Following birder Christian Cooper’s encounter with a racist white woman in Central Park on Memorial Day, a group of Black birders and naturalists created #BlackBirdersWeek, an online event to celebrate Black naturalists and scientists and to draw attention to the unique issues birding can pose to Black people. Co-organizers Corina Newsome and Tykee James join host Nate Swick to talk about what the week meant to them, and where we need to go from here. Corina Newsome is an ornithology graduate st...
Jun 18, 2020•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s split and lump season again. And that means Dr. Nick Block, professor of Biology at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts and Secretary of the ABA’s Recording Standards and Ethics Committee, is back on the podcast. He joins host Nate Swick to talk Northwestern Crow, Great White Heron, messy duck genetics, and scrub-less jays. #BlackBirdersWeek was last week! Don't miss the Birding while Black panels. Session 1 and Session 2 can be found on Facebook. ABA members are eligible for a 15% d...
Jun 11, 2020•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast David Sibley hardly needs an introduction to the ABA’s audience. He is the author and illustrator of what is the most popular field guide in North America, and the one simply known by his name - The Sibley Guide , now in its second edition. David has a new book out earlier this year, What It’s Like to Be a Bird: What Birds are doing and Why – from Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing . It is a look at the fascinating behaviors and lives of our familiar birds, and, of course, a vehicle for David’...
Jun 04, 2020•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast The American Birding Podcast brings you This Month in Birding, a panel discussion covering the best bird news we might have missed here at the ABP for the last month. This episode features a panel of birding podcasts, Sean Milnes of Fowl Mouths Podcast and Sarah Bloemers and Mo Stych of Bird Sh't . It's a conversation that covers the gamut from Piping Plover love and the best birding clothes to Fast and the Furious and Samuel L. Jackson. Links to topics discussed: AOS changes the name of The Auk...
May 28, 2020•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast More than ever, birders are turning their attention to the birds immediately outside their front door, and for millions of North Americans there is scarcely a more ubiquitous bird than the feral Rock Pigeon. But that humble Rock Pigeon can provide some interesting insights into how natural selection is impacted by the urban environment. In fact, that is the work of Elizabeth Carlen , a PhD candidate at Fordham University in New York City and the lead author of a recent article in Evolutionary Ap...
May 21, 2020•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast In recent years it has seemed as though doing an ABA Area Big Year means that you have to write a book about it, but the form's roots can be traced to Roger Tory Peterson himself. What makes them so popular? Are they travelogue, sporting conquest, adventure, or some combination? Or is the appeal as simple as wish fulfillment? 10,000 Birds media reviewer Donna Schulman and Birding magazine media review editor Frank Izaguirre join host Nate Swick to talk about Big Year narratives and what makes th...
May 14, 2020•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the new weekly American Birding Podcast! Jennifer Ackerman is the New York Times best-selling author and essayist who wrote The Genius of Birds and a great many other science books. Her newest, out this week, is The Bird Way: A New Look at how Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think . It's a companion to that much loved earlier book, exploring the many creative, novel, and bizarre ways in which birds approach problems that they face and what they says about bird cognition and intell...
May 07, 2020•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast The COVID-19 crisis has forced us all to take stock of how we do everything, and birding and birding community events are hardly unique. It's impossible to think about anything else so we just decided to devote an entire episode to it. Host Nate Swick is joined by Brodie Cass Talbott, an educator from Portland Audubon , in Portland, Oregon, who have been adapting to this situation in novel ways, and frequent guest Birding editor Ted Floyd. They talk about how bird clubs are adapting and what we ...
Apr 16, 2020•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s hard to step out your backdoor these days without being overwhelmed by birdsong. Spring is easing northward across the continent and with it, an increase in the activities of birds. Few people know this like ornithologist and author Donald Kroodsma, professor emeritus or ornithology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the author of a great many books on bird vocalizations. He joins host Nate Swick today to talk about his most recent book, Birdsong for the Curious Naturalist ju...
Apr 02, 2020•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast The world of bird rehabilitation is a unique aspect of the way that people interact with birds, and those that do the dirty work of helping wild birds get back to normal following scrapes with human things get an up close and personal look at birds that many of us just look at through binoculars or scopes. Birding Magazine Associate Editor Ioana Seritan does just that in her day job. She's a Wildlife Rehabilitation Technician at the International Bird Rescue in California’s Bay Area and she join...
