The American Birding Podcast

Latest Episodes:

08-02: 2024 Bird of the Year Artist Natasza Fontaine Jan 11, 2024

Show notes

The 2024 Bird of the Year is Golden-winged Warbler--the first of the charismatic and colorful wood-warbler family to be so honored. This gorgeous Parulid has it all, stunning colors, an important conservation story, and a unique taxonomic conundrum with its sister species, Blue-winged Warbler. A lovely illustration of a pair of Golden-winged Warblers on their nonbreeding tarritory in Costa Rica graces the cover of the January 2024 issue of Birding magazine. The creator of this year's cover is artist and field researcher Natasza Fontaine! She joins us to talk about her Golden-winged Warbler memories and the ins and outs of this year's BotY art.

Do you have a Golden-winged Warbler story? Share it with us! Record it in the voice recorded app on your phone and send it to podcast@aba.org.

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08-01: Inside the Bird Name Committee Jan 04, 2024

Show notes

The decision by the American Ornithological Society last year to begin the process of renaming birds currently named after humans has been one of the more animating debates in the birding and ornithological communities in recent memory. The recommendations for these changes were made by an ad hoc English Bird Name committee created by the AOS specifically to explore this issue. Irene Liu, Steve Hampton, and Alvaro Jaramillo served on that committee, and join the podcast to talk about their time on the committee, the discussion they had, and to dispell some of the misinformation that has sprung up in the wake of this big news.

Also, welcome to the the 2024 ABA Bird of the Year, Golden-winged Warbler!

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07-51: This Month in Birding - December 2023 Dec 21, 2023

Show notes

This Month in Birding is The American Birding Podcast's monthly round table discussion on all things birds and birding. This month features Nick Lund, Sarah Swanson, and Mo Stych talking AI and birding, light pollution, a tragic macaw love story and more.

Links to article's discussed in this episode:

Artificial light at night is a top predictor of bird migration stopover density

Researchers developing new technology to understand bird migrations

A lovers' tale of romance, fidelity and the aviary netting keeping them apart

Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

07-50: Random Birds X with Ted Floyd Dec 14, 2023

Show notes

It's a holiday miracle! The podcast feature that was supposed to last one episode, lasted significantly more than that! Birding editor Ted Floyd is back to talk Random Birds. He and Nate cover lots of passerines and two different hummingbirds and ponder the mysteries of the random number generator that knows all. The ABA wishes all of you participating in the 124th CBC a Merry Christmas Bird Count!

Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

07-49: Birding Book Club - Best of 2023 Dec 07, 2023

Show notes

The Birding Book Club is back again to do our annual Best Bird Books of the Year episode for 2023. 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. And why not something for yourself while you're at it? We are joined by 10,000 Birds book reviewer Donna Schulman and Birding magazine media and book review editor Rebecca Minardi to talk about what we loved this year in bird books.

Find links to all our choices at the ABA Podcast website!

Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

07-48: Secrets of Slow Birding with Bridget Butler Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

If there's one thing that 2020 taught birders, its how to appreciate your immediate surroundings. The cancellation of festivals, international trips, and even many local bird walks and meetings 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.

Also, cicadas have unseen impacts on eastern forests and birds are to blame.

Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

07-47: This Month in Birding - November 2023 Nov 23, 2023

Show notes

This Month in Birding is The American Birding Podcast's monthly round table discussion on all things birds and birding. This month features Jennie Duberstein, Tim Healy, and Ryan Mandelbaum covering bird name changes, universal alarm calls, what makes a bird attractive to humans, and more.

Links to article's discussed in this episode:

North American Birds Will No Longer Be Named After People

Improving the language of migratory bird science in North America

What's the rumpus? Resident temperate forest birds approach an unfamiliar neotropical alarm call across three continents

What drives our aesthetic attraction to birds?

Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

07-46: Random Birds, Vol 9, with Ted Floyd Nov 16, 2023

Show notes

Host Nate Swick is on the road, but that doesn't mean you won't get new content! Birding editor Ted Floyd is back again for another edition of Random Birds, the most fun you can have with a bird list and a random numbr generator. This time around Nate and Ted take discuss ducks, tanagers, sparrows and much more!

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07-45: Talking Lumps - Western Flycatchers with Alec Hopping Nov 09, 2023

Show notes

One of the biggest taxonomic changes of this year was the long-anticipated lump of the species formerly known as Pacific-slope and Cordilleran Flycatcher back into Western Flycatcher. It's a story with all the taxonomic highs and lows packed into a slightly confusing and cryptic package. Alec Hopping is a birder and researcher whose article in North American Birds called Unraveling Western Flycatchers; A Case Against the Split played a large role in making the case to the relavant authorities. He joins us to talk about how to get a species lumped.

Also, the AOS makes a huge announcement regarding birds named specifically for people.

Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

07-44: Meet Wayne Klockner, the ABA's New Executive Director Nov 02, 2023

Show notes

This past summer, the ABA brought on our new Executive Director. Wayne Klockner comes to us after a long career with The Nature Conservancy in Maryland and beyond, with efforts that have led to the conservation of thousands of acres of natural areas, the restoration of commercial and shell fisheries and the establishment of TNC's climate strategy. He lives and birds in Ocean City, Maryland, and it is our pleasure to welcome him to the podcast. Also, amazing new science suggests that albatrosses use infrasonic ocean noise to orient themselves.

Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

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