The American Birding Podcast

Birders and non-birders alike love urban nesting birds. The drama of life and death in a place where you wouldn’t necessarily expect wildlife is certainly appealing, and when a pair of American Kestrels took up at Cleveland, Ohio's busy West Side Market filmmaker and media producer Najada Davis documented their story, a project that became the documentary Kestrels in the Hood. He joins Nate Swick to talk about that work.  Also, the pandemic has been good for bird songs.  Thanks to Field Guides for sponsoring this episode. Check out their new video series, Out Birding with Field Guides. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Play, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

It’s the last Thursday in October and that means This Month in Birding, wherein we convene a august panel of birders to discuss the news that we missed this month, or more likely saved till the end of the month because they’re more fun to talk about with other people. The panel this week is, for the first time, all returnees, including #cemeterybirder Danielle Belleny, Birdmodo creator Ryan Mandelbaum, and Popular Science writer Purbita Saha.  Topics discussed include: New Duck Stamp Rules put in place Cassia Crossbills at risk from wildfires Massive finch movement this winter Cemetery Birding is the new hot thing Gynandromorph grosbeak found Eastern Black Rails put on Endangered Species List Thanks to Field Guides for sponsoring this episode. Check out their new video series, Out Birding with Field Guides. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Play, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

We are now in the 7th month of this COVID pandemic purgatory, and way way back in April of this year Birding magazine editor Ted Floyd and host Nate Swick had a conversation about what birding will look like during the pandemic. Well, here we are in October, looking at a long winter wherein COVID is still a concern, but at least we have a slightly greater perspective on what we know and what we don’t about everything. Also, join Nate for Auk the Vote this weekend! Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Play, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

The Greater Sage-Grouse is one of the more bizarre birds in North America and frequently a flashpoint for conservation and land management concerns in the American west.  Ashley Ahearn is a public radio and podcast journalist who put herself in the middle of that conflict to create Grouse, an audio series produced by BirdNote and available at all the usual podcast places. She joins host Nate Swick to talk about sage-grouse politics and what it says about the environmental issues we face in the 21st Century.  Also, check out Jason Ward on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me! Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Play, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!  

Rails are a mysterious and enigmatic family, often requiring and rewarding effort. Researcher Auriel Fournier knows that more than most, and her work with rails in Missouri has shed some light on how these birds migrate, and how they use the landscape when they do. Auriel joins host Nate Swick to talk rallidae and STEM outreach for women. This interview was originally released on August 24, 2017. Here's the link to Paul Riss's documentary Rare Bird Alert. Also, Nate has some thoughts about wildlife illiteracy and rare bird reporting.  Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Play, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

Recording and identifying nocturnal flight calls has been a popular way for birders in the ABA Area to document migration, and has inspired an entire community to keep track of those tseep and chips passing overhead this time of year. The COVID-19 pandemic and stay at home orders all over the world have motivated a similar passion in the famously intense UK birding community, and birders recording and documenting Noc-Mig, as it’s called, have made some fascinating discoveries about migration in Europe. Naturalist Mark James Pearson of Yorkshire, UK, is a relatively recent convert and he joins host Nate Swick to talk about it.  Also, the Endangered Species Act is under threat in the Senate, and birders should keep their eyes open for proposed changes.  Thanks to Field Guides for sponsoring this episode. Check out their new video series, Out Birding with Field Guides.

It’s the last Thursday of the month and that means it; time for This Month in Birding, a discussion about all the extra birding news that has been happening for the month of September. This month we've have convened a panel of old and new friends to help me make sense of this crazy crazy world we’re living in, where at least we have birds. Environmental educator Nicole Jackson, The Birdist Nick Lund, and co-host of the Bird Sh't Podcast Mo Stych join host Nate Swick to talk mysterious bird deaths, waffle eating Wood Storks, a bird mascot for the University of Illinois and more.  Links to topics discussed: Mysterious bird deaths in New Mexico. And the likely explanation. Christian Cooper's new comic. #BlackinNationalParks and Best National Parks for birding. Wood Storks eating garbage. University of Illinois has a new Belted Kingfisher mascot.

Most people perceive ornithology as a college course, one of those science electives that can get people into birding long-term. But what if we brought it down to high school and appealed to more students from more backgrounds? That’s the goal of high school teacher Steve Maguire, who has been teaching ornithology in a Massachusetts high school for several years. He joins host Nate Swick to talk about his experiences.  Also, a Migratory Bird Treaty update and Nate teaches you how to be a wicked pisher.  Thanks to Field Guides for sponsoring this episode. Check out their new video series, Out Birding with Field Guides. 

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 talk family specific guides. What are those, you might ask. We'll chat about identification guides or reference books that focus specifically on one group of birds, frequently, though not always strictly speaking, a family as defined taxonomically. Shorebirds, warblers, raptors, and birds-of-paradise are on the agenda.  Thanks to Buteo Books for sponsoring this episode. You can find every one of these titles at their online store and ABA members receive at 10% discount on every purchase.  For a list of all the books we discuss in this episode, please see the American Birding Podcast website. 

The path to becoming a birder is as much as about coming to grips with what is happening to you as it is about finding increasing joy in birding. We all may end up in a similar place but our paths to that place are as individual as we are. Toronto writer and lecturer Julia Zarankin didn't mean to become a birder, but 10 years on here she is. She recounts this odd journey in a new memoir, Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder, out in September in Canada and in October in the United States. She joins host Nate Swick to about how she came to call herself a birder.  Also, Nate wants you to normalize misidentifying birds.