Mar 19, 2020•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Of the 1116 species on the ABA checklist, around 50 are what we classify as “non-native”. These are species from other parts of the world introduced either to the North American mainland or, frequently, to Hawaii. The ABA has always tried to keep track of those non-native species through our checklist committee, and whether or not these populations can be counted on an ABA list is always a hot topic. ABA Checklist Committee chair Peter Pyle of the Institute for Bird Populations at Point Reyes, C...
Mar 05, 2020•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Many states and provinces are increasingly interested in tackling a comprehensive survey of the birds in their regions. With the help help of technology, this ambitious undertaking is more achievable than ever. Maybe you’ve heard of Breeding Bird Atlases. Maybe you’ve participated in them in the past. But it’s easy to get involved with this important conservation and natural history initiative. Gabriel Foley is the atlas coordinator for the Maryland-DC Breeding Bird Atlas and he joins host Nate ...
Feb 20, 2020•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast When we seek out to bird with others, it is to share in the joy of birds. Whether intended or not, along the way we build a sense of community. In order to appreciate that joy to its fullest, we shouldn’t have to worry about who we are or be second guessing our most basic actions around others in that community. And it's that concept, that birding is an extension of our true selves, that prompted the creation of Queer Birders of North America . A fellowship group for LGBT+ birders and allies, QB...
Feb 06, 2020•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're back to the Bird of the Year basics for 2020-- Cedar Waxwing ! While the past two ABA Birds of the Year have been extremely range restricted (Iiwi 2018) or a vagrant to the ABA Area (Red-billed Tropicbird 2019), the 2020 Bird of the Year is truly a bird of the people. The Cedar Waxwing is an exquisite example of North American birddom and a favorite of so many birders in the US, Canada, and beyond. We chose it, in part, because they are known for flocking and sharing, two wonderful charact...
Jan 23, 2020•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast When birders think of southeastern Arizona, they think of hummingbirds. And when they think of hummingbirds, they think of Sheri Williamson. The author of the Peterson Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America and director of the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory, she played a crucial role in protecting one of the region's most beloved birding hotspots, the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary. She talks with Nate Swick about her path to hummingbirds and her work with SABO. If you're going to be in ...
Jan 09, 2020•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast The end of 2019 means that we’re coming to the end of the ABA’s 50 th , looking forward to the our next 50. Any big milestone encourages taking stock of where you’ve been, where you’re going. And here at the ABA we’ve been doing a lot of that internally, and in our various publications this year. But to sort of close the book on these 50 years we bring you a conversation about the ABA at 50 and beyond with a couple people listeners to the podcast are no doubt familiar with. ABA President Jeff Go...
Dec 26, 2019•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast As is our tradition, the end of the year means it’s time for a look back at the best bird books published this year. Once again, 10,000 Birds book reviewer Donna Schulman joins me to talk about our favorites. Donna and I each share our Top 5, including field guides, family specific guides, and narratives from well-known authors and publishers. Thanks to Zeiss Sports Optics for sponsoring this episode! Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts , Stitcher , and Google Play , and please leave a ra...
Dec 12, 2019•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast The ABA's 50th Anniversary roadshow rolls on, this time to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival for another LIVE show. Our special bird-themed game show features guest appearances from Birds of North America 's Jason Ward and Birding magazine editor and podcast stalwart Ted Floyd. Listen in for fun birdy games, Rio Grande Valley anagrams, real or fake bird mnemonics and an Eagles themed parody song quiz. We had a ton of fun and you will too! Thanks to Turismo de Lisboa for sponsoring this epis...
Nov 28, 2019•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Many birders throughout the ABA Area have been paying attention to the ongoing situation in South Texas with regard to the construction of the border wall. So many of our favorite birding sites have been under threat, and the situation has been alternately sad and triumphant and frustrating. Filmmaker Otilia Portillo Padua offers her insight into the often fraught affair with Birders , a short documentary recently released on the streaming platform Netflix. She joins me from Mexico City to talk ...
