It's the end of the month and time for This Month in Birding, our monthly panel with birding friends discussing the month's birding and ornithology news. For August 2024, we have a panel of Jody Allair, Tim Healy, and Sarah Swanson talking vultures, bustards, and the winners of the birding Olympic games.

Links to articles discussed in this episode:

How do birds communicate? Network science models are opening up new possibilities for experts

The COVID19 confinement revealed negative anthropogenic effects of unsustainable tourism on endangered birds

Loss of India's vultures may have led to deaths of half a million people

Who Wins gold in the Bird Olympics?

Thanks to our friends at FeatherSnap for sponsoring this episode. Feathersnap is a smart bird feeder with AI bird identification capabilities that send photos of the birds visiting your yard. Capture every moment with FeatherSnap.

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! And don't forget to join the ABA to support this podcast and the many things we do for birds and birders!

The flamingo phenomenon last summer was one of the more exciting birding events in recent memory, but American Flamingo has long been an intriguing species in the ABA Area. Amy Davis and José Ramirez-Garafalo are the authors of an article in the most recent issue of the ABA's North American Birds that looks at the past, present, and future of these incredible pink birds in the ABA Area. 

Also, some new insights into Dodos from old sources. 

Thanks to our friends at FeatherSnap for sponsoring this episode. Feathersnap is a smart bird feeder with AI bird identification capabilities that send photos of the birds visiting your yard. Capture every moment with FeatherSnap.

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! And don't forget to join the ABA to support this podcast and the many things we do for birds and birders!

When birders talk about the importance of a bird-friendly yard, they often mean insects even if they don't mention them explicitely. And so people that want to attract birds need to get comfortable with bugs. Colorado birder David Leatherman is a fan of bug-bird interactions and in his piece The Importance of Native Plants and Insects Amid the Reality of Modern Bird Habitats, in the April 2024 issue of Birding magazine, he encourages birders to familiarize themselves with living bird food. He joins host Nate Swick to discuss it. 

Also, it's 2024 Young Birder of the Year Season! Meet our new awardees and learn more about this exceptional program. 

Don't forget to donate to the ABA's Nesting Season Appeal, which raises money for our excellent young birder programs.

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! And don't forget to join the ABA to support this podcast and the many things we do for birds and birders!

Thanks to our friends at Zeiss for sponsoring this episode. For a limited time you can get $200 of all ZEISS Conquest HD binoculars. Visit your local optics dealer or visit ZEISS.com/nature to find a dealer near you.

Several years ago, birding dads Ted Floyd and Nate Swick recorded their first Birding Without Tears episode, but they told only half the story. What about birding moms?? To help tell the rest of the story, I'm joined by Seattle-based writer Bryony Angell, who draws on her experience as a birding mom and her past as a birding kid to offer insight into a topic that many birders deal with at some point–"how do I get my kids to go birding and all of us have a good experience?"

Also, Nate talks Panama. Wanna travel with the ABA? Check out our 2023 lineup.

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ABA Birders overlook Mexican birding at their own peril. The nation just to the south of the ABA Area hosts amazing culture, friendly people, and fantastic birds. Guest host Frank Izaguirre welcomes Mexican birder, artist, and photographer Jesús Antonio "Chucho" Moo Yam, who brings tales of birding adventure and community involvement, and reports on the the growth of ecotourism in Mexico.  

Also, check out the new Codebreakers feature in Birding magazine!

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The first week of September is the official start of fall, meteorologically at least, though ornithologically it's been on for weeks. It's a wonderful season for birding and general naturing, but it does require a certain mindset and certain strategies. Who better, then, to talk about it than two legends of the fall, Greg Neise and Amy Davis. They join host Nate Swick to talk about what to expect as birds start moving south. 

Also, we're hosting our 2023 Bird of the Year party in Nashville, Tennessee! More information to come. 

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At the end of every month, we host a roundup of recent bird news on the American Birding Podcast. For August we're thrilled to welcome Stephanie Beilke, Jordan Rutter, and Brodie Cass Talbott to the panel to talk about homogenization of bird species, bird habitats in urban landscapes, wild Rock Pigeons, and how birding has changed in our lifetimes. 

