Looking at Birds: A Birding Podcast

My guest is Derek Sallmann, one half of the sibling-duo behind Badgerland Birding, a popular YouTube channel with a focus on birding, bird-feeding and nature in general. They recently launched a new birding podcast: The Badgerland Birding podcast. You can also find Derek and his brother Ryan, out and around Wisconsin, leading birding tours. For more from Derek and Badgerland Birding, check out the following: http://badgerlandbirding.wordpress.comhttps://www.youtube.com/@BadgerlandBirdinghttps://open.spotify.com/show/7wtoWCxAaj0dvQuXq2nxYD?si=e9365264ac694f5fhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqEQkzqRugc Chapters For pictures of the Snowy Owl taken by Derek and Ryan, please check out @lookingatbirdspodcast on Instagram. Thank you for listening!

My guest is Jon Dunn, lead author of the Field Guide to the Birds of North America by National Geographic, most recently the 7th edition in 2017, and a Tour Guide for WINGS, who has had a passion for birds most of his life. He’s led a few trips at this year's Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival and I’m happy he was able to join us for this episode. Chapters For pictures of the Clapper Rail, please checkout the podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast Thank you for listening, I hope you enjoy the holidays and have a happy new year!

For this episode, I recorded interviews with visitors that stopped by my table at the Birders Bazaar of the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. In addition to those interviews, a returning guest, Victor Lawrence, spoke with us about the Kookaburra. I hope you enjoy the episode! Chapters For pictures of the Kookaburras and some of the other birds discussed this episode, please check out @lookingatbirdspodcast on Instagram. Thank you for listening!

My guest is Genevieve O’Gorman, a bird lover who runs her own Chicken Rescue right here in Tucson, where we are recording this episode, so you might hear a few roosters and hens in the background. She previously volunteered at the Chicken Run Rescue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she received her first chicken. She also worked with chickens and other farm animals at the Bluebird Gap Farm in Hampton, Virginia, where among other responsibilities, they made chicken sweaters for those without feathers. If you have any chicken-related questions, you can reach out to Genevieve via her email: genevieveogorman@gmail.com Chapters For pictures of some of the chickens discussed on the podcast, please check out @lookingatbirdspodcast on Instagram. Thank you for listening!

My guest is Robert Gallardo, a California native who moved to Honduras in 1993 for the Peace Corps and then stayed for the tropical birds. He is now considered the country's leading authority on both birds and butterflies. He leads tours for Naturalist Journeys and Fauna Ventures to Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago. Robert is the current President of the Pro Nature Honduras Foundation, a small non-profit which promotes nature-based sustainable tourism and environmental education. He is also the co-founder of the Honduran Ornithological Society. He has authored two editions of the "Guide to the Birds of Honduras." Along with his most recent book: "Guide to the Butterflies of Honduras.” For more information on some of the tours Robert leads, you can check out: https://www.naturalistjourneys.com/https://faunaventures.com/For more information about both of his books, you can check out the following article: https://blog.naturalistjourneys.com/2022/07/29/butterfly-guide-book/For pictures of some of the birds discussed in the episode, please check out the podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast Chapters Thank you for Listening!

My guest is Peg Abbott, she is the owner and lead guide of Naturalist Journeys, LLC. Peg has been designing, guiding, and organizing natural history tours for more than 35 years; working for the National Audubon Society and other organizations before launching Naturalist Journeys in 1998. Her work has taken her all over the world, from Alaska to Africa and many other locations. She has conducted research on several bird and mammal species and keeps a close interest in Yellowstone and Mexican Wolf reintroduction projects. After 20 years in and around the Yellowstone area, Peg made the move to the wonderful birding location of Portal, AZ, where she currently resides. For more on Naturalist Journeys: Website - https://www.naturalistjourneys.com/ Instagram - @naturalistjourneys Chapters Eared Quetzal Call Credit: Derik Bowen, XC567245. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/567245. For pictures of some of the birds discussed on the podcast, including the Elegant Trogon, please check out the podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast Thank you for listening!

