question of whether the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect is a real thing or not.

Andrew Walker of the Fish & Wildlife FOundation of FLorida

The year 2020 was an especially difficult one for many of us, but for writer and birder Rebecca Heisman, perhaps more than most. In addition to the responsibilities of being the parent of a young child in a year of pandemic, she dealt with a cancer diagnosis that upturned what was already something of a turbulent year. Through it all, birds became, what she calls in an essay recently published at Audubon, a thread of sanity She joins Nate Swick to talk about her trying year and what comes next. Also, Pileated Woodpecker stories from Cecelia read more >>

Cowbird advocate Sarah Winnicki joins us to make the case for the humble cowbird, under-appreciated at best and outright disliked at worst.

This Month in Birding for January 2021 brings together Danielle Belleny, Sam DeJarnett, and Sean Milnes to talk Audubon woes, condor reintroduction, gear snobbery and birding with Gucci!

Birder and photographer Clare Kines joins Nate to talk about the birding and nature experiences to be found at Arctic Bay, north of the Arctic Circle on Baffin Island in Nunavut.

Dr. Janet Ng studies raptors on the southern Canadian plains, looking for ways for the birds of this unique landscape can share the land with humans using it for energy development.

Author, educator, and scientist John Kricher's new book on Bird Behavior is a nice addition to the excellent Peterson Reference Guide series. He joins Nate to chat about this culmination of his career and the nuances of communicating complicated concepts to laypeople.

We didn't intend to make an episode this week, but friend of the podcast Jordan Rutter came to me (Nate) and suggested that instead of the regular podcast we should do a special one where she interviews *me* for a change. So that's what we did. Enjoy and Happy New Year! ABA members are eligible for a 15% discount to Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of the World subscription. Log into your ABA account to get the code. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Play, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so read more >>