Link to articles discussed in this episode:

As more bird species go extinct, those left may be more alike

The strange reason migrating birds are flocking to cities

Rare wild ancestors of domestic pigeon found on Scottish islands

Here's How Drastically Birding Has Changed Over the Past 50 Years

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!

One of the most iconic and beloved birds of the North American west is the Clark's Nutcracker, the highlight of anyone's trip to the high country. It will come as no surprise to anyone that the bird's relationship to the ecosystem goes beyond begging for trail mix from hikers, a fascinating symbiosis that was recently the topic of Glacier National Park's Headwaters podcast, whose host, Peri Sasnett, joins us to talk nutcrackers and conservation.

Also, changes to the ABA Checklist are here, with more potentially on the way. 

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Earlier this year the ABA was delighted to award our Lifetime Achievement Award to a pair of birders who have made a very big impact not only on the places where they live, but on the birding community across the continent. J. Drew Lanham is a birder, poet, academic, award-winning memoirist, and JB Brunfield is an environmental educator, artist, and the undefeated Big Year champion of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. We welcome them both to talk about the state of birding, mentorship, and whether Ohio or South Carolina are better for birds. 

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Close observers of the ABA might remember when we launched a new publication completely produced by a team of teen birders from all over the ABA Area. It's called The Fledgling, and after two issues it is well on its way to being something special. Hannes Leonard and Adrianna Nelson and members of The Fledgling team and they join Nate Swick to talk about this publication and the needs of young birder more generally.

Also, why do field guides to the US and Canada call themselves field guides to "North America"?

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July is awfully hot across most of the ABA Area, and we've got a panel with no shortage of hot takes for the July 2022 This Month in Birding. Martha Harbison, Nicole Jackson, and Nick Lund join host Nate Swick to talk about national birds, woodpecker myths, ravens, macaws, and how your brain works when you bird.

Don't forget to join the ABA for FREE coffee or join Nate in Panama in September!

Links to topics discussed:

Study Upends Theory that Woodpeckers have Shock-absorbant heads

Common Ravens Repopulating the Eastern US

Spix's Macaws Return to the Wild

Study Examines Memory in Birdwatchers

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Back in May of this year, the American Birding Association announced the hiring of Nikki Belmonte as the organization's newest Executive Director. She comes to us with a background in non-profit management, environmental education, and as a hobby birder. We're excited to welcome her to the podcast to talk about birding community, CBCs, and the best flannel to cover up your nerdy bird shirt.

Also, hoat is the deal with the Hoatzin?

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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. They talk Eared Grebes, Black Vultures, and whatever other birds the magic number tells us to talk about. 

Also, the Duck Stamp is back and you can get yours at the ABA!

Join the ABA and get a FREE bag of Song Bird Coffee!

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What better way to spend a random Thursday in June than with a random number generator and a random list of birds? As he does from time to time, the ABA's Birding magazine editor Ted Floyd joins host Nate Swick for another round of Random Birds. This time the list has a strongly cosmopolitan bent, and Nate and Ted discuss birds that can be enjoyed, for the most part, not just around the continent, but in some cases around the world. 

Don't forget to donate to the ABA's Nesting Season Appeal, which raises money for our excellent young birder programs.

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! And don't forget to join the ABA to support this podcast and the many things we do for birds and birders!

Thanks to our friends at Zeiss for sponsoring this episode. For a limited time you can get $200 of all ZEISS Conquest HD binoculars. Visit your local optics dealer or visit ZEISS.com/nature to find a dealer near you.

Birders love bird books, and we at the American Birding Podcast love to get together to discuss bird books in the Birding Book Club segment. Donna Schulman from the website 10,000 Birds and Birding magazine's Frank Izaguirre join Nate Swick to talk about our favorite Bird and Birding Reference guides. It's a broad topic, but if you're looking for books to fill out your bird library, we're here to help. 

For links to the books discussed on this episode, head to the ABA website. 

