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74 episodes
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The Thing with Feathers: birds and hope with Courtney Ellis Courtney Ellis
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- Science
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4.9 • 42 Ratings
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Stories, experts, and special guests on how birds help us keep looking up.
courtneyellis.substack.com
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74: Birding to Change the World with Trish O'Kane
Together we walk through Trish O'Kane's beautiful new book, Birding to Change the World, including the New Orleans disaster story that first led her into birding.
Join us for this episode of The Thing with Feathers as Trish, author and senior lecturer in environmental justice at the University of Vermont, illuminates ways we might make a difference for the birds, our neighbors, and ourselves right where we are.
From the local marsh to ill-fated fireworks, from Madison, Wisconsin to rural Vermont, making a positive ecological impact is often easier—and more important—than we imagine.
Trish was such a wise, kind guest. Our conversation inspired me to look at my own community with new eyes, new hope, and new gratitude.
You can find Birding to Change the World anywhere books are sold.
Birding links:
The Merlin Bird ID App
eBird
iNaturalist
The Thing with Feathers is hosted and produced by Courtney Ellis. Original music by Del Belcher. New episodes bi-weekly on Mondays.
Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe -
73: Grief Comes for Us All (Mandy Capehart)
Trauma-informed Certified Grief Educator Mandy Capehart knows a thing or two about sorrow. Her first deep dive into grief came with the surprising and rapid decline of her mother in 2016. From there, she began learning all she could about how we grieve and what might help us heal.
Links from Mandy's show:
Restorative Grief (Mandy's website)
The Restorative Grief Podcast
Mandy on Twitter
Mandy on Instagram
Mandy on Facebook
Birding links:
The Merlin Bird ID App
eBird
iNaturalist
The Thing with Feathers is hosted and produced by Courtney Ellis. Original music by Del Belcher. New episodes bi-weekly on Mondays.
Subscribe on Substack.
Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe -
72: Julie Zickefoose on Raising Blue Jays, Rehabbing Nestlings, and the Joy of Wild Things
Julie Zickefoose is one of those birding writers I’ve admired from afar for a long time. When I first got into birds during that miserable pandemic, her book, “Saving Jemima” was one of the first bird-related titles I picked up at our library.
I was captivated. Who knew little birds could have such big personalities? Who knew how much creativity and courage it would take to rehab a single bird?
You can check out Julie's books, illustrations, and more at her website, too. Or follow her on Instagram or Facebook.
As a reminder, The Thing with Feathers podcast comes out bi-weekly on Mondays. If you love the show, I’d be honored if you’d share it with a friend and give it a review, too!
Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe -
Gardening for the Birds with Jenn McGuinness
Gardening is for the birds!
But wait... can gardening actually be FOR the birds? Today we're joined by Jenn McGuinness, author of Bird-Friendly Gardening, to learn all about creating beautiful outdoor spaces that can bless our feathered friends.
Links from Jenn's show:
Jenn's blog
Jenn (Frau Zinnie) on Instagram
Jenn (Frau Zinnie) on Facebook
Birding links:
The Merlin Bird ID App
eBird
iNaturalist
The Thing with Feathers is hosted and produced by Courtney Ellis. Original music by Del Belcher. New episodes bi-weekly on Mondays.
Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe -
70: Fire Ecology, Bird-Friendly Beef, and Woodpeckers (Dale Gentry)
Director of Conservation for the Audubon Upper Mississippi River, Dale Gentry believes there are lots of reasons to be hopeful. From new initiatives caring for the forests lining the Mississippi to bird-friendly grass-fed beef, join us as we learn more about what the Audubon is doing to care for creation.
Plus: we spend some time renaming the birds.
Links from Dale's show:
Dale's Audubon page
Conservation Ranching
Upper Mississippi River Program
Birding links:
Merlin Bird ID
e-Bird
Follow The Thing With Feathers:
TTWF on Twitter
TTWF on Instagram
TTWF on Facebook
The Thing With Feathers is produced by Courtney Ellis. Original music by Del Belcher. New episodes every-other Monday.
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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/courtney-ellis02/message
Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe -
69: The Magic of Migration (Emma Rhodes)
Avian biologist Emma Rhodes joins us to talk about all things migration, the joy of bird-banding, why American Redstarts are the perfect Halloween bird, and how to manage a huge group of volunteers.
Links from Emma's show:
Banding Coalition of the Americas
Emma on Twitter
Emma on Facebook
Banding Coalition on Facebook
Birding links:
Merlin Bird ID
e-Bird
Follow The Thing With Feathers:
TTWF on Twitter
TTWF on Instagram
TTWF on Facebook
The Thing With Feathers is produced by Courtney Ellis. Original music by Del Belcher. New episodes every Monday.
---
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/courtney-ellis02/message
Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe
Customer Reviews
Awesome!
I love this! Please keep it going. Thank you so much for the content.
Yikes Shrikes!
I’m a faithful listener to this great podcast—and have been loving birds for most of my 70+ years on the globe. The episode featuring the most ‘metal’ birds had me high-fiving every selection and ironically so as just this morning I photographed a Loggerhead Shrike (complete with prey dangling from its hooked beak) on my way from the mailbox. Rock on.
Birds all day every day please!
Birds are one of the most invitational reminders that we can live to sing and sing to live. Thank you for this hope filled show of beautiful people.