The American Birding Podcast

Latest Episodes:

07-33: Birding Book Club - Books for Birders that Aren't About Birds Aug 17, 2023

Show notes

Birders love books, and with so many options out there it's nice to have some friends around to make suggestions, talk about what we like a lot, maybe what we don't like quite as much, and celebrate the literary side of the birding lifestyle. That's right, it's time for another meeting of the Birding Book Club. This time, we're setting birds aside and talking about our favorite books about nature other than birds. They're the perfect supplements to your birding library. We're joined once again by regular Birding Book Club member Donna Schulman, reviewer for the website 10,000 Birds, and joining us for the 1st time, out ABA Birding magazine Book and Media Review editor, Rebecca Minardi.

Links to books discussed in this episode can be found at the American Birding Association website.

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07-32: Birding Rwanda with Winnie Kyamujara Aug 10, 2023

Show notes

Nestled in the Central Africa's Great Rift Valley, Rwanda, the Land of a Thousand Hills, is one of the most biodiverse nations on the continent, all the more impressive given its small size. With nearly 700 species of birds and an impressive diversity of large mammals, including Mountain Gorillas, Rwanda is increasingly a popular destination for nature tourists, including the ABA, which is heading there this winter. Winnie Kyamujara is a nature guide with the Ususambi Crane Preserve and she introduces us to this amazing county.

Also, Ontario birder and creator of the Winter Finch Report, Ron Pittaway, has passed away. We also celebrate incredible bird brains.

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07-31: Remembering Tom Johnson Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

The birding community is collectively mourning the recent loss of Cape May birder Tom Johnson. Tom was a world-renowned birder and a prodigious contributor to the ABA's media, with insightful articles, phenomenal photography, and occasional appearances on the American Birding Podcast. We've collected a few of his appearances here on the podcast and offer them in remembrance of his incredible influence on all of us with his amazing skill, his generous spirit, and his good humor. We at the ABA, along with his many friends in the birding world and beyond, will miss him very much.

If you have a Tom Johnson memory you'd like to share, please consider recording it on the voice recording app on your phone and send it to podcast@aba.org. We'd love to collect them.

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

07-30: This Month in Birding - July 2023 Jul 27, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to the end of the July, the turn of the year as we heard into the second half of 2023. It's also time, once again, for This Month in Birding, our monthly panel discussion about bird news and birds in the news. We're excited to welcome a panel of Stephanie Bielke, Tim Healy and Purbita Saha to talk rare birds at private residences, hummingbirds and alcohol, the most metal bird nests, and more!

Links to articles discussed in this episode:

Badgers and birds may be teaming up to steal honey

Do hummingbirds drink alcohol? More often than you think

Human-made materials in nests can bring both risks and benefit for birds

Extinct warbler's genome sequenced from museum specimens

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07-29: Indigenous Reconnection through Birds with Alyssa Bardy Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

Humans have loved birds for as long as there have been humans. And while many of us in the birding world stay a birder for similar reasons, every birder, bird-watcher or bird enthusiasts has their own path to this world, to this interest, and it is one that frequently leads to a greater appreciation of love of the natural world more generally. Alyssa Bardy has a unique take on that journey. Her's is a story of indigenous reconnection and revitalization though birds, nature-study, and photography.

Also, what do Canadian wildfires mean for the birds that breed there?

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07-28: El Niño and Birds with Alvaro Jaramillo Jul 13, 2023

Show notes

The connections between weather and birds seem both obvious and arcane to many birders. This is especially true in this time of global warming, when weather seems particularly wonky. This summer the globe is experiencing El Niño, a warm phase in the Pacific that causes all sorts of strange things. But what does that mean for birds? To help answer that complicated question, we welcome our friend Alvaro Jaramillo, one of the hosts of the Life List podcast, a pelagic operator with Alvaro's Adventures, and the author of many bird books.

Plus, the AOS changes are out and we welcome back Western Flycatcher.

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07-27: Hear Birds Again with Lang Elliott Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

It is an inevitability that as a birder ages, they lose the ability to hear some birds, particularly those with high pitched songs and calls. It is a struggle that nature recordist Lang Elliot has dealt with for decades, but he offers, with the help of modern technology, a solution of sorts called Hear Birds Again. Lang has also written an article introducing this new product in the July 2023 issue of Birding magazine.

Also, does Merlin really help in a Breeding Bird Survey? FInally we have data! Sort of.

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07-26: This Month in Birding - June 2023 Jun 29, 2023

Show notes

It's the end of June and that means it's time for This Month in Birding, where we round up a panel of interesting and thoughtful birding friends to round up the latest birding news from around the ABA Area and beyond. Here in the northern hemisphere, June has the longest days of the year, and we might just have the longest episode of the podcast with the sort of items we have to discuss today. We welcome Gabriel Foley, Sean Milnes, and Mo Stych of the newly resurrected Bird Sh*t podcast to talk about bird names, bird songs, and bird theft. Links to topics discussed in this episode:

Bird names as critical communication infrastructure in the contexts of history, language, and culture.

When birds sing the same pitch they avoid singing at the same time

Atmospheric pressure predicts probability of departure for migratory songbirds

Hiding Seeds? It Depends on Who's Watching

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07-25: Random Birds, Vol. 7, with Ted Floyd Jun 22, 2023

Show notes

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 smorgasbord of birds, with gulls, warblers, and finches all making an appearance.

Also, Nate reports on the latest ABA Community Weekend in California's Bay Area.

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07-24: What an Owl Knows with Jennifer Ackerman Jun 15, 2023

Show notes

Birders and bird enthusiasts are so fortunate that science writer Jennifer Ackerman so frequently turns her mind to birds. This year, she follows the critically acclaimed The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way with the new What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds. Owls have amazed and mystified humans for as long as there have been humans, and new research undertaken by passionate individuals has revealed new insights into these alluring, nocturnal birds.

Also, the story of a tagged Ferruginous Hawk in Ontario, Michigan, and beyond has capitvated birders.

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