My guest is Arjan Dwarshuis, an avid birder, professional guide, writer and conservationist. A name you are probably most familiar with for the Guinness World Record he set in 2016, by observing 6852 bird species across 41 countries in a single year. Not too long ago, his book about this big year, The (Big) Year That Flew By, was translated from Dutch into English, and made available to a broader audience. He also hosts his own podcast focused on birdwatching – De Vogelspotcast. Today he’s here all the way from the Netherlands, for the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival. For more on Arjan: Check out his website: https://arjandwarshuis.com/ Check out his Instagram: @arjandwarshuis Check out his podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/de-vogelspotcast/id1557876333 Credit for Great Bittern Call: Ulf Elman, XC798475. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/798475. Credit for American Bittern Call: Harry Lehto, XC233158. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/233158. Chapters For pictures of some of the birds discussed on the podcast, check out @lookingatbirdspodcast on Instagram. Thank you for listening!

My guest is Phil Chaon, a life-long naturalist with a background in botany and wildlife biology. Phil has taken field work jobs all over the world and now leads trips for Lindblad Expeditions focused on birds, wildlife and photography. In addition to guiding, Phil works as an audio analyst, training AI systems to categorize bird songs and he also co-authored Habitats of the World and the forthcoming Habitats of North America. For some of Phil's Photography, check out his Instagram @uropsalis For more on Phil's upcoming expeditions, check out: https://www.expeditions.com/about/expedition-team/philip-chaon/ And finally, for pictures of some of the birds discussed on the podcast, check out @lookingatbirdspodcast on Instagram. Chapters Thank you for listening!

This is my second time at the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival and similar to my other festival episodes, I interviewed birders visiting the Nature Expo. We talked about some of their memorable birding experiences as well as their experience at the festival. Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:47 - DJ from Tucson 05:48 - Lindsey from Tucson 09:27 - Eileen from Green Valley 11:51 - Mary Beth from Tucson 15:12 - Marta from Tucson 18:17 - Kate from North Dakota 24:02 - Outro Thank you for listening! For pictures of some of the birds discussed on the podcast, please check out @lookingatbirdspodcast on Instagram.

Today my guest is a familiar one, Jeff Babson, you might remember him from a number of previous episodes, namely 7, 16, 22, 23 and 42, all of which I encourage you to check out, if you haven’t already listened to them. Jeff is an all-around naturalist who currently works for the Pima County Department of Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, as the county’s Wildlife Viewing Program Specialist. He also runs his own eco-tour and environmental education company, called Sky Island Tours. You will often find Jeff leading walks that focus on birds, insects and plants. Next week, he’ll also be leading a trip at the upcoming Southeast Arizona Birding Festival to Cienega Creek. This is the last episode in the series about backyard birds and native plants. This one will be a little different, as Jeff's background is not in horticulture, although he is quite familiar with these plants where they naturally occur in the southwest. For more on the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival, please check out their website: https://tucsonaudubon.org/festival/ For some pictures of the Northern Mockingbird, please checkout the podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast Chapters Thank you for listening!

My guest is Frank Mead, an Arizona native who’s spent the last 10 years in the horticulture industry. Some of his experiences include working in the Conservation Core, a branch of Americore, where he helped to build trails in national parks and cooperated with fire crews during fire season. While he doesn’t have a formal background in birding, his older sister is an avid birder and has taken him along for many birding outings. Conveniently, right before the backyard bird segment began, a nearby Northern Cardinal began calling! I apologize for all the cicadas in the background, as their sounds come and go throughout the episode. Chapters For more about Green Things, please check out: https://greenthingsaz.com/ https://www.facebook.com/GreenThingsAZ@greenthingsnursery For pictures of the Northern Cardinal and some of the native plants discussed, please check out the podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast Thank you for listening!

Today my guest is Abby Wing, an owner, designer and builder here at Rozet Nursery. Abby spent 17 years in the San Francisco Bay area before moving out here to Tucson, there she pursued formal education, including her California Naturalist Certification, and acquired experience working with a number of gardeners, herbalists and contractors. Here at the nursery, Abby specializes in sustainable design, medicinal and edible plants, rock work, custom pots and gardens for children. She's joining us today for our second episode focused on backyard birds and native plants that might attract them. For more about what's going on at Rozet Nursery, please checkout their Instagram: @rozetnursery For some pictures of the plants we discussed, a few nursery visitors and the Gila Woodpecker, please check out the podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast Chapters Thank you for listening!

