The American Birding Podcast

01:19:41

10-20: Take it or Leave it LIVE!

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/05/21

The ABA hosted a membership drive livestream earlier this week, and part of the four hours of birdy entertainment was a LIVE version of the American Birding Podcast favorite segment, Take it or Leave it. Panelists Nick Lund and Martha Harbison joined host Nate Swick to hash out some very hot birding takes on topics like four-letter codes, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and ugly birds. You can find the livestream on the ABA's YouTube channel. The membership drive is still live until the end of the

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43:06

10-19: Ten Birds that Changed the World with Stephen...

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/05/14

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

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41:14

10-18: Sharing Spark Birds with Jenn Lodi-Smith

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/05/07

The concept of the "spark bird", the transformative moment with a particular species that turns you from a normal person into a real-deal birder, is one that many birders are familiar with. These personal testimonies frequently tell you as much about the birder as they do about the spark bird itself. The human element of a natural experience is what excites Dr Jenn Lodi-Smith, a professor of psychology at Canisius University and scholar in residence at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, and it's

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01:18:39

This Month in Birding - April 2026

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/04/29

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

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38:35

10-16: Mob Tape Malpractice? with Marty Freeland

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/04/23

Pishing, mob tapes, and playback are all tools that birders frequently use to supplement their birding experience, be it to show other birders a great bird or to bring birds close for photographs. They have typically been seen in the community as benign but the ease of their use certainly raises questions about how they affect the birds we enjoy. Marty Freeland is a Stanford student who has not only been thinking about these questions, but has attempted to answer them in a scientific manner. His

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58:58

010-15: Saving Birds to Save the Planet with Scott...

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/04/16

Scott Weidensaul is the author of nearly 30 books about birds, birding, and natural history. His latest is The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet, a globe-trotting look at look at bird conservation successes from re-wilding efforts in England to vultures in Romania, to the puffins and plovers of North America. It is a soothing balm in this time of great anxiety about bird populations and a critical look at what still nees to be done. He joins host Nate Swick to talk about

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46:51

10-14: How to be Hawky with Janet Ng

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/04/09

The wide open spaces of the North American west are frequently spotted with signs of human industrial energy production. Oil and gas wells, massive wind turbines, and the like are impossible to miss and impact, occasionally significantly, the birds that live in these vast prairie ecosystems. Dr Janet Ng studies the effects of this industrial incursion into these wild places in the southern Canadian plains, and works with various partners to keep landscapes "hawky". Also, Peter Pyle has some

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01:07:45

10-13: Random Birds, April 2026, with Ted Floyd

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/04/02

Host Nate Swick leans once again on Birding magazine editor Ted Floyd for another Random Birds discussion. The Random Number Generator has a certain late winter/early spring bias with warblers and gulls and warblers and gulls on the agenda. 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! This episode is brought to you by Birding Louisiana.

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01:07:58

10-12: This Month in Birding - March 2026

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/03/26

They say March comes in like a lion and out like an American Birding Podcast This Month in Birding episode, and this month panel is an exceptional one to end a month with. Host Nate Swick is joined by Stephanie Beilke, Andres Jimenez, and Ryan Mandelbaum for a fun and birdy conversation covering Airtags on birds, the most bouba and kiki species, and Tom Johnson's last piece of amazing bird science. Links to topics covered in this episode: Using Apple AirTags to Document Dispersal and Exploratory

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46:34

10-11: The Feather Wars with James H. McCommons

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/03/19

The early years of bird conservation in North America, is a fascinating period, featuring colorful characters and countless battles fought in the pages of newspapers and magazines regarding the need for conserving the continent's wildlife. It is a history thoroughly recounted in the book The Feather Wars and Great Crusade to Save America's Birds by James H. McCommons. The author joins the American Birding Podcast to talk about the creation of the bird conservation movement that not only saved a

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47:39

10-10: Bird Collections, From the Inside, with Nick...