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It's the last episode of the month and that means it's time for This Month in Birding, featuring a fun panel of ABA friends discussing the biggest birding news of the month and more. On our panel this month, Sarah Bloemers from the hilarious Bird Sh*t podcast, Frank Izaguirre of the ABA's Birding magazine, and aeroecologist and birder Mikko Jimenez. They join host Nate Swick to talk Grasshopper Sparrow success, a new invasive bird in the UK, and the features you'd want in your ultimate birding vehicle. 

Links to articles discussed:

Recovery of one of North America's Most Endangered BirIt'sds Reaches Historic Milestone

Scientists Develop New Methods to Improve Mapping of Bird Migrations

Britain's Birds At Risk from Asian Songbird

And also a link to the Twitchers documentary Frank mentions

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Mention Panama to a bunch of birders and typically only one place comes to mind - beautiful Canopy Tower. A former radar station and military installation west of Panama Cit, Canopy Tower has, over the last couple decades, transformed into one of the most well-regarded ecolodges in the Americas. And when you talk about Canopy Tower you cannot help but talk about Carlos Betancourt, whose work as a guide and mentor has helped to put Canopy Tower on the map and help establish a community of guides throughout Latin America. He joins us to talk about his own journey into birding, and his favorite things about showing Panama to eager birders. 

Want to see it for yourself? Join Nate and the ABA in Panama this fall!

Also, bird flu hit Northern Gannet colonies on both sides of the Atlantic. 

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In early summer eager birders turn to bird taxonomy, and we at the podcast turn once again to our friend Nick Block, professor of Biology at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts to read the tea leaves for American Ornithological Society's North America Classification Committee and explain the latest in bird taxonomy. He joins Nate Swick to talk about new meadowlarks, Mew Gulls, and the House Wren MEGASPLIT. 

Also, some thoughts from Nate about using Merlin on Breeding Bird Surveys. 

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As part of its celebration of the third Black Birders Week, please enjoy highlights from the ABA's two-part panel "Black Birders: Embracing the Beauty Within." The panel session co-hosts are Sheridan Alford and Chelsea Connor. They are joined in the first session by Alex Troutman, Sharon Scott, and Scott Edwards, and in the second session by Alex Troutman and Danielle Belleny. Panelists explores such topics as childhood experiences with birds, how to pass on generational knowledge of birds, and whether things have changed since the first Black Birders Week.

For the panels in their entirety as well as links and bios for all of the participants, please visit the ABA website. Thanks to the panelists and to Black AF in STEM for putting on yet another great edition of Black Birders Week. 

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Finding birds in places where you shouldn't expect to find them if certainly one of the more exciting aspects of birding. In fact, it might well be the reason for the American Birding Association's very existence. The unpredictability, the excitement, the community that builds around these sorts of birds are certainly appealing even the mechanisms that bring them to these places are not always known. Alex Lees is a senior researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University and, along with James Gilroy, the author of Vagrancy in Birds, which attempts to answer some of those questions of how and why vagrancy is so prevalent in birds. He joins me to talk about this ever-fascinating topic

Also, a sad end to Monty and Rose, and a happy beginning for their offspring. 

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It is the end of the month, and with it, comes the This Month in Birding panel. Because May is arguably the best month of the year for birding in the US and Canada we have a panel this month that attempts to meet those expectations. Mollee Brown of the Life List Podcast, Gabriel Foley of the Maryland/DC Bird Atlas, and Purbita Saha of Popular Science. 

Also, wanna travel to Panama with Nate? 

Topics discussed in this episode include:

Language Barriers in Local Bird Conservation

Broken Wing Tactic More Widespread Than Thought

Songbirds More Colorful the Closer They Live to the Equator

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Julie Zickefoose scarcely needs an introduction. A prolific artist and an award-winning writer, much of her work is inspired by her home in southeast Ohio. It's the topic of a piece she has written for the May special issue of Birding magazine, Wildlife Gardening in Appalachian Ohio. She joins us talk about the satisfactions and frustrations that come from building a wildlife sanctuary and a little bit about the return of BWD. 

Also, we've got a new Executive Director! And some thoughts on the Biggest Week American Birding has seen in 3 years. 