My guest is Kendall Kroesen, the Community Outreach Coordinator for Mission Garden, who you might remember from Episode 39. With a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology he participated in a number of archaeological and conservation projects. In the early 2000s, he left social science and joined the Tucson Audubon society, where he created the Urban Bird Habitat Program and was involved with rural habitat restoration. He’s joining us today to kick-off a little summer series focused on backyard birds and native plants that might attract them. For more about what's going on at Mission Garden, please check out: https://www.missiongarden.org/events For some pictures of some of the birds and plants we discussed during this episode, please checkout the podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast Chapters Thank you for listening!

Today my guest is Jennie MacFarland, a returning guest from Episode 6, a nearly life-long Arizonan that loves exploring different habitats in Southeast Arizona. She currently works as a Conservation Biologist for the Tucson Audubon Society and coordinates the Important Bird Areas Program and other bird survey conservation projects. Jennie organizes several large-scale community science efforts in Southeast Arizona each year, including the Elegant Trogon surveys of five Sky Island mountain ranges. This is the second episode of two that focuses on the Tucson Birdathon, through the eyes of a local team, the Wrenagades. This episode, we'll talk about how the Birdathon went this year, getting into the details of the route, some of the highlights and trends. More on the Desert Purple Martin Project (Including some videos of them!) https://tucsonaudubon.org/purplemartin/ More information on the 2023 Southeast Arizona Birding Festival (Aug. 9-13, 2023) https://tucsonaudubon.org/festival/ Chapters Thank you for listening! Please checkout the podcast's Instagram - @lookingatbirdspodcast - for some pictures of some of the birds discussed on the podcast.

Today my guest is Sara Pike, a birder of 30 years and currently a Tour Manager for WINGS birdwatching Tours, she manages 20+ domestic tours in the US along with Guyana and even a sub-antarctic New Zealand cruise. Before WINGS, Sara worked with the Tucson Audubon for 11 years, where she was involved with retail, operations, marketing and even helped launch the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival. Today, she still volunteers with them and helps with the annual Tucson Bird Count. This is the first episode of two that focuses on the Tucson Birdathon, through the eyes of a local team, the Wrenagades. This episode, we'll talk about what a birdathon it is, and how this team will approach it this year. This episode was recording before the actual birdathon, and the next episode will be with another team member and will be recorded right after the birdathon. Chapters Thank you for listening! Please checkout the podcast's Instagram - @lookingatbirdspodcast - for some pictures of the Elf Owl and some of the birds that were around Tucson Audubon's Mason Center where this episode was recorded.

My guest is a familiar one, Nic Grant, you might remember him from Episode 20. He is a Marine Science Instructor and Aquarist at the Catalina Island Marine Institute. Although Nic’s educational background in the biological sciences might be unrelated to birds, his growing up in Cape May, New Jersey sure is. Birding a variety of habitats throughout the year and witnessing the massive fall migrations, allowed him to build a solid foundation for his interest in birds. Since this is our second time together, the episode will focus less on Nic’s birding background and more on the birds here at Catalina Island. Chapters Please check out the podcast's Instagram - @lookingatbirdspodcast and thank you for listening!

My guest is Isabelle Zapata, the Learning Center Coordinator at the Free Flight Exotic Bird Sanctuary where we recorded this episode. She leads youth education programs where she enjoys sharing her passion for studying avian behavior and companion parrot husbandry. Outside of her role here, she continues to work with children as a public-school music teacher. You will hear a number of exotic birds in the background and you can look forward to pictures of some of them on the podcast's Instagram - @lookingatbirdspodcast soon. One change that has occurred since the recording of this episode is that the Free Flight Exotic Bird Sanctuary is once again open to the public! Please check out their website for more information - https://www.freeflightbirds.org/ And for more about some of the great things going on there, check out their Instagram - @freeflightbirds. Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:57 - What birds might we hear in the background? 01:32 - Isabelle's Background with Birds 04:27 - Bird of the Episode: Blue and Gold Macaw 14:57 - How New Birds Come to Free Flight 17:01 - Re-socializing New Birds 20:04 - Differences between Staff & Visitors Interacting with Birds 21:34 - Importance of Keeping Birds in the Friend Zone 24:18 - Things that Contribute to Free Flight being a Good Habitat 28:02 - Types and Characteristics of Parrots 29:48 - More about the Parrots at Free Flight 33:38 - Info for Potential Adopters 41:46 - A Little More about Free Flight 43:04 - Outro Thank you for listening!

