Bird Joy podcasters Dexter Patterson (left)
 and Jason Hall

Listen up: 10 podcasts for birders

(published 2-18-26)

Until recently, listening to a podcast was a now-and-then thing for me. Now I can’t get enough. Podcasts about birds and birding are my new toy.

Getting hearing aids was a catalyst. When I reluctantly acquired them in 2024, I didn’t appreciate their full utility. I knew that I might hear the birds a little better but using the aids as a wireless connection to my smartphone was a bonus. Accessing music and podcasts via Spotify is easy. Why wasn’t I doing this sooner?

Below is an annotated list of my favorite shows so far, a solid 10-pack. I’m trying my best to keep up with new episodes and play ones I missed. Interviews with birding community personalities and authors are my biggest weakness.

The American Birding Podcast, produced every Thursday by the American Birding Association, features newsy updates and lively bird chat with expert guests. ABA’s Nate Swick, host of the podcast from its beginning in 2016, is engaging and properly obsessed. Recent show topics: best bird books of 2025; inside the success of Cornell’s Merlin app; and a brief-but-fun segment about weird bird stuff inside our homes. Episodes start with a rare bird report, reminding us of birding’s unpredictability.

Talkin’ Birds stands apart from other podcasts because it begins as a live radio program every Sunday morning. Ray Brown, the affable host, started the 30-minute show in 2006. And it really is a “show,” complete with commercials, sound effects, and regular features like Featured Feathered Friend and a brief Q&A with Mike O’Connor from Bird Watcher’s General Store. The heart of each episode is Ray’s interview with a special guest, a role I was honored to fill in November. Talkin’ Birds sends out a conservation vibe that further unites the show’s loyal community of listeners.

Mindful Birding podcasters Holly Thomas (left)
and Holly Merker

The Mindful Birding Podcast promotes the wellness benefits of watching birds. It’s a warm, generous, and calming program that might just change your approach to the hobby. Hosts Holly Merker and Holly Thomas, along with well-chosen guests, discuss the importance of slowing down and fostering a heightened “in the moment” awareness of birds and nature. Get started at themindfulbirdingnetwork.com.

The Bird Joy Podcast, started in 2024, is perfectly named. Enthusiastic hosts Dexter Patterson, based in Madison, and Jason Hall, from Philadelphia, share a joyful message about getting outside, birding as we wish, and sharing nature with others. Importantly, they are helping expand the hobby in non-white communities with honest conversations about equal access and inclusivity. This show presents birding as a connector with life-changing potential, where we are all “homies” with a common bond.

Life List: A Birding Podcast is a freewheeling, loosely structured biweekly conversation between three prominent birders: George Armistead, Alvaro Jarmillo, and Mollee Brown. All three guide worldwide birding tours so travel is a regular theme. The podcast, now in year six, is lighthearted and “proudly nerdy” as advertised. The well-connected hosts also attract all-star guests. A recent episode with the filmmaking brothers behind “Listers” is required listening.

Will Keller (left) and Caleb Putnam 

I didn’t know about The Real Birding Podcast until recently and I’m glad I found it! The hosts, who mostly call each other “dude,” are Will Keller (perched in North Carolina) and Caleb Putnam (in Michigan). Their birdy banter is a nice mix of entertainment and education with useful tips. I like their forays into birding culture, such as a recent episode about social media’s impact on the hobby (and the Discord app in particular). This is also a video podcast so, if you wish, you can watch the boys talk shop.

Backyard birders should check out Nature Centered from the retail chain Wild Birds Unlimited. Podcast host Brian Cunningham delivers professional advice on upping your yard game to develop a closer connection with birds and nature. The show is not overly commercial despite its connection with WBU. Recent guests were authors Amy Tan (“The Backyard Bird Chronicles”) and Holly Merker (“Ornitherapy”).

Warning: the Spark Bird Podcast is addictive. Actually, so are the other podcasts mentioned here. But this one is all interviews with people inside the birding community, some quite famous. Hosts Jenn Lodi-Smith and Janet McNally start by having each guest describe how they got into birding. The “spark stories” alone are interesting and the follow-up conversations often reinforce how birds can become a career focus and lifelong passion. The podcast extends The Spark Bird Project, a community science initiative headed by Lodi-Smith and supported by the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, N.Y. You can register your own spark bird story at spark-bird.org.

Hannah and Erik Go Birding is a practical resource for birders who travel. The hosts—a bird-obsessed married couple from coastal Oregon—love a fun adventure, not to mention good food and local beer. Their podcast, born in 2018, usually recaps a recent trip to a birding festival (where they serve as guides) or some other birding hotspot. Hannah operates two other excellent podcasts under the Go Birding umbrella: Bird Nerd Book Club and Women Birders Happy Hour.   

