Nate Swick is out of the studio this week so we're sending you a mini-cast to enjoy while he's gone. This one features a pair of ABA friends telling stories of great birding days, one high intensity and one low. First, ABA webmaster Greg Neise shares the tale of his epic Illinois Big Day run. Spills, thrills, and warbling trills take stage as Greg and his teammates race the clock and the previous record. And then, high schooler Hannah Floyd, daughter of ABP regular Ted Floyd, shares the joys of ...
Dec 03, 2020•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast The last Thursday of November means it’s time for This Month in Birding coming to you for the holiday. As Thanksgiving is the most bird-centric holiday on the US calendar, why not talk birds instead of eating them? Our panel includes Jody Allair of Birds Canada, Tom Johnson of Field Guides and Out Birding , and Jordan Rutter of the American Bird Conservancy. Topics discussed include: The continuing winter finch explosion adds redpolls . Looking for Red Crossbills Voter Fraud in New Zealand Saw-w...
Nov 26, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast We now see ourselves on the cusp of a change in leadership in the United States. A brand new administration will replace the current one in January, and we’re already seeing people looking forward to what this means for birds, public lands, and conservation. Into that conversation comes Tykee James, who is, among other things, the host of the wildlife and politics podcast On Word for Wildlife of the Wildlife Observer Network . He joins host Nate Swick from Washington, DC, to talk about what we c...
Nov 19, 2020•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Despite being one of the most ubiquitous birds in the Americas, the poor Turkey Vulture is saddled with a mixed reputation. Sure, they look weird and eat dead things, but vultures are more than just nature's garbagemen. Katie Fallon, author of the recently rereleased Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird makes the case that vultures are not only important, but worthy of adoration. She joins host Nate Swick to talk about her hands-ons experience with these amazing birds. Also, the distant ...
Nov 12, 2020•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Birders and non-birders alike love urban nesting birds. The drama of life and death in a place where you wouldn’t necessarily expect wildlife is certainly appealing, and when a pair of American Kestrels took up at Cleveland, Ohio's busy West Side Market filmmaker and media producer Najada Davis documented their story, a project that became the documentary Kestrels in the Hood . He joins Nate Swick to talk about that work. Also, the pandemic has been good for bird songs . Thanks to Field Guides f...
Nov 05, 2020•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s the last Thursday in October and that means This Month in Birding, wherein we convene a august panel of birders to discuss the news that we missed this month, or more likely saved till the end of the month because they’re more fun to talk about with other people. The panel this week is, for the first time, all returnees, including #cemeterybirder Danielle Belleny , Birdmodo creator Ryan Mandelbaum , and Popular Science writer Purbita Saha . Topics discussed include: New Duck Stamp Rules put...
Oct 29, 2020•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast We are now in the 7th month of this COVID pandemic purgatory, and way way back in April of this year Birding magazine editor Ted Floyd and host Nate Swick had a conversation about what birding will look like during the pandemic. Well, here we are in October, looking at a long winter wherein COVID is still a concern, but at least we have a slightly greater perspective on what we know and what we don’t about everything. Also, join Nate for Auk the Vote this weekend! Subscribe to the podcast at App...
Oct 22, 2020•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Greater Sage-Grouse is one of the more bizarre birds in North America and frequently a flashpoint for conservation and land management concerns in the American west. Ashley Ahearn is a public radio and podcast journalist who put herself in the middle of that conflict to create Grouse, an audio series produced by BirdNote and available at all the usual podcast places. She joins host Nate Swick to talk about sage-grouse politics and what it says about the environmental issues we face in the 21...
Oct 15, 2020•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rails are a mysterious and enigmatic family, often requiring and rewarding effort. Researcher Auriel Fournier knows that more than most, and her work with rails in Missouri has shed some light on how these birds migrate, and how they use the landscape when they do. Auriel joins host Nate Swick to talk rallidae and STEM outreach for women. This interview was originally released on August 24, 2017. Here's the link to Paul Riss's documentary Rare Bird Alert . Also, Nate has some thoughts about wild...
Oct 08, 2020•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Recording and identifying nocturnal flight calls has been a popular way for birders in the ABA Area to document migration, and has inspired an entire community to keep track of those tseep and chips passing overhead this time of year. The COVID-19 pandemic and stay at home orders all over the world have motivated a similar passion in the famously intense UK birding community, and birders recording and documenting Noc-Mig, as it’s called, have made some fascinating discoveries about migration in ...
Oct 01, 2020•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s the last Thursday of the month and that means it; time for This Month in Birding, a discussion about all the extra birding news that has been happening for the month of September. This month we've have convened a panel of old and new friends to help me make sense of this crazy crazy world we’re living in, where at least we have birds. Environmental educator Nicole Jackson , The Birdist Nick Lund , and co-host of the Bird Sh't Podcast Mo Stych join host Nate Swick to talk mysterious bird dea...