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/03/12

The state of Louisiana hosts one of the world's largest repositories of ornithological knowledge, the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural History. With nearly 200,000 bird specimens, including important collections from the tropical Americas, this institution informs a lot of what we know about bird taxonomy in this hemisphere. Dr Nick Mason is the curator of that collection, and he joins us to talk about the fascinating work done at this place and what museums are doing to make sure bird

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45:16

10-09: World Without Birds with Nick Lund

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/03/05

The specter of a World Without Birds is certainly a sobering one, but one that could, though, inspire new birders and environmentalists to support the efforts needed to make sure that world is never a reality. In Nick Lund's latest book aimed at younger readers, he tells the stories of birds made extinct by human hands and also those of birds that have been rescued from that fate. Nick and Nate also tell stories of birds seen in unlikely places, and the birding goals of a marathoner in a

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01:08:01

10-08: This Month in Birding - February 2026

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/02/26

February is the shortest month, but thankfully our end of the month roundtable discussion is long on fun and insight. This month's This Month in Birding brings together Jason Hall, Mikko Jimenez, and Sarah Swanson to discuss birds and plants, whether birds can be illegal immigrants, and our favorite avian romantic gestures. Plus, in a TMIB first, Mikko brings his own science to the discussion. Links to articles discussed in this episode: Ancient bird routes mapped via plant diversity Can a bird

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38:07

10-07: The Nature of Nutcrackers with Peri Sasnett

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/02/19

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. This interview previously ran in August 2022. Also,

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40:02

10-06: How to Make a Meadowlark with Johanna Beam

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/02/12

In 2023, ABA Area birders welcomed Chihuahuan Meadowlark to the official ABA Checklist, and subsequently to many life lists. Previously considered a distinct subspecies of Eastern Meadowlark, the split was the result of work done by Dr. Johanna Beam while she was an undergraduate researcher. Informed by her background as a birder, Johanna used museum specimens, audio recordings, and genetic tools to inform the eventual split. She joins host Nate Swick to talk about how it's done, and what other

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59:15

10-05: Random Birds, February 2026, with Ted Floyd

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/02/05

Birding editor Ted Floyd returns for another episode of random birds. This time around, the random number generator wants passerines, and Ted and host Nate Swick must oblige. We cover the ABA's Bird of the Year for 2026, and a number of other grassland species. Also, the ABA Checklist Committee's recent update suggests a new direction for the ABA Checklist, at least partially. Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a

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01:11:28

10-04: This Month in Birding - January 2026

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/01/29

It's the first This Month in Birding panel of the new year, and Nate welcomes a crew of birders featuring Mollee Brown, Frank Izaguirre, and Jordan Rutter to discuss predation of penguins, evolving junco bills, and weird bird stuff in our houses. Plus, is pishing an ethical birding practice? Links to items discussed in this episode: Penguins Become Prey for the Pumas of Patagonia Without campus leftovers to pick through, the beaks of this bird changed shape during the pandemic Bias in density

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01:11:28

10-03: Wildest Vagrants of 2025 with Tim Healy & Alex...

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/01/22

2025 was an exciting year for rare bird sightings in the ABA Area, with two first ABA records and a fascinating array of interesting and unexpected records from all corners of the US and Canada. North American Birds editor Alex Lamoreaux and writer and teacher Tim Healy join host Nate Swick to have some fun remembering the highlights of last year. Check out the 2026 Bird of the Year merch available NOW at aba.org/store Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your

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59:31

10-02: A Post-Pandemic Birding Journey with Ed Yong

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/01/15

Science writer Ed Yong was an invaluable resource for many of us navigating the strange pandemic landscape. His writing about Covid-19 at The Atlantic earned him a Pulitzer Prize, but left him looking for an outlet to recalibrate after that anxiety-ridden period. Inspired by his own writing in his book, An Immense World, he turned to bird-watching despite not expecting to be any good at it. It has turned into a passion, a way to explore both his home and the wider world, and an inspiration for his

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39:18

10-01: 2026 ABA Bird of the Year Artist Kristina Knowski

The American Birding Podcast ·

2026/01/08

2026 is officially the year of the Horned Lark! This dapper little songbird can be found just about everywhere in the ABA Area, and we're excited to put a spotlight on it this year as our Bird of the Year for 2026. As is tradition, the species is featured on the January issue of the ABA's Birding magazine, depicted by Indiana artist Kristina Knowski, who bird art afficianados might know from her work as artist in residence for the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival. And it's not just the magazine, we

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