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Maybe more than anyone in North America in the last 20 years, Brian Sullivan has been deeply involved in things that birders do. He was one of the original developers of eBird, which hardly needs an introduction to listeners, and is now project lead of Cornell's Birds of the World. In the last couple years Birds of the World has absolutely become an essential collection of bird knowledge which is all the more amazing considering the scope of the project. 

Also, Merlin's Sound ID is better than you think. 

Friend of the ABA Nick Lund has had a busy spring! He not only published his first book, but his first two books. The ABA Guide to Birds of Maine is the newest installment in the well-regarded ABA guide series from Scott & Nix, and The Ultimate Biography of Earth seeks to reach science fans of all ages with its fun text and colorful illustrations. Nick joins Nate Swick to talk about them both and whatever else they get to. 

Also, turns out Nate had Covid, and he does not recommend getting it during spring migration.

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Last week saw the fourth year of Black Birders Week, which continues to be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate diversity in the birding and nature communities. To help mark the occassion, we hand over the podcast to the host of Your Bird Story, Georgia Silvera Seamans, who brings our 2024 ABA Bird of the Year artist Natasza Fontaine, a working biologist in addition to being a science illustrator, to talk about her experiences with birds, botany, and whatever other natural "B's" she loves to encounter. 

Don't forget to donate to the ABA's Nesting Season Appeal, which raises money for our excellent young birder programs.

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! And don't forget to join the ABA to support this podcast and the many things we do for birds and birders!

Thanks to our friends at Zeiss for sponsoring this episode. For a limited time you can get $200 of all ZEISS Conquest HD binoculars. Visit your local optics dealer or visit ZEISS.com/nature to find a dealer near you.

It's the last Thursday of the month and that means it is time for the American Birding Podcast This Month in Birding panel where we talk some bird news, share some sightings, and generally have a good time. We welcome to the panel this month Portland Audubon's Brodie Cass Talbott, the American Bird Conservancy's Jordan Rutter, and Birds Canada, Jody Allair.  

Also, wanna travel to Panama with Nate? 

Topic's discussed on this month's episode:

Can birds keep up with earlier springs?

Shakespearian Tall Tale Shaped how we see Starlings

Discovering New Species by Listening for Them

Multiple Lines of Evidence Indicate Survival of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Louisiana. 

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 incredible variety of bird song in a morning chorus on a spring or summer day is a phenomenon that a lot of birders are familiar with. But even after centuries of study there is still a lot we don't know about bird vocalizations, especially the world of female birdsong. The vocalizations of female birds are frequently as complex and important to the lives of birds as the songs we associate with male birds, and it's only relatively recently that we've begin to really look into that. Dr. Lauryn Benedict, from the University of Northern Colorado, has been on the cutting edge of this science and she joins host Nate Swick to talk about bird vocalizations and other aspects of female bird biology.

Also, American Ornithological Society taxonomy proposals are out, and Nate hits some of the highlights. 

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As interest in birding has grown in the last couple years, birders have turned up in some really interesting places, including the streaming platform Twitch. Dr WD40, Liz Clayton Fuller, and Ian Davies are birders who have figured out this live streaming thing and are using it to build a community of bird and nature fans in a seemingly unconventional place, and they join host Nate Swick to talk all about it. 

Plus, if you want prairie-chickens, you've got to get to Kansas. 

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Birding editor Ted Floyd is back and ready to remember some birds! He joins host Nate Swick to put their fates in the hands of chance and a random number generator to find some birds to talk about woodpeckers, wrens, and warblers. 

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It's time again for This Month in Birding! While March is arguably the slowest month of the year for birding in the ABA Area, we haven't given the short shrift with this excellent panel of returnees. From Sonoran Join Venture, Jennie Duberstein, from Birds Canada and The Warblers podcast, it's Andrés Jimenez, and from Birdmodo and a thousand other fun sciency things, it's Ryan Mandelbaum. They join host Nate Swick to talk indigenous science, hardcore eBirders, crafty magpies and Daylight Savings Time. 

