Birding magazine columnist Marty Freeland joins Nate Swick to discuss mob tapes, basically "electronic pishing"—provably effective at attracting flocks of small birds. What are the ethical dimensions at play here, both in terms of creating stress for birds and sharing the experience of birding with others?

Scott Weidensaul, one of the most prolific and influential ornithological writers of our generation, joins host Nate Swick to talk about Scott's latest book, The Return of the Oystercatcher. In a time of understandable climate grief, Return of the Oystercatcher celebrates recent conservation successes—and presents a blueprint for further successes going forward.

Raptor conservation expert Janet Ng joins host Nate Swick this week to discuss the impacts of energy infrastructure on hawk populations in open country of the North American West. In their discussion on this week's podcast, Ng emphasizes the importance of diverse partnerships in keeping these wild places "hawky."

Question: What are two groups of birds that birders are forever talking about? Answer: Warblers and gulls. Well, the PRNG (podcast random number generator) went on warblers-and-gulls overdrive for this episode, hurling gulls and warblers, warblers and gulls, and warblers and gulls and warblers, at guest Ted Floyd and host Nate Swick. Enjoy!

Host Nate Swick is joined by Stephanie Beilke, Andres Jimenez, and Ryan Mandelbaum for a fun and birdy conversation covering Airtags on birds, the most bouba and kiki species, and Tom Johnson’s last piece of amazing bird science.

Journalist and professor James H. McCommons joins podcast host Nate Swick for a conversation about McCommons' latest book, The Feather Wars. The book's action takes place mostly 100+ years ago, but the lessons are as contemporary as ever, affirming the value of community action as a force for good in the conservation of nature.

What is the role of museums for birding and ornithology in the 2020s? Dr. Nick Mason, Curator of Birds at LSU's famous Louisiana Museum of Natural History, joins podcast host Nate Swick to answer that important and multidimensional question.

In this episode, the popular and prolific Nick Lund, longtime friend of the ABA, joins host Nate Swick to talk about Nick's latest project, a children's book, with illustrator Asia Orlando, on the weighty topic of extinction. The book's subtitle, "How to Save Our Planet, One Bird at a Time," hints at the book's hopeful take, despite many challenges.

In this episode, guests Jason Hall, Mikko Jimenez, and Sarah Swanson join host Nate Swick for the ever-popular "This Month in Birding" roundtable. Their wide-ranging discussion touches on the various ways in which human activities influence birds' health and behaviors—and identifies proactive solutions for the challenges affecting bird populations.

In this week's episode, Science Communicator Peri Sasnett joins host Nate Swick to discuss the Clark's Nutcracker, that brilliant and hardy icon of high-elevation habitats in the West. On top of its charisma, the nutcracker plays a key role in ecosystem health—and it is fiendishly intelligent. Hear the amazing story and catch up on this week's birding news!

Ornithologist Johanna Beam joins host Nate Swick to talk about Johanna's central role in recognizing the Chihuahuan Meadowlark as a full species. Johanna, now an NSF postdoctoral fellow at Colorado State University, began her meadowlark research while a high school student!—at which time she also was honored as ABA Young Birder of the Year.

In this episode, Birding Editor Ted Floyd returns for another installment of "Random Birds"—ever-popular and ever-random. The random number generator seems to have an agenda this go-around, but Ted and host Nate Swick roll with the punches! Hint: If you like grassland passerines, you'll love this episode...

As the month winds down, the podcast presents its popular TMIB (This Month in Birding) panel. Guests Mollee Brown, Frank Izaguirre, and Jordan Rutter join host Nate Swick to discuss everything from penguins to juncos to the weird bird stuff in hour homes.

2025 was an exciting year for rare bird sightings in the ABA Area, with two first ABA records and a fascinating array of interesting and unexpected records from all corners of the US and Canada. North American Birds editor Alex Lamoreaux and writer and teacher Tim Healy join host Nate Swick to have some fun remembering the highlights of last year.

In this episode, Nate connects with Ed Yong, acclaimed author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Yong discovered birding, as so many of us did, during the pandemic—and he's never looked back. Being a birder has enriched Yong's life, both personally and professionally.

Happy New Year! With the start of the new year, the ABA is delighted to announce that the Horned Lark is the 2026 ABA Bird of the Year. In this week's podcast, Bird of the Year artist Kristina Knowski and host Nate Swick talk about Knowski's widely admired bird art, about her experiences with Horned Larks, and about the general awesomeness of one of the truly great birds of the ABA Area.

Jody Allair, Martha Harbison, and Rebecca Heisman join host Nate Swick for the last American Birding Podcast episode of the year, with a wide-ranging discussion of some of the latest bird and birding news. The panel talks warbler hybrids, vacant lots, and how to best yell at gulls among other things! Thanks for a great year!

It's a recurring, and oh so random, feature on the podcast: Birding Editor Ted Floyd joins host Nate Swick for another installment of the evergreen and ever-popular "Random Birds." Nate spins the random number generator, it lands on a bird, and Ted & Nate talk about that bird...and anything else!

In this episode, Anna Lello-Smith, Avian Conservation Coordinator with the Wildlife Conservation Society, joins host Nate Swick to talk about Mesoamerica's "Five Great Forests" network, extending from the Yucatán Peninsula to eastern Panama. Each winter, this forest network hosts enormous numbers of "our" birds breeding in the eastern U.S. and Canada. And eBird data play an important role in informing conservation strategies for the Five Great Forests.

So. many. bird books. How to make sense of it all? In this episode, bird book mavens Donna Schulman and Rebecca Minardi join host Nate Swick (no stranger to bird books himself) to talk about the best bird books of 2025. Selections include a major new field guide, books on bird biology, and even a primer on birding and physics.