Your Bird Story

The American Robin, Turdus migratorius , is a common migratory bird found throughout much of the United States; however, the population in Chicago appears to be decreasing . Is this trend specific to Chicago, or are Robins experiencing declines in other cities across the U.S? Wildlife biologist Emily Williams returns to the podcast to discuss migration patterns and the possible factors contributin...

What can birding in a different city tell us about ourselves and the culture of perceiving nature in our community? We check in with Loyan Beausoleil about her recent trip to Japan where she observed Warbling White-eye and plentiful Brown-eared Bulbul among blooming cherry trees, listened to the song of the Japanese Bush Warbler who eluded her on Izu Island, and spotted Falcated Ducks when she lea...

Alejandro Vinueza, a wildlife biologist and current youth programs manager, has birds in his wild city of New York. He has watched Ruby-throated Hummingbirds nectaring in Fort Tryon Park, heard Red-tailed Hawks screeching on-the-wing while playing basketball at Cabrini Park, and observed Great-horned Owls on Staten Island. Alejandro describes himself as a bird nerd trying to “grow the flock” among...

Indigo Goodson-Fields is a writer, poet, birder. We begin our conversation with Indigo’s essay, “Black Woman's Guide to Loving through Birds” (read it!), and end with her memory of seeing her first Northern Flicker in the Native Flora Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. She recalls the sun illuminating the yellow shafts of the bird in flight from the ground. In between Indigo talks about her li...

Dudley Edmondson’s writing and photography spotlight Black, Indigenous, and People of Color on the frontlines of conservation. Edmondson is a role model for People the Planet Needs Now , which is also the title of his latest book. He lives the talk by managing his yard as bird habitat. We talk about his favorite birds, influencing his neighbors, and what is was like to be in the room where the Ame...

Are you ready for it…a new way to court and find love? In 2020, Wenfei Tong released her book, Bird Love , which dives into the fascinating world of avian mating and parenting strategies, was published. Fast forward to 2022 when Bryony Angell picks up Tong’s book for the second time. What happens next is the topic of this podcast. You’ll hear about Tong’s inspiration for writing Bird Love , Angell...

This month we talk with Christine Mott about her new book Free Bird: Flaco the Owl’s Dreams Take Flight , and the rights of animals. Mott was raised in New York City but wrote the book from Southern California. She was the Chair of the Animal Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association. CONTENT NOTICE: This episode contains descriptions of violence towards people and animals in a discussion...

Birds of a feather flock together, and more. Dr. Joan Strassmann studies cooperation and conflict within and between species, mostly social amoebas. In her latest book, The Social Lives of Birds , Strassmann trains her lens on the sociality of birds. The book is a riveting set of profiles of the how and why birds band together to breed, nest, and raise their young. The opportunity to hear from Str...

Matthias Garff is an artist based in Germany. His sculpture practice is 80% focused on birds. His passion for birds developed through his relationship with his grandfather, who sent poems about the birds in his garden in Buenos Aires. We spoke with Garff about his year-long International Studio & Curatorial Program Residency in New York City, where he used discarded materials to create life-si...

Jenn Lodi-Smith is a PhD psychologist and founder of The Spark Bird Project. The initiative flickered into life at the Hog Island Audubon Family Camp where Lodi-Smith was introduced to the concept of "spark birds." Lodi-Smith and her colleagues record and analyze contributed stories to better understand how people become birders and why they continue to bird. The Spark Bird Project shares its rese...

In this episode, we talk with Amy Berkov, a research scientist specializing in beetles and plant chemistry. Dr. Berkov shares her journey from artist to scientist, and her strong expertise in insect ecology, and the relationships among plants and birds. — Read Amy Berkov’s research . — Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans Producer and Editor:  Pod for the People Vocalizations:  American Goldf...

Edmundo Martinez’s patches are Starlight and Concrete Parks in the Bronx. He has seen inland birds including warblers and woodpeckers as well as aquatic birds like herons and egrets. The Bronx River, New York City’s only fresh water river, flows through these parks. Martinez birds big parks like Pelham Bay Park (2,722 acres) and small parks like Hunts Point Riverside Park (1.4 acres). He purposefu...

Kelli Hata founded the Haecceity Project to chronicle the birds who die by colliding with glass structures on the Yale University campus. The word haecceity was coined by John Duns Scotus, a Medieval scholar. Wikipedia defines haecceity as meaning “each individual entity has a unique, unrepeatable quality that makes it different from every other entity.” The bird care work which Hata has been invo...