Links to topics discussed:

US Senate Passes Bill to make Daylight Savings Time Permanent

Indigenous Conservationists track Vanishing Birdsong

Highly Specialized Recreationists Contribute the Most to eBird

Australian Magpies Remove Tracking Devices

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Forrest Rowland advocates for ecotourism around the world as a tour leader for Rockjumper and for ecotourism close to home with Landtrust, an effort to connect landowners in the west and outdoor recreationists in some pretty interesting ways. Birders get access to private ranches full of amazing birds and wildlife and landowners get to put their properties to work in an environmentally sustainable way. It's a win-win-win for birders, landowners, and the birds they are working to protect. He joins Nate Swick to talk about how it works and why people need more places to enjoy outdoor recreation in an increasingly crowded west. 

Plus, it's March Madness and bird teams are succeeding on the court, if not in their logos. 

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In many many parts of the country, and the world, the most accessible greenspaces are cemeteries. And while they have a morbid reputation, they can offer lots of great nature opportunities for those willing to explore. Danielle Belleny is a wildlife biologist in San Antonio, Texas, a co-founder of Black Birders Week, and the author of the essay Lawn of the Dead: Finding Solace, Ecological Integrity, and Good Birding in America's Cemeteries, which will run in the next issue of Birding magazine. Her new book This is a Book for People who Love Birds is also due out next month. Also, some good new for a lovely birding site in South Texas.

Also, you can find lots of ABA folks at festivals this spring, including Nate at the Kansas Lek Treks prairie-chicken festival in April!

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The birding world was shocked and more than a little saddened late last year when the venerable magazine Bird Watcher's Digest announced that it was ceasing operations. Famously founded by Elsa Thompson and Bill Thompson Jr in 1978 it was a real tent pole of the birding community in North America. But the exciting news is that the magazine will be back in 2022, rechristened as BWD and with many of the same people involved. Jessica Vaughn will be the editor and Mike Sacopulos the publisher. They join us to talk about the magazine relaunch and continuing the legacy of Bill Thompson III.

Plus, what being at 99 birds does to you.

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If a bird calls in a forest, or a swamp, or a grassland, and no birder is there to hear it, did that vocalization really happen? The birds sounds we miss contain so much information about bird behavior and populations, wouldn't it be useful if we could hear those sounds surreptitiously. That's the work of Tessa Rhinehart, a researcher, birder, and mathematician at the University of Pittsburgh who trains computers to identify birds for science and conservation. 

Also, birders in Nova Scotia get a car company to overhaul their commercial. 

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 the last week of the month and that means it's time for This Month in Birding. And while February is the shortest month, we do not give you the short shrift with our panel this month. We're joined by Sam D'Jarnett from Always Be Birdin', Orietta Estrada from Amplify the Future, and podcast regular Frank Izaguirre of Birding magazine to talk about murmuration dangers, Rare Bird Alerts pros and cons, and a Black Birders Week temperature check among other things. 

Links to topics discussed:

Birds Fall From the Sky in Mexico

Lead Bullets Stunt Bald Eagle Recovery

Where Have the Rare Bird Alerts Gone?

Conspiracy Theorists Cause Texas Butterfly and Birding Site to Close

Amplify the Future Birders Scholarship Fund

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!

Spring turns to summer in much of the ABA Area this week, and we celebrate spring 2024 with a birding podcast crossover event for this month's This Month in Birding. We welcome Mollee Brown, one of the hosts of the Life List podcast and Jason Hall and Dexter Patterson, hosts of the brand new, and very fun, Bird Joy podcast to talk about the mathematics of bird flocks, how birding makes you happy, and our favorite moments of spring 2024, among other things. 

Links to articles discussed in this episode:

The federal government plans to kill half a million West Coast owls

How do birds flock? Researchers do the math to reveal previously unknown aerodynamic phenomenon

Why birdwatchers are happier than the rest of us

Bald eagles are back, but great blue herons paid the price

Don't forget to donate to the ABA's Nesting Season Appeal, which raises money for our excellent young birder programs.

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! And don't forget to join the ABA to support this podcast and the many things we do for birds and birders!

Thanks to our friends at Zeiss for sponsoring this episode. For a limited time you can get $200 of all ZEISS Conquest HD binoculars. Visit your local optics dealer or visit ZEISS.com/nature to find a dealer near you.

