General Interest Podcast Episodes for Birders

There are a number of podcasts dedicated to birding (e.g., American Birding Podcast and many others), but many general-interest podcasts also feature episodes of interest to birders. Below are some fairly recent episodes that I have enjoyed and that may be of interest to others. All can be listened to for free online via the links.

There are many many podcasts and I have only sampled a small number, so this is just a starting point.

• Fresh Air (NPR, 2021, 46 min.): The Amazing Lives of Migratory Birds (“Author Scott Weidensaul talks about the millions of birds flying unseen over our heads in the night sky, how the bar-tailed godwit can fly more than a week over water without stopping, and how new tracking technology may help with strategies to keep them alive. His new book is ‘A World on the Wing.’”).
• The Indicator from Planet Money (NPR, 2021, 9 min.): Saving Birds with Economics (“Eric Hallstein is an economist who works at The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental organization. The traditional way to conserve wetland is to purchase and restore the land, which can be very expensive. Eric found a solution to this increasing shortage of wetland for birds: A reverse auction for rice farmers to flood their fields.”).
• Living on Earth (PRX, 2020, 14 min.): Springtime Birding with David Sibley (“A great migration is underway in the northern hemisphere, as migratory birds head north to start a family. Throughout their journeys these long-distance travelers rely on well-stocked pit-stops, like Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, Massachusetts. That’s where Host Steve Curwood meets up with ornithologist David Sibley one fine spring morning, to listen to copious birdsong and discuss the second edition of Sibley’s popular Guide to Birds.”).
• Sidedoor (Smithsonian, 2021, 27 min.): Hot Bird Summer (“Every spring, for as long as records have been kept, a crowd of hundreds of black-crowned night herons descend on the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, mating, eating and generally causing a ruckus. Many of the keepers at the zoo enjoy them, but they can be a tough bird to love.”).
• Sidedoor (Smithsonian, 2020, 25 min.): Birds, Birds, Birds! (“Three billion birds have gone missing since 1970. And conservation biologist Pete Marra considers it his life’s work to make sure more don’t slip away without a fight. In this episode, we go bird-spotting with Pete, and learn what each of us can do to bring birds back.”).
• Straight Talk with Hank Paulsen (Paulson Institute, 2021, 27 min.): John Fitzpatrick (“Hank speaks with John Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Fitzpatrick details the importance of bird conservation worldwide, what it’s like to discover a new species, how technology is improving our ability to study nature, and what makes him hopeful for the future of biodiversity.”).

And one that is a bit older:

• Fresh Air (NPR, 2015, 37 min.): Flights Of Fancy: Exploring The Songs And Pathways Of ‘The Living Bird’ (“Wildlife photographer Gerrit Vyn and essayist Scott Weidensaul share bird calls and discuss some of the remarkable abilities of birds. Both men contributed to a new book about North American birds.”).

Photo by Jukka Aalho on Unsplash.