What do you do when there isn’t a bird guide for neck of the woods? You write one. Aaron N.K. Haiman is the author of the new book, Birds of the California Delta. Haiman talks about Delta habitats and shares his insights into the lives of a few of the 25 bird species profiled in Birds of the California Delta . Web search “Yellow-billed Magpie” now! Haiman is also a mentor, paying forward his passi...

Bryony Angell writes about birding culture and lifestyle. Her latest exploration into our relationship with birds is bird-friendly comestibles. In this episode, we talk about cocoa grown by Zorzal in the Dominican Republic, a bird reserve and farm certified as 100% bird-friendly by the Smithsonian Institute. Three chocolatiers based in the U.S. use Zorzal's cocoa in their bars and other chocolate...

In this episode, I talk with Melissa Hafting about her birding routines and rituals. Hafting’s life is about “giving back to the birds for all they have done for us.” She is the keeper of the BC Rare Bird Alert and founder of the BC Young Birders Program. Entering birding, Hafting—a Black woman—experienced gatekeeping. This challenging experience motivated her to establish the BC Young Birders Pro...

Are you the bird swiftie? Can you tell the different swifts apart? Do you know the connection between hummingbirds and swifts? Have you watched swifts come home to roost? Can you hold your house together with your saliva? Longtime friend and supporter of the pod, and conservationist, Loyan Beausoleil joins Your Bird Story to talk about Chimney and Vaux's Swifts. — Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera...

SamSam Graves is a NYC-based artist, zine maker, and birder. In our conversation we touched on these aspects of her life. SamSam spoke passionately about Piping Plover ( Charadrius melodus ) conservation. You might be surprised to learn that Piping Plovers nest annually on Rockaway Beach in NYC!! However, subspecies  C. m. melodus are listed an endangered species in New York State and classified a...

A conversation with Eric Archer about the film he and his collaborator Jesse Brown are making about John Burroughs, "the literary naturalist," and the ecology of the Hudson Valley. Birds included! - Information about The Burroughs Rambles film can be found ⁠here⁠ . - Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans Producer and Editor: Pod for the People Vocalizations: Indigo Bunting ⁠https://macaulaylib...

This month's guest, Jeffrey Train, and a group of Hoboken residents are doing great work for birds. ⁠Our Tern⁠ advocated for the Common Tern to be designed the city's official bird. The City Council of Hoboken settled on "honorary bird" on July 10, 2024. In this conversation, Jeffrey, also known as Mr. Train on social media, talks about his entry into birding, his birder/birding...

This joyful and introspective episode with Tammah Watts is the capstone to Season 4! Watching birds from her home helped her deal with the emotional wearing of a physical disability. She guides us through her discovery of birds in her yard and writing her book, Keep Looking Up: Your Guide to the Powerful Healing of Birdwatching . You can engage with birds where you are--your yard, your neighborhoo...

Pamela Lowell is a passionate spokesperson for Osprey and bird conservation writ large. She gorgeously captures the lives and habitats of Pandion haliaetus in watercolor which illustrate her new book, My Summer with Ospreys . Throughout Lowell's book, and our conversation, you experience her warmth and caring approach to healing both birds and people. Also, Pamela Lowell is very funny! Learn m...

Kellie Quiñones is a Brooklyn born Afro-Boricua woman now living in Queens. She has a special place in Georgia's heart, welcoming her into the NYC bird world. Listen to this lively and laugh out loud conversation about birding from home, favorite bird memories, community, and more. Season 4 of Your Bird Story aka CHIRP is funded with a  grant. Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans Producer...

"I can't think about plants without thinking about birds and I can't think about birds without thinking about plants," says Natasza Fontaine in our conversation about her life as an avian ecologist, natural science illustrator, bioacoustician, and a birder. Fontaine is a founding member of Black Botanists Week. She was selected as the Bird of the Year Artist 2024 by the American...

Birds sing to "defend and impress" (All About Birds). Bird songs are good for soul, though this depends on the person listening, the species of bird, and the type of sound they are making (Dr. Eleanor Ratcliffe via Natural History Museum UK). New Yorker Elijah Shiffer composes jazz pieces to celebrate the birds he observes in the city. Shiffer is a saxophonist, a composer, a music critic...