It's This Month in Birding for August 2025 and, as we do at the end of every month, we’ve got a great panel of birders to discuss the month’s birding news and scientific publications. Jason Hall, Mikko Jimenez, and Jordan Rutter join host Nate Swick to talk about grackle behavior, museums, and our very favorite penguins.
Links to articles discussed in this episode:
The Rodrigues parakeet's last day: What one extinct bird tells us about the role of museums
Exploration and dispersal are key traits involved in rapid range expansion, urban bird study finds
Conservation sweet spots: How protecting nature helps both birds and humans in the US
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!
Every once in a while, Birding editor Ted Floyd drops in for for another episode of Random Birds. The Birding Gods smile on Ted and Nate's random number generator for an eclectic bunch of birds from warblers to gulls, and one incredibly apropos selection.
The AOS Classification Committee decisions are in, and Michael Retter has all the changes to your list laid out at aba.org.
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!
Bird tourism is booming, and in many parts of the world we’ve seen countries invest in conservation and tourism infrastructure to take advantage of it. Certainly birders are drawn by unique species, but perhaps our choices for bird-watching destinations have as much to do with other factors as they do with the presence of really great birds. It’s the subject of a paper to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal People and Nature by Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela and Scott Winton, who join us to talk "bird capital" and birder wants.
Also, a much loved birding hotspot in Fort Worth, Texas is closed indefinitely.
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!
Writer Amy Tan is perhaps best known for her many novels including The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter’s Daughter, exploring themes of identity, family, and the immigrant experience. Her newest book, however, explores something rather different. The Backyard Bird Chronicles is a collection of nature writing and sketching focuses on the many avian visitors to Amy’s California backyard over a period of several years. The book was published in 2024, bit more recently Amy is the subject of an upcoming Birding magazine interview and The Backyard Bird Chronicles was recently reviewed in the magazine as well. She joins us to talk backyard birding and finding community among the birds and her nature sketching peers.
Also, does a recent Salon commentary suggests a return to the "birders are weird" genre of writing?
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!