The American Birding Podcast

Birders know that the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Duck Stamp program is one of the most effective conservation initiatives in the US, but what of the Duck Stamps themselves? How are they chosen? What do judges look for? Why does one family always seem to win? This year Catherine Hamilton, a southern California based birder and artist, was given the responsibility of helping to choose the year's most enduring conservation image, and she joins host Nate Swick to talk about her experience. Also, Nate is back from a great weekend with Birds Houston, and is looking forward to the ABA's next Community Weekend in Charleston, South Carolina. 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!

There are a few lucky places in the ABA Area where parrots still fly free, even if most have captive origins these day. But these big loud flashy birds have a history and future than is perhaps more interesting than many birders might imagine and these feral populations can even give us some insights into the frequently threatened wild birds in Mexico and Central America. John McCormack, director of the Moore Lab of Zoology at Occidental College in Los Angeles, was one of the authors of a paper about how two closely related Amazon parrots in southern California more or less fit into the landscape together and he joined us in 2021 to talk about it. Also, Nate returns from the St. Louis Community Weekend with stories about warblers and serendipitous swifts. Join us for our next community weekend in Charleston, South Carolina, in November! 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!

El Niño is one of those strange climate phenomena that we're still trying to understand, particularly as it pertains to birds and birders, who are driven by and inspired by weather systems. This year's El Niño looks to be a particularly intense one, and birder and educator Tyler Wenzel explored it in a recent Field Ornithology piece on the ABA's website called Intense El Niño Sends Humboldt Current Seabirds to Central America. He joins us to explore it in more detail. 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!

In the next couple months, billions of migrating birds will be crossing the continent from north to south. Those birds increasingly must navigate a gauntlet of threats, not least of which are windows and lights, the combination of which kills untold numbers of birds annually. Holly Greenberg is an artist and founder and director of Bird Collisions in the Anthropocene, an organization that uses art and community engagement to bring awareness to these threats to birds and hopefully inspire action for their benefit. Also, in light of lots of media about Gen Z birders, Nate considers the relative lack of Gen X birders. 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!

Nashville based singer/song-writer Bonner Black is confidently making her way in the worlds of both music and birding. She's been touring bird festivals all over the world this year and and she is a fun follow on social media with often hilarious takes on birding culture. Bonner's well-received debut album Hopeless RomANTICS featured songs that landed on The New York Times 2023 Spring Playlist, and her fourth studio project is a 5 song EP titled Little Bird in a Big Sky, which features some birdy touches amongst the more expected tracks, releases on August 20th. She joins us to talk about birds, music, and how to make a living combining the two. Also, sent Nate your hottest bird takes for a special LIVE Take it or Leave it at the Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival. 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!

Migration is a tough time of year for many birds, as they make their long dangerous journey between breeding grounds and wintering territories. The path taken by many sees them passing over or stopping to nest in increasingly urban landscapes. These landscape changes affect birds in many ways, some obvious, some more subtle. That is the work of researcher Lauren Pharr, at the time of this interview, a PhD student studying urban noise and light pollution and their affect on birds. She joined host Nate Swick in April 2021 to chat about her work, wildlife research in urban settings, and community science.\ Also, Nate is back from a wonderful Black Belt Birding Festival. 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!

The White-eyes are coming! And in a few parts of the ABA Area, they are already here and spreading. Introduced non-native species often fly under the radar of birders until the moment comes that they simply cannot be ignored any longer, and it seems like we are at that point with White-eyes, who are an increasingly common part of the landscape in the west. Rajan Rao is a California birder and Cornell University student. whose article about white-eyes was the cover story of the May 2026 issue of Birding magazine... Also, the US federal government proposes some significant changes to the Endangered Species Act. 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!

Split and Lump season is here again, and as we have since this podcast began, we welcome Dr. Nick Block of Stonehill College to discuss the exciting bird taxonomy changes that might be coming to a life list near you via the AOS NACC. Could this be the year we finally see the long awaited splits of Willet and Marsh Wren? Will Great Egret be picked apart into its continental forms? Is Prairie-Chicken on the way out in favor of Prairie-Grouse? We answer all those questions and more! Also, Nate fact checks a phenomenal Short-eared Owl story from last week's Random Birds. 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!

It's the end of the month, and that means it's time for another This Month in Birding episode, featuring a panel of birders gathering to talk aout recent bird news and science. This month we welcome Jason Hall, Tim Healy, and Sarah Swanson to talk grassland birds, ravens and wolves, and the "unseen 95%" of birding. Links to articles discussed in this episode: The joys of reporting on 3 teenagers chasing glory in the World Series of Birding More grass, more birds, more problems Ravens anticipate wolf kill sites across broad scales The collective application of shorebird tracking data to conservation 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!

The easternmost province in mainland Canada, Labrador doesn't get the attention afford to its island provincial partner Newfoundland. Its position on the continent, however, affords its birders the opportunity for some unique avian opportunities from unlikely rarities to birding by snowmobile. Labrador birder Vernon Buckle joins guest host Frank Izaguirre for a conversation about birds and birding in one of the continent's most unique places. Also, Frank shares some thoughts about the new internet of birding. 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!

It's the end of May, the season for bald cardinals, baby birds, and buggy birding. But most importantly, it's the last Thursday of the month and that means it's time for This Month in Birding, our monthly panel discussion of bird news and science and we have rounded up another great group of birding friends to have that discussion. Host Nate Swick is joined by Mikko Jimenez, Jordan Rutter, and Brodie Cass Talbott, to talk vagrant birds, robo-grouse, and birdy World Cup crests. Links to articles discussed in this episode: When Primm resort-casinos go dark, what happens to the birds? Students fabricate randy robo-grouse whose strut could save birds at Jackson Hole Airport Demography and dispersion: evaluating the causes and consequences of vagrancy in North American migratory birds Inter- and intra-individual variation in the feather coloration of American crows 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!

Birds and humanity have interacted for as long as there has been humanity, and various bird species have proven to be constants, influencing mythologies, religions, art, economics, and even warfare. Natural history, as it turns out, is human history, and that is the idea behind the book 10 Birds that Changed the World. Stephen Moss is the author, he is one of Britain's most influential nature writers and broadcasters. You can find him writing a monthly Birdwatch column for the Guardian and appearing regularly on BBC Radio, among many other places. Also, a recent hantavirus outbreak on a nature cruise has the wider world looking at birders and landfills with a critical eye, even though birders have been part of the solution. 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!

It's the end of April and that means it's time again for another This Month in Birding panel with a great group of birding friends joining host Nate Swick to talk about recent birding news and science. Jody Allair, Gabriel Foley, and Jennie Duberstein discuss birding and your brain, guano and civilization, and our favorite birding April Fools. Links to items discussed in this podcast: Backyard birdwatchers help scientists uncover what hawks really like to eat Becoming an Expert Birder Can Reshape Your Brain and Might Help Protect It From Aging, New Research Suggests Seabirds shaped the expansion of pre-Inca society in Peru Feeling you belong may keep scientists in ornithology, study suggests 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!