There is no question that climate change is having an impact on bird populations, but dig a little deeper and you find a tangled web of changing weather patterns, land use, habitat loss, and the different needs of individual species and groups of species that make coming up with management practices a real challenge. But birds, more than most other taxa, have the benefit of decades of data from both professional and community scientists perhaps best exemplified by the Christmas Bird Count. Dr. Sarah Saunders and Geoff LeBaron are authors of a paper published last month in the journal Global Change Biology, on the effects of climate change on bird populations using nearly a century of Christmas Bird Count data collected by birders like you. 

Also, birding makes the Super Bowl. Sort of. 

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We have seen, in recent years, an increased awareness of the need to make birding welcoming, inclusive, and accessible. There are many many avenues to making a reality. Birdability is an organization that seeks to do so for people with a wide range of disabilities, from mobility challenges to chronic illness to neurodivergence. My guests are Virginia Rose, the president and founder of Birdability and Freya McGregor, Birdability's coordinator.

Also, if not Burrowing Owl, perhaps Manuring Owl?

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We might be well into 2022, but it's not too late to look back at the previous year in bird and birding phenomena. While the year started slowly, it built into an exceptional one for rare birds, with amazing individuals and stories that captivated birders across the ABA Area. To talk about it we're joined by Amy Davis, associate editor of the ABA's North American Birds journal and Tom Johnson of the ABA Checklist Committee. 

Also, have you been playing Brdl?

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It's the last week of the first month of 2022, and time again for This Month of Birding. One of our panelists Brooke Bateman was scheduled to be with us but unfortunately came down with COVID, and we hope that she is on the mend soon. In her place steps the ABA's Greg Neise, who joins a panel of scientists Mikko Jimenez and Joanna Wu to chat about Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, bird migration science, and how we intend to celebrate Gullentine's Day. 

Links to articles discussed in this episode:

USFWS re-opens comment period on Ivory-billed Woodpecker extinction

Landmark Colombian Study Repeated to Right Colonial-Era Wrongs

Loss of Defaunation on Plants' Capacity to Track Climate Change

Seabird Telemetry Study Reveals Surprisingly Diverse Migratory Routes

Snowy Owls Aren't Really Starving

Gull Foraging Strategies in Urban Environments

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Texas birder Tiffany Kersten did not start 2021 with an ambitious year of birding in mind. But out of a job because of Covid closures, and with other hobbies unaccessible, the opportunity opened up to do something special. At the end of the year, she had traveled across the Lower 48 US states, raised awareness on the issue of women's safety in the outdoors, set a new Lower 48 Big Year record of 726 species, and launched her own bird tourism business. She joins us to talk about her Big Year and her bigger purpose. 

Also, more on the fundraiser based on the DC Snowy Owl. 

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Editor of the ABA's Birding magazine and frequent podcast guest Ted Floyd just returned a few weeks ago from a trip to Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, for the African Bird Expo. It just so happens to be a place that host Nate Swick has been as well, on an earlier incarnation of that same trip. So with that in mind, they thought it would be fun to apply the random number generator to their lists and remember some birds in Random Birds.

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Last month the ABA officially announced the 2022 ABA Bird of the Year, which is Burrowing Owl! The excitement over the owl is, no doubt, helped along by the exceptional artwork of our Bird of the Year artist, Christina Baal, whose colorful and personable style seems to fit this species like an owl nestled in a subterranean PVC pipe. She's with host Nate Swick to talk about Burrowing Owls, inspiration, and art.

Plus, send us your Burrowing Owl stories, like the one Nate shares this week. 

This episode is brought to you by Buteo Books. 

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We're at the end of the month and the end of 2021. So it's time for the This Month in Birding panel. We bring back some of our birding friends from the year that was in the form of The Birdist Nick Lund, Bird Sh*t's Mo Stych, and Portland Audubon's Brodie Cass Talbott. We talk about the brand new ABA Bird of the Year, Burrowing Owls and rats, cursing crows, and our best and worst birding holiday gifts. 

Links to articles discussed in this episode:

Burrowing Owl is the 2022 ABA Bird of the Year!

