From Fishing to Conservation With Alex Troutman

BirdNote^®
From Fishing To Conservation With Alex Troutman
Written by Ariana Remmel

This is BirdNote.

Wildlife biologist Alex Troutman jokes that he was always destined to be a fisherman. But Troutman family fishing trips taught Alex to appreciate birds, too.

Alex Troutman: Growing up, I would get so enamored by the birds instead of actually trying to catch fish. Like my spark bird was the Red-tailed Hawk, which I would see many times while fishing. For me that was like my version of Phoenix because when the sun is shining through its red tail, it almost looks like the tail is on fire.

         [Red-tailed Hawk]

Alex Troutman: So I would see those birds as well as Great Blue Herons and they would out fish me and then I would be in the baseball game and get distracted by vultures circling around and get in trouble 'cause I'm not paying attention.

Despite his early interest in nature, Alex didn’t realize he could become a wildlife conservationist until college.

Alex Troutman: Because all the people growing up around me who were Black or people of color that worked with animals, they were either vets or farmers.

Now, as a professional biologist and children’s book author, Alex is showing a new generation of critter curious kids that they can have a career in conservation, too.

Learn more about Alex’s outdoor adventures in season 8 of Bring Birds Back. Available in your favorite podcast app and on our website, BirdNote.org. I’m Jazzi Johnson.

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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Red-tailed Hawk ML166694 recorded by Jay McGowan.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2026 BirdNote June 2026
Narrator: Jazzi Johnson

ID# PodBBB-46-2026-06-03       PodBBB-46