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

Join BirdNote tomorrow, November 30th!

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 Mark Bramhill

Yellow Warbler singing, and showing bright yellow body with vertical rust colored stripes

Spark Bird: Chidi Paige and the Yellow Warbler

When Chidi Paige moved from Nigeria to the U.S., she began running a youth STEM program and had to teach lessons on bird identification. She was in for a challenge: she had to learn the local bird species quickly. On a birding trip, she spotted a Yellow Warbler in a pine tree. The…
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American Goldfinch seen from its left side, sitting in sunlight

Spark Bird: Rosemary Mosco's Bird and Moon

Rosemary Mosco was drawn to birds as a shy child, because they rewarded patience. In college, she struggled to connect with her classes in anthropology. She began volunteering with a group in Toronto that tries to stop birds from hitting windows. At the same time, she created a cartoon…
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American Goldfinch seen from its left side, sitting in sunlight

Spark Bird: Rosemary Mosco's Bird and Moon

Rosemary Mosco was drