The American Birding Podcast

Parrots and parakeets are among the most spectacular and diverse birds on the planet, but also among the most adaptable. Urban parrots have made their way into dozens of places around the world and in many cities are a regular feature of city and suburban landscapes. The many ways that dynamic manifests is the subject of a new book, Naturalized Parrots of the World: Distribution, Ecology, and Impacts of the World’s Most Colorful Colonizers, edited by Dr Stephen Pruett-Jones who joins Nate Swick to talk parrots of all kinds.  Also, Ed Yong has some fascinating things to say about how birds taste the world.  Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

The Hawaiian Island of Kaua'i is known as the Garden Isle for its lush scenery and dramatic landscapes, but that beauty hides worrying biodiversity loss and an uncertain future for the island’s native birds. Decline driven primarily by mosquito borne avian malaria have decimated populations of Hawaii's honeycreepers, but there is some hope in the form of an effort to control mosquito populations that was recently approved for use in Hawaii. Dr. Lisa Crampton is the Project Leader of the Kaua'i Forest Bird Recovery Project and  she has been in the middle of a lot of conservation and research efforts around these birds. She joins host Nate Swick to talk about the ups and downs of working with species on the brink.  Also, a fantastic story of a long thought dead Kiwikiu (Maui Parrotbill) that shows the resilience of Hawaiian birds.  Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

The last episode of the month means This Month in Birding, with a panel of Orietta Estrada, Gabriel Foley, and Mikko Jimenez. We have some interesting topics to chat about this week including that mystery bird illness and a possible connection to cicadas, a historical perspective on bird names in a major ornithological journal, how bird science is furthered by indigenous languages, Piping Plover movies and birds in the Olympics. Also, want to win some stuff from the ABA? Get information here! Links to topics discussed include: Thoughts on the mystery bird illness in the east. The Ibis paper on redressing common bird names Local Legends About Birds Help to Preserve Language and Culture Monty and Rose Documentary to Debut on Labor Day in Chicago Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it! Photo Credit for Jimenez: Claudine Williams

Birding editor Ted Floyd joins host Nate Swick to once again chat about recent birding experiences in eBird Annotated. This time Ted and Nate have been on the road, birding in places that meant something to them in the past. For Ted, this is Pittsburgh's Frick Park, and for Nate, Sannibel Island in south Florida.  As promised, enjoy their eBird checklists yourself! From Pennsylvania https://ebird.org/checklist/S91550753 https://ebird.org/checklist/S91550757 https://ebird.org/checklist/S91496800 https://ebird.org/checklist/S91565994 From Florida: https://ebird.org/checklist/S91433356 https://ebird.org/checklist/S91461785 https://ebird.org/checklist/S91229868 Plus, Nate is happy to report that the Duck Stamp will no longer require a hunting element.  Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

We at the ABA are big fans of the growing birding podcast scene and one of the more interesting ones out now is Your Bird Story, which focuses on everyday people’s experiences with birds in cities. The host of Your Bird Story, Dr. Georgia Silvera Seamans, is, among other things, the director of Washington Square Park Eco Projects, an urban and community forester, and of one the co-organizers of Black Botanists Week. She joins us to talk about collecting bird stories from everyone and the importance of wild places in urban spaces.  Also, Nate is back from Florida wowed by Swallow-tailed Kites and Pileated Woodpeckers.  Help support the ABA and the American Birding Podcast by contributing to our Nesting Season Appeal. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

In demand actor, 7 time winner of the Teen Choice Award, and avid birder? Ian Harding is best known for his work on the Freeform network’s teen-drama Pretty Little Liars, but in his new memoir Odd Birds he talks about how birds and birding have provided him with opportunities to find peace and focus in a life in the public eye. Ian joins host Nate Swick to share some stories from his new book and thoughts on what it could mean for birding to have such a high-profile advocate. This interview originally ran on June 29, 2017.  Also, Birding editor Ted Floyd shares a commentary about the magic of birding in the mundaneness of regular life. This commentary originally ran on September 7, 2017.  Help support the ABA and the American Birding Podcast by contributing to our Nesting Season Appeal. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

It's Canada Day and this week sees an all Canada special episode of the American Birding Podcast, a tip of the cap to our friends in the northern part of the ABA Area. The Canada panel consists of some birders from across the country and features voices that podcast regulars probably recognize.  From St, John’s, Newfoundland, we welcome Bird the Rock’s Jared Clarke. From Drumheller, Alberta (by way of Ontario) is  Birds Canada's Jody Allair. And from Richmond, British Columbia, it's wildlife biologist and keeper of the BC Rare Bird Alert, Melissa Hafting. We talk about the amazing birding opportunities found across the country and the special conservation issues unique to Canada.  Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

For June, the The Month in Birding Panel consists of Mo Stych of Bird Sh*t Podcast, Brodie Cass Talbott of Portland Audubon, and newcomer Joanna Wu of Audubon. The panel chats about Black Birders Week, bird habitat as climate sinks, and the many amazing uses of googly eyes.  Links to items discussed: The second year of Black Birders Week (05:03) Floating Googly Eyes Scare Birds Away from Nets (10:35) Bird Habitats are Climate Sinks (16:35) Birds Respond More Aggressively in Multi-species Groups (28:25) Herpers Move Away from Cute Names, Birders Lean in (39:46) Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

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 finally tackle birding's great contribution to world literature, the field guide. We start with guides to Mexico and Central America, popular destinations for US and Canada birders and a great place to begin the discussion about what makes a good field guide and who and what field guides are for. Help support the ABA and the American Birding Podcast by contributing to our Nesting Season Appeal. For the list of books we discuss, check out the ABA Podcast home page!

Early summer means that it’s time to talk taxonomy, and that means Nick Block, professor of Biology at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. For the last several years, Nick is person we like to talk to when it comes to reading the tea-leaves of the American Ornithological Society’s North America Classification Committee. We chat storm-petrels, bunting lumps, and the curious case of the Swainson's Thrushes. Also, there's no better time to sign up to run your own Breeding Bird Survey route! Help support the ABA and the American Birding Podcast by contributing to our Nesting Season Appeal. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!