Episode description

Butte, Montana, used to be home to some of the most productive copper mines in the country. About a quarter of the world’s supply came from the area and it’s now the site of a massive effort to restore the degraded ecosystem. But, the local birds aren’t just victims of the pollution; they can actually tell us if things are getting better as all the pollution gets cleaned up. Birds here offer portraits of what’s happening on a larger ecosystem scale—especially Ospreys, which are at the top of the food chain and depend on waterways that are now contaminated with heavy metals. Producer Nick Mott travels along this polluted area to peer into the lives of these birds to see what they reveal.

Related Resources:

Watch the Hellgate Ospreys Nest Cam livestream
Learn about the Montana Osprey Project
More about Ospreys at All About Birds
"Old Mines Still Plague Montana’s Clark Fork" - High Country News
"Lasers, Drones, and Air Cannons: Inside the Effort to Save Migrating Waterfowl From a Toxic Death" in Audubon

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Host & Senior Producer: Ari Daniel
Producer: Nick Mott
Editor: Caitlin Pierce, Rough Cut Collective
Audio mix: Rob Byers, Johnny Vince Evans, and Michael Raphael, Final Final V2
Theme song and original music: Ian Coss
Additional music: Blue Dot Sessions
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Audio and Video Editor: Sam Johnson
Fact-checker and Digital Producer: Conor Gearin
Artwork: Clint McMillen at Braincloud Design