Finally, for a quick fix, BirdNote Daily is essential. The two-minute public radio show aims to “give listeners a momentary respite from the news of the day,” delivering inspired storytelling about birds and conservation. You are guaranteed to learn something. Miss today’s piece on NPR? No worries, just cue the podcast where you can play multiple episodes back-to-back. BirdNote’s logo, a Varied Thrush, reflects the show’s Seattle origin in 2005. Now it’s heard around the world.

Happy listening, and I hope a few of these podcasts become a regular part of your birding life.

Copyright 2026 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.

Horned Lark by Jackie Bowman

Birding on a lark

(published 1-28-26)

There are roughly 750 kinds of birds in the United States. So, what are the chances that one of them, Horned Lark, would grace the covers of two major birding magazines this month? Not only that, each cover—Birding and BWD (formerly Bird Watcher’s Digest)—features a painting, not a photograph, of foraging larks in the snow. One species, two artists, two magazines, same month.

Birding can be a little slow this time of year so I’m probably way too excited about such an unlikely occurrence in ornithological publishing. That said, I’m gaining a new appreciation for Horned Lark, a ground-hugger on view now in farmland throughout the Midwest.

Take a drive in the country and larks should not be hard to find. Watch for small and sometimes large flocks on roadsides and bare agricultural fields. In winter, they often congregate with Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings.

I will not offer a full Horned Lark profile here—the two magazines have that covered. But I must put in that the bird does not have horns. It shows little feather tufts that look like horns, a trait it shares with Great Horned Owl on a tiny scale.

Birding is the flagship publication of the American Birding Association (aba.org). Horned Lark is on its cover because it is ABA’s 2026 Bird of the Year. A new species is announced every January, a fun tradition that began in 2011. Last year’s avian celebrity was Common Loon, a highly popular choice.

              

The honor of creating the Bird of the Year cover went to Kristina Knowski, an artist I’ve mentioned before. She is the longtime artist-in-residence at the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival, designing that event’s much-anticipated annual poster and supporting illustrations.

Kristina is a Hoosier now, living in Porter, but I remember when she and her mom Sue attended Cantigny Park bird walks in Wheaton. At the time, about 15 years ago, I had no idea she was looking at the birds with an artistic eye and probably thinking more about feather structures and postures than where the turkeys were hiding. Her work is beautiful (kristinaknowski.com).

The BWD cover, painted by Alex Warnick, also depicts Horned Lark, the issue’s feature species. It’s a good read about a common species I’m happy to know better.

Two other articles in BWD caught my eye. One is about the Spark Bird Project, a community science survey launched by Jenn Lodi-Smith, a birder and psychologist based in Buffalo. The project is collecting stories about how people get hooked on birds and birding. It’s not a trivial thing—the information gathered can lead to ideas for bringing even more people into the growing hobby.

Hundreds of stories about “spark moments” have been submitted so far. Want to tell yours? Go to spark-bird.org/stories. Check out the Spark Bird Podcast, too!

Author and birding personality Pete Dunne contributes the “Pete’s Tip” column in BWD and I never miss it. His latest is about another listing game we can play as birders. “Month listing,” Dunne writes, is “challenging, engaging, and rewarding,” and it motivates us to get outside throughout the year.

Simply start a list of all the birds you see or hear each month, keeping 12 separate lists. Every new species counts on a month list, even if you’ve seen it before. Dunne cites Great Blue Heron as an example—easy to find in July, but can you spot one in February?

Month listing can improve your awareness of birding’s seasonality, too. Knowing what to expect and look for at different times of the year is useful.

Pine Siskin by Jeff Reiter

At home, I always keep a year list. It’s like doing a Big Year but just in the yard. My best was 88 species in 2007. Eighty or more is good for me. Like most endeavors, the more time devoted the better the results.

Last year I mentioned a goal of seeing 25 different birds in my yard between New Years Day and the first day of spring. I failed miserably, reaching only 18, but I’m trying again. It seems possible if I pay better attention. Small groups of Pine Siskin have stopped by this month, a welcome surprise considering I hadn’t logged a siskin at my feeders since 2021.

My late-winter travel plans include the 30^th Annual San Diego Bird Festival. I’m especially juiced about a guided pre-festival tour with Red Hill Birding, a Chicago-based company. Our group of 12 will be scouring Greater Los Angeles for regional specialties like Allen’s Hummingbird, Island Scrub-Jay and Yellow-billed Magpie. I’ll report back!

Copyright 2026 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.