290 episodes

The American Birding Podcast brings together staff and friends of the American Birding Association as we talk about birds, birding, travel and conservation in North America and beyond. Join host Nate Swick every Thursday for news and happenings, recent rarities, guests from around the birding world, and features of interest to every birder.

The American Birding Podcast American Birding Association

    • Science
    • 4.6 • 11 Ratings

The American Birding Podcast brings together staff and friends of the American Birding Association as we talk about birds, birding, travel and conservation in North America and beyond. Join host Nate Swick every Thursday for news and happenings, recent rarities, guests from around the birding world, and features of interest to every birder.

    08-17: This Month in Birding - April 2024

    08-17: This Month in Birding - April 2024

    It's the April edition of This Month in Birding, with a panel as bold and timeless as the new eBird font. We welcome Frank Izaguirre, Ryan Mandelbaum, and Jordan Rutter to talk Birds Aren't Real, seabird spies, dream birds, and much more!
    Links to articles discussed in this episode:
    A Fake Conspiracy Theorist’s Second Act
    Wild bird gestures “after you” - Japanese tit uses wing movements for gestural communication
    Use of bird-borne radar to examine shearwater interactions with legal and illegal fisheries
    Tropical field stations yield high conservation return on investment
    Do Birds Dream? What new research on the avian brain and REM sleep in birds might reveal about our own dream lives.
    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.

    • 56 min
    08-16: Take it or Leave It - Seawatching, Records Committees, and Owls

    08-16: Take it or Leave It - Seawatching, Records Committees, and Owls

    Birders are full of strong opinions, some serious and some silly. In this new feature, we invite friends on to discuss the spiciest bird takes we can find to determine whether we Take it or Leave it. George Armistead and Amy Davis join host Nate Swick to talk about spark birds, seawatching, records committees, and whether we should shre the locations of owls more frequently. 
    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.

    • 54 min
    08-15: Martin Migration Madness with Kevin Fraser

    08-15: Martin Migration Madness with Kevin Fraser

    Spring is finally on its way and with it, the promise of returning migratory birds to the United States and Canada. Among the first to arrive every year, and beloved among birders and non-birders alike, is North America’s largest swallow, the Purple Martin. With their chatty and gregarious nature martins have inspired so many people, one of whom is Dr. Kevin Fraser of the Avian Behavior and Conservation Lab at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. A migration ecologist with a particularly interest in neotropical migrants, Kevin has worked with Purple Martins for years, and he joined host Nate Swick back in 2019 to talk about the uncommon lives of these common birds.
    Also, guest host Ted Floyd talks about birding and the recent eclipse. 
    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.

    • 29 min
    08-14: Random Birds, Special Edition, with Ted Floyd & John Lowry

    08-14: Random Birds, Special Edition, with Ted Floyd & John Lowry

    John Lowry steps from the production booth into the host's seat this time around to join Birding magazine editor Ted Floyd in a special Random Birds featuring John's home state of Michigan and Ted's old home of Nevada. They discuss a smorgasbord of avian trivia from the big middle of the ABA Area. 
    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. 

    • 53 min
    08-13: This Month in Birding - March 2024

    08-13: This Month in Birding - March 2024

    Beware the IDs of March! Shakespeare was no doubt concerned with molting grebes, singing juncos and the various other birding difficulties brought to us in this month when he wrote those words.  Jody Allair, Mikko Jimenez, and Purbita Saha join host Nate Swick this month to talk climate change and birds, skinny bird legs, and more!
    Links to topics discussed in this episode:
    The great eBird outage of 2024
    To mitigate bird collisions, enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
    As Spring Shifts Earlier, Many Migrating Birds Are Struggling to Keep Up
    Why Do Birds Have Such Skinny Legs?
    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 HX Expeditions for sponsoring this episode! Change the way you see the world with HX Expeditions.

    • 1 hr 6 min
    08-12: More than a Lawn Thrush with Emily Williams

    08-12: More than a Lawn Thrush with Emily Williams

    What can we learn from one of the most familiar birds in North America? A bird so well-known that it’s migration is remarked upon by friends and colleagues who might otherwise have no knowledge about birds at all. The American Robin, of course, is ubiquitous but there is a lot left to learn. That is, in part, the work of Emily Williams, an avian ecologist at Georgetown University, currently studying the migration ecology of American Robins. She joins us to talk about what we don’t know about a bird everyone knows.
    Also, it's March Madness! Which obviously means we need to consider the bird mascots in the NCAA tournament. 
    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 HX Expeditions for sponsoring this episode! Change the way you see the world with HX Expeditions.

    • 34 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
11 Ratings

11 Ratings

inet1 ,

Another Brit fan..

Just read Colin Conroy’s review and he said it all, great show well delivered and opens my eyes to really important social aspects of our hobby. Keep it up.

Colin Conroy ,

Brilliant

I’ve been listening to this podcast since it started and I love it. Great presenter, great range of subjects and guests. I love Nate’s passion for Birding and also for social justice (and that he isn’t scared to talk about the latter).
I wish we had an equivalent in the UK

Jimmymancity ,

Joy to listen to

English birder who also wishes we had something this good over here, keep up the great work

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