The American Birding Podcast

Latest Episodes:

04-16: #BlackBirdersWeek and Its Impact with Corina Newsome & Tykee James Jun 18, 2020

Show notes

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 student at Georgia Southern University and Tykee James is the government affairs coordinator for National Audubon, and the host of the podcast On Word for Wildlife.

Also, Nate looks at problematic honorific bird names and offers a way forward.

ABA members are eligible for a 15% discount to Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World subscription. Log into your ABA account to get the code.

Sorry for the technical difficulties earlier today. This one should work.

04-15: 2020 Splits and Lumps with Nick Block Jun 11, 2020

Show notes

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% discount to Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World subscription. Log into your ABA account to get the code.

04-14: What It's Like to Be a Bird with David Sibley Jun 04, 2020

Show notes

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's amazing artwork. He joins host Nate Swick to talk about his book, his art, and the benefits of birding alone.

Also, Nate talks about the racist attack on Christian Cooper, the incredible response that is Black Birders Week, and why the mostly White birding community needs to be paying attention.

ABA members are eligible for a 15% discount to Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World subscription. Log into your ABA account to get the code.

04-13: This Month in Birding - May 2020 May 28, 2020

Show notes

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

Piping Plovers in Chicago

What to Wear While Birding When You Want to Look Good

Scientists Discover Why Some Birds Live Fast and Die Young

Bird Diapers

Gateway Arch Turns off its Lights for Birds

ABA members are eligible for a 15% discount to Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World subscription. Log into your ABA account to get the code.

04-12: City Pigeons and Urban Evolution with Elizabeth Carlen May 21, 2020

Show notes

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 Applications that looks at genetic connectivity of Rock Pigeons populations in various cities in the Northeast United States. She joins host Nate Swick to talk about the unique issues with studying urban Rock Pigeons. Also, Nate sings the praises of his Fantasy Birding yard squad, and talks about the birding that has kept him sane in a COVID-19 world.

ABA members are eligible for a 15% discount to Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World subscription. Log into your ABA account to get the code.

04-11: Birding Book Club - Big Year Narratives May 14, 2020

Show notes

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 them great in the first edition of the ABP Birding Book Club. Also, the USFWS disappoints with new rules for the Duck Stamp.

ABA members are eligible for a 15% discount to Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World subscription. Log into your ABA account to get the code.

04-10: The Bird Way with Jennifer Ackerman May 07, 2020

Show notes

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 intelligence.

Also, a Cedar Waxwing story from Karina Li of Big Sky, Montana.

ABA members are eligible for a 15% discount to Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World subscription. Log into your ABA account to get the code.

04-08: Birding in the COVID-19 Era with Ted Floyd & Brodie Cass Talbott Apr 16, 2020

Show notes

The COVID-19 crisis has forced us all to take stock of how we do everything, and birding and birding community events are hardly unique. It's impossible to think about anything else so we just decided to devote an entire episode to it. Host Nate Swick is joined by Brodie Cass Talbott, an educator from Portland Audubon, in Portland, Oregon, who have been adapting to this situation in novel ways, and frequent guest Birding editor Ted Floyd. They talk about how bird clubs are adapting and what we should expect from our fellow birders as the pandemic continues.

04-07: Birdsong for the Curious Naturalist with Don Kroodsma Apr 02, 2020

Show notes

It's hard to step out your backdoor these days without being overwhelmed by birdsong. Spring is easing northward across the continent and with it, an increase in the activities of birds. Few people know this like ornithologist and author Donald Kroodsma, professor emeritus or ornithology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the author of a great many books on bird vocalizations. He joins host Nate Swick today to talk about his most recent book, Birdsong for the Curious Naturalist just in time for the annual explosion of birdsong in the northern hemisphere.

Also, is birding seeing a renaissance in the COVID era? And more Cedar Waxwing stories from our listeners.

04-06: Bird Rehab Behind the Scenes with Ioana Seritan Mar 19, 2020

Show notes

The world of bird rehabilitation is a unique aspect of the way that people interact with birds, and those that do the dirty work of helping wild birds get back to normal following scrapes with human things get an up close and personal look at birds that many of us just look at through binoculars or scopes. Birding Magazine Associate Editor Ioana Seritan does just that in her day job. She's a Wildlife Rehabilitation Technician at the International Bird Rescue in California's Bay Area and she joins host Nate Swick to talk about bird rehab from the inside. Also, the first of our Cedar Waxing stories and birding in the age of COVID-19.

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