Image: The Ultimate Bird Drawing Throwdown Showdown Graphic featuring images of David Sibley and H. Jon Benjamin

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Illustrator David Sibley and actor H. Jon Benjamin will face off in the bird illustration battle of the century during BirdNote's Year-end Celebration and Auction!

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Shows With Contributions by Conor Gearin

A pair of white birds with gray backs and black heads and beaks stand looking in opposite direction while standing at a shoreline

Gull-billed Tern

The Gull-billed Tern are terns with black caps and unusually thick bills– like a gull. This lets them eat more types of prey than other terns that rely on fish. Gull-billed Terns tackle crabs and lizards on the ground, catch flies, and even steal chicks from other birds. They’re found…
Artwork for episode 4 Bring Birds Back, featuring a photo of Isaiah Scott and an illustration of Tenijah Hamilton

Let’s All Go to Gullah Geechee Sea Islands with Isaiah Scott

This episode’s guest may be too young to remember the 90’s children’s show, Gullah Gullah Island, but he’s certainly influencing the next generation the same! Isaiah Scott, a rising Gen-Z bird-influencer and ornithologist, reconnects with Tenijah to dish all about his journey into birding…
Artwork for episode 3 Bring Birds Back, featuring a photo of Tony Suffredini and an illustration of Tenijah Hamilton

No Birds Were Harmed in the Making of this Podcast

Childhood nostalgia, anyone? Tenijah reminisces about her favorite bird moment in a film and learns all about how it came to be! Our guest this episode is Tony Suffredini, a bird trainer and master falconer, but the real stars are all Hollywood trained professionals – his birds! Tony…
Artwork for episode 2 Bring Birds Back, featuring a photo of Katie Umekubo, Susan Downey, Garry George and an illustration of Tenijah Hamilton

A.I. for Birds: A Lesson on Wind Farms

Artificial intelligence is all the rage these days – for better or for worse. Luckily, in the case of our feathered friends, it’s good news! In this episode, Tenijah speaks with three experts (starting with Garry George and Katie Umekubo) about the great environmental gains of wind energy…
Colorful illustration of prehistoric birds by artist Júlia d'Oliveira

Júlia d’Oliveira on Recreating Extinct Animals

Júlia d’Oliveira is a paleoartist who brings extinct species to life in artwork. For each species she illustrates, she learns everything she can about the species to come up with a realistic portrait. Júlia hopes her paleoart offers something different from the grotesque versions of…
Artwork for episode 1 Bring Birds Back, featuring a photo of Corina Newsome and an illustration of Tenijah Hamilton

The Zero Sum of it All with Corina Newsome

In the season four premiere, we’re joined by wildlife advocate, ornithologist and (social media star) birder, Corina Newsome! Tenijah speaks with Corina about the latest findings in the State of the Birds report, the impact of environmental racism on urban communities and birds, and the…
A Gray Catbird with soft light gray plumage and dark eye, its short sharp beak open as it calls

Birds that Sound Like Cats

Named after their distinctive cat-like “mew” call, Gray Catbirds are mimic thrushes, related to mockingbirds and thrashers. They can imitate a wide variety of noises, from songbirds to mammals to frogs. Noisy and boisterous in the spring, a migrating flock of catbirds can fill a city park…
A pair of small round birds sit close to each other in a flowering landscape

Kari Sasportas on Advocating for Autistic Birders

For Kari Sasportas, who helps lead the Feminist Bird Club of Boston, birding is a way to become absorbed in the sensations of the outside world — something that can be difficult for them to do elsewhere as an autistic person with an auditory processing disorder. Kari advocates for making…
A small brown-and-white striped bird with bright yellow breast, black bib, and narrow sharp beak is perched on a fencepost

The Chihuahuan Meadowlark

In 2022, ornithologists recognized the Chihuahuan Meadowlark as a separate species rather than a subspecies of the Eastern Meadowlark. Named after the northern region of Mexico where they're easy to find, Chihuahuan Meadowlarks live in dry desert grasslands. They form a distinct population…
A dapper gray and white shorebird stepping through shallow water. The bird has a short sharp black bill, red eye, and pink legs.

The Delightfully Odd Magellanic Plover

The Magellanic Plover is known for being a bit of an oddball. These shorebirds have a round body like a dove and even feed their young with milk produced in a part of their digestive system called the crop — a rare trait they share with doves. But genetic data revealed that Magellanic…