Nov 14, 2019•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast How many of you out there have dressed as a bird for Halloween? Many, we're sure! But there is obviously so much more that can be done in the realm of bird costuming, and Dr. Lisa Buckley has taken bird inspired cosplay to its logical extreme. In her day job she is a vertebrate paleontologist in British Columbia but on the side she has created Bird Glamour , eye makeup inspired by a whole host of birds. She's a singularly appropriate person to chat with on Halloween and she joins host Nate Swick...
Oct 31, 2019•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Laury...
Oct 17, 2019•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 3 Billion breeding birds have been lost in the last 40 years in the US and Canada. These are certainly sobering numbers. This was the conclusion of a paper published recently in the journal Science , and the core of the 2019 State of the Birds report. This report, spearheaded by American Bird Conservancy, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Canadian Wildlife Service, and others certainly made waves among the general public as much as in the birding community, and it seems to have really resonated. Jorda...
Oct 03, 2019•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast All birders intuitively understand the value of birding, even if we're not so great as a community as expressing that value. Birding as a means for personal growth, and coming to grips with the changing world around us is an important part of why we enjoy this hobby. It's certainly a fascinating topic with a lot of rich veins to mine. It's something that Dr. Trish O'Kane of the University of Vermont's Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural Resources has thought a lot about. Her piece O...
Sep 19, 2019•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season is underway with a handful of storms already named. In the last couple decades human meteorologists have gotten pretty good at predicting the strength and track of tropical storms in the Atlantic basin, but still less good at predicting the severity of any individual season. But as it turns out, that's something Veerys, the ruddy Catharus thrush with the swirly song, are quite good at it. Dr. Christopher Heckscher of Delaware State University made the connectio...
Sep 05, 2019•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Located in the northeast corner of the ABA Area, the island of Newfoundland is known for its incredible rarity pedigree. But there's far more to this beautiful place than European vagrants. The city of St. John's is a gateway to unbelievable nature experiences, from seabird colonies containing thousands upon thousands of charismatic Atlantic Puffins and Northern Gannets, to the sight of dozens of whales feeding near shore, to caribou and ptarmigan on the southernmost tundra on the continent. Las...
Aug 22, 2019•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Fantasy Sports is big business these day, especially now that participants no longer have to do the work by hand. It’s so popular that managing virtual worlds based on real world data has spread beyond sports. Fantasy Birding has become a obsession among a growing cadre of real birders, it has been featured in a number of general interest articles, it was lightly mocked on the NPR show Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, and it’s taken hold of a handful of my colleagues at the ABA. Matt Smith is a computer...
Aug 08, 2019•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast What does it mean to be an "expert" birder? And do the skills that make one an expert necessarily translate to the skills that are most in demand when it comes to promoting the birding community in a positive way? Birding editor Ted Floyd joins host Nate Swick to talk about expertise in birding and the many ways in which it manifests in the birding world, and why the very birders who are so forward-thinking when it comes to field ornithology can sometimes be their own worst enemy when it comes t...
Jul 25, 2019•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast The ABA’s summer camps have long been an avenue for young birders to take in some excellent birding opportunities, to network with other young birders, and to learn about career opportunities in birding and ornithology. So many young people who have gone on to become influential in our community have come through ABA camps and other young birder camps, and many more consider it a seminal experience in their birding lives. Jennie Duberstein, ABA’s long-time Director of Camp Colorado and the Coord...
Jul 11, 2019•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Birders love to watch the birds at their feeders from the comfort of their own home, but those windows we depend on can cause quite a few problems for birds, something that Heidi Trudell is all too aware of. She is the creator of the Facebook group Dead Birds for Science and the website Just Save Birds , and an advocate for birds safe glass and construction, as well as getting people comfortable with how their action or inaction affects the birds around us. All of which, she hopes, helps make th...
Jun 27, 2019•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's taxonomy time again, bird nerds! The 2019 proposals to the American Ornithological Society's Classification Committee are chock full of splits, name changes, and a couple proposals that may or may not set some interesting precedents in the way we interact with bird common names. As we have before, we lean again on Dr. Nick Block, professor of Biology at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts, and Secretary of the ABA’s Recording Standards and Ethics Committee, to break it all down. He j...
Jun 13, 2019•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