For this episode, similar to my other festival episodes, I interviewed birders visiting the festival. We talked about some of their memorable birding experiences as well as their experience at the festival. The first interviews were recorded indoors and the rest were recorded outdoors. In the background, you will hear an occasional airplane and also some exotic birds from a nearby table run by the Free Flight Bird Sanctuary, that I actually was able to visit on another day and that interview will be the next episode (44). Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:43 - David from Greenville, TX 05:37 - Luke from Orange County, CA 10:18 - Wendy from New Orleans, LA 12:52 - David from Nebraska 16:45 - Robert from San Diego, CA 20:16 - Felicia from San Diego, CA 23:56 - Anitra from San Diego, CA 27:24 - Greg from Lynchburg, VA 31:25 - Author & Illustrator Margaret Harmon 35:35 - Outro Thank you for listening!

This is the final part of the 3-part series and focuses on the eggs of our avian friends. My returning guest is Kathe Anderson ( Episode 27), who is a lifelong-learner and sharer, of anything bird-related. She frequently leads field trips in the Phoenix-area and at wildlife festivals across Arizona. She participates in local survey programs and Christmas Bird Counts, along with authoring articles for local Audubon Society newsletters. Kathe also presents at festivals, like the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival, where we first met and she also presented on eggs. Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:13 - Recent Bird Count Experience 07:36 - Introduction to Avian Eggs 08:55 - Parts of an Egg 09:51 - The Journey of an Egg 14:37 - The Shell 15:52 - Egg Shapes 17:02 - When Does an Egg Hatch? 19:16 - Egg Fragments after Hatching 20:24 - Eggs and the Surrounding Environment 21:11 - Relationship between Nests and Eggs 25:19 - Birds that Lay Eggs in Others’ Nests 26:29 - Egg Size and Bird Size 27:52 - The Egg Rule 29:05 - The Phalarope’s Eggs 32:08 - Brown-headed Cowbirds & Their Many Eggs 35:33 - Nest Parasites Outside the US 36:49 - Maintaining Egg Temperatures 39:02 - Summary of Egg Segment 39:33 - Bird of the Episode: Gambel’s Quail 51:26 - Outro Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival 2023 https://verderiver.org/birding-festival/ For pictures, please check out the Podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast To look at birds while you listen to the podcast, please check out the Podcast's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@lookingatbirds Thank you for listening!

This is part 2 of a 3-part series covering avian mating behaviors, their nests and finally their eggs. Today my guest is Karen Vandergrift, who you might remember from Episode 8 and Episode 30. Certified as a Master Naturalist in both California and Arizona, with experience as a docent on Alcatraz Island, at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and most recently at the Laboratory of Tree ring research at the University of Arizona. Karen also leads birding field trips for the Tucson Audubon Society. Time Stamps 00:00 - Intro 01:10 - Karen's Recent Trip to Uruguay 04:32 - Introduction to Nests 06:55 - Cup Nests 17:25 - Spherical Nests 24:22 - Ground Nests 28:40 - Underground / Burrowing Nests 30:45 - Platform Nests 33:36 - Cavity Nests 39:26 - Floating Nests 42:25 - Pendant Nests 46:26 - Crevice / Ledge Nests 49:10 - "Oddball" Nests 53:46 - Bird of the Episode: Rufous Hornero 60:54 - Outro For pictures, please check out the Podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast To look at birds while you listen to the podcast, please check out the Podcast's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@lookingatbirds Thank you for listening!