On May 19, 2023, the ABA and the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University hosted the For the Love of Birds panel as part of the Academy’s Cheryl Beth Silverman lecture series. If you weren’t able to join us in Philadelphia, we’re excited to share it with you as a podcast. Panelists Holly Merker, Anwar Abdul-Qawi, and American Birding Podcast host Nate Swick talk about birding and the bird community with moderator Maurice Baynard. Also, join Nate in San Francisco the weekend of June 17 fo...
Jun 01, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s the last Thursday of the month of May and that means it is time to bring on a panel of birding friends to talk about bird news and goings on on the American Birding Podcast. And it’s another excellent panel this month featuring Mollee Brown , Nicole Jackson , and Ryan Mandelbaum talking Lesser Prairie-Chicken delisting, fire loving birds, and bird safe windows among other things. LInks to topics discussed in this episode: House committee votes to delist the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Incorporat...
May 25, 2023•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Despite being such a charismatic bird, there are very few books about our 2023 Bird of the Year Belted Kingfisher, but this week's guest Marina Richie has written one. Her 2022 title, Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher documents the seven years she spent watching a pair of kingfishers near her home in Missoula, Montana, and her relationship with the birds and with herself. She also writes about it in an upcoming issue of Birding magazine Also, Nate is back from the Biggest Week ...
May 18, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 2016, Arjan Dwarshuis undertook a massive birding year that took him from his home in the Netherlands to 6 continents, 41 countries, and just over 6,800 species of birds. His global big year was a massive feat, breaking the record set, at the time, by Noah Strycker only a year earlier. He wrote about his adventure in a book, and forgive me for this, Een bevlogan jaar , translated this year into Egnlish as The Big Year that Flew By . He joins us to look back on that year. Also, join Nate for a...
May 11, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast 2023 ABA Lifetime Achievement Awardee Peter Pyle has probably been one of the most influential American ornithologists of the last few decades. His Identification Guide to North American Birds, informally known as “the Pyle Guides”, are widely known as the banding bible, and remain some of the most informative and intimidating bird books on birders’ shelves. The much anticipated second edition of which came out this year. But the's also the chair of the ABA Checklist Committee, and was central t...
May 04, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast It is the most exciting time of year for birders in the ABA Area so it seems only fitting to celebrate it with an exciting group of panelists for April's This Month in Birding. Host Nate Swick is joined by Jennie Duberstein , Andrés Jimenez , and Jordan Rutter to talk about vulture love, nature TikTok, and Night Parrot skulls. Come for the spring migration talk and stay for the bird personality profiles. Also, don't forget to sign up for our first ABA Community Weekend ! Links to articles discus...
Apr 27, 2023•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast The sporting world is full of bird mascots. While there are countless eagles, hawks, and cardinals there are no, so far as we know, Belted Kingfishers. But that might change thanks to the efforts of students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This flagship university has a mascot vacancy that, according to guest Spencer Wilken, should be filled by our 2023 Bird of the Year. Spencer's story is featured in the April 2023 issue of Birding and she joins us to talk about the peculiar ...
Apr 20, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. In this encore episode, host Nate Swick and Colombian birders Diego Calderón ( The Birders Show ) and Eliana Ardila ( Birding by Bus ) 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...
Apr 13, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Birders have long considered the tyrant flycatchers, in particular the Empidonax species and Pewees to be one of the most difficult identification concerns in North America. Author Cin-Ty Lee and illustrator Andrew Birch seek to calm the fears of frustrated birders across the ABA Area with their new Field Guide to North American Flycatchers: Empidonax and Pewees , out just in time for spring migration. They join host Nate Swick to talk about what birders need to know about this group of birds. A...
Apr 06, 2023•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Spring is in the air in March, at least theoretically across much of the ABA Area. And the last Thursday of the montg means This Month in Birding, our monthy panel discussion the covers all the important and not-so-important bits of birding news from the month that was. This month's panel features Brodie Cass Talbott and Sarah Swanson from Portland Audubon and aeroecologist Mikko Jimenez talking Audubon's name, Bell Bowl Prairie, and what to do about the famous Flaco the Eagle-Owl. Links to stor...
Mar 30, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 cul...
Mar 23, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 21 st 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 Champ...
Mar 16, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 rea...
Mar 09, 2023•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Mar 02, 2023•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 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 ...
Feb 23, 2023•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Podc...
Feb 16, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Young birders who have participated in the ABA’s Camp Avocet or 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 Bi...
Feb 09, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 i...
Feb 02, 2023•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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’ sno...
Jan 26, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 o...
Jan 19, 2023•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ant...
Jan 12, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.or...
Jan 05, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 F...
Dec 22, 2022•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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!...
Dec 15, 2022•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 editor Frank Izaguirre to talk about what we loved this year in bird books. For a full list of the books discuss...
Dec 08, 2022•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 20...
Dec 01, 2022•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Inequitabl...
Nov 24, 2022•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 pod...
Nov 17, 2022•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ,...
Nov 10, 2022•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 podca...
Nov 03, 2022•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