Sep 24, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Most people perceive ornithology as a college course, one of those science electives that can get people into birding long-term. But what if we brought it down to high school and appealed to more students from more backgrounds? That’s the goal of high school teacher Steve Maguire, who has been teaching ornithology in a Massachusetts high school for several years. He joins host Nate Swick to talk about his experiences. Also, a Migratory Bird Treaty update and Nate teaches you how to be a wicked p...
Sep 17, 2020•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 talk family specific guides. What are those, you might ask. We'll chat about identification guides or reference books that focus specifically on one group of birds, frequently, though not always strictly speaking, a family as defined taxonomically. Shorebirds, warblers, raptors, and birds...
Sep 10, 2020•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast The path to becoming a birder is as much as about coming to grips with what is happening to you as it is about finding increasing joy in birding. We all may end up in a similar place but our paths to that place are as individual as we are. Toronto writer and lecturer Julia Zarankin didn't mean to become a birder, but 10 years on here she is. She recounts this odd journey in a new memoir, Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder , out in September in Canada and in October in the United States. Sh...
Sep 03, 2020•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s the last Thursday of the month and that means it’s time once again for This Month in Birding. This month's esteemed panel this month has more of a western bent, significantly pulling the mean location of panelists a little bit closer to the Mississippi River at least. We welcome Canada-based bird educator and researcher Jody Allair , ABA Young-birder liaison and Sonoran Joint Venture coordinator Jennie Duberstein , and host of the Fowl Mouths podcast , Sean Milnes . We talk Thick-billed Lon...
Aug 27, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Birders on the mainland of the US and Canada have no shortage of options when it comes to field guides. Our friends in Hawaii, however, have not had such luxuries despite being home to some of the world's most spectacular birds. Now that Hawaii is included in the ABA Area, interest in the islands among birders is high, and the need for a good field guide was dire. Helen and André Raine have created just that guide along with photographer Jack Jeffrey, published as part of the American Birding As...
Aug 20, 2020•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast If there’s one thing that this year has taught birders, its how to appreciate your immediate surroundings. The cancellation of festivals, international trips, and even many local bird walks and meetings has encouraged us to be more present and local. It's something that Vermont naturalist Bridget Butler has been pushing for a long time as part of her “Slow Birding” initiative . She joins host Nate Swick to talk about how birding can create a connection to yourself and the place where you live. A...
Aug 13, 2020•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 2020 birders have taken to the internet in droves, but the adoption of perhaps the history’s most profound technological advancement by birders hasn’t been entirely smooth. In all those fits and starts, one person who has been here since the beginning has been Mike Bergin. Mike’s blog, 10,000 Birds , which he now shares with Corey Finger, has been a nearly constant presence in the birdosphere for almost 15 years. He joins host Nate Swick to chat about where we’ve been, where we’re going, and ...
Aug 06, 2020•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Every bird organization on the planet encourages bird-friendly coffee, but what does that mean, why are there so many bird-friendly standards, and why is it so important for migratory birds? Dr. Ruth Bennett of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has the answers. She’s an avian ecologist with the Smithsonian Bird Friendly habitat initiative which works to optimize bird diversity in commercial coffee and cocoa agro-forests. Hopefully her interview will have you rushing to purchase some ABA Song...
Jul 23, 2020•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast John James Audubon is frequently referred to with reverence as the father of the North American ornithology, and has a public reputation that is nearly impeccable. He has birds named after him, the country’s best known bird organization has his name, and is widely acknowledged as both a skilled painter and the best of the gentleman naturalists of the 19th century. But not so fast, says ornithologist and historian Matthew Halley , in a recently published article in Bulletin of the British Ornitho...
Jul 16, 2020•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Birders are undoubtedly familiar with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, at least by name, and recent proposed changes to that venerable piece of conservation legislation by the Trump Administration have environmental groups concerned about the long-term impacts on birds. Tykee James , host of On Word for Wildlife , a wildlife and politics podcast on the Wildlife Observer Network , and a government affairs professional joins host Nate Swick to talk about what the MBTA does and what birders can do to...
Jul 09, 2020•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast When it comes to bird conservation in North America, there are so many groups that need to be engaged. You've got government agencies from many nations alongside multiple non-profits all invested in protecting birds. But how do they know to coordinate efforts, to spread their influence, or at least, how not to get in each other’s way? Into this space comes the North American Bird Conservation Initiative - NABCI for short - whose US coordinator Judith Scarl joins Nate Swick to talk about how they...
Jul 02, 2020•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's 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 science writers and birders, Ryan Mandelbaum of IBM and Gizmodo, Purbita Saha of Popular Science and The Birdist Nick Lund ! We cover Black Birders Week, Female Bird Day, murder loons, politics that birders needs to watch out for, and everybody's hottest bird takes. Links to topics discussed: Black Birders Week Female Bird Day Hooded...
Jun 25, 2020•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 