Farallon Islands Mouse Eradication Plan Splits Community

Foul-mouth Crow Befriends Elementary School

Good Bird Conservation News from Audubon

Colorado Ranch saves farm by betting on rare birds

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It is one of the great dreams of many birders, to be part of the discovery and description of a bird species that is brand new to science. But it is a process that can be long and involved. Ryan Terrill, an ornithologist at the Moore Lab of Zoology at Occidental College, was in the middle of it with the recent formal recognition of the Inti Tanager, a stunning South American bird known for years as the "Kill Bill" Tanager. Ryan's work surveying the bird's breeding territory in western Bolivia was a big part of that work, and he joins us to talk about the process, and why Inti Tanager is certainly not the last new species to come from this part of the world. 

Join us this weekend for the 2022 Bird of the Year reveal party!

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It is amazing how many people combine the two interests of birding and music, though few as professionals. Stephanie Seymour manages, however, to do it. As a birder she explores the birds around her home in northern New Jersey and as a musician she has had a long career as a drummer and singer in a number of bands. In 2019 she combined those worlds with her self-produced album There are Birds. She'll also be featured in an upcoming issue of the ABA's Birding magazine early next year.

Don't forget to join us at our 2022 ABA Bird of the Year reveal in Philadelphia!

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Newfoundland lies on the eastern extremes of the North American continent, and every spring it hosts an always fascinating and ocasionally extraordinary array of European vagrant birds. The phenomenon that brings European Golden-Plovers and Whooper Swans and Garganeys to North America is fairly well known now, and Newfoundland birders increasingly welcome bird enthusiasts from all over the continent to enjoy it. Guest host Jody Allair of Birds Canada hosts Newfoundlander Jared Clarke from Bird the Rock Tours to talk about why it happens and what it means to be on the leading edge of continental vagrancy. 

Don't forget to donate to the ABA's Nesting Season Appeal, which raises money for our excellent young birder programs. 

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Thanks to our friends at Zeiss for sponsoring this episode. For a limited time you can get $200 of all ZEISS Conquest HD binoculars. Visit your local optics dealer or visit ZEISS.com/nature to find a dealer near you.

Hawk-watchers are easily the most established sub-groups within the birding community, and the hawk-watching community in North America is close-knit and passionate. One of its undisputed authorities is Jerry Liguori of Salt Lake City, Utah, the author of Hawks at a Distance and Hawks from Every Angle, two of the most influential family-specific field guides in North America. He is the 2017 recipient of the ABA's Robert Ridgway Award for publications in field ornithology and his articles have appeared many times in ABA's Birding magazine. Jerry joins host Nate Swick to talk about the magic of watching hawks, his diagnosis with ALS, and what birders need to know about hawk-watching.

Also, the last of our Pileated Woodpecker stories from Gaspard Tanguay-Labrosse of Montreal, Quebec, and a fascinating study that suggests that chickadees segregate by species using smell.

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The last Thursday of the month means it's time for This Month in Birding, a very special This Month in Birding for a couple reasons. First, it is Thanksgiving in the United States, the birdiest of our national holidays. And second, it's a special all Galbatross panel of This Month in Birding, featuring a whole 60% of the Galbatrosses. We're joined by Senior Manager of Conservation Science at Audubon Great Lakes, Stephanie Beilke, Audubon Network Content Editor Martha Harbison, and Popular Science writer and editor Purbita Saha, to talk condor virgin births, shrinking amazon birds, and why the Kill Bill Tanager should have been the Bruce Lee Tanager.

Don't forget to join us in Philly next month to reveal the 2022 ABA Bird of the Year!

Links to articles mentioned in this episode:

Parthenogenisis in California Condors

Climate Change Causing Amazon Birds to Shrink

Evolution of Egg Colors linked to Nest Shapes

"Kill Bill" Tanager formally named Inti Tanager

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It is time once more for the most anticipated Birding Book Club of the year, our annual Best Bird Books of the Year episode for 2021. And while it is still November, holiday gift-giving season is right around the corner so we want to get this conversation out there for our listeners' sake. We are joined by 10,000 Birds book reviewer Donna Schulman and Birding magazine media and book review editor Frank Izaguirre to talk about what we loved this year in bird books. 

Also, the New Zealand Bird of the Year is a bat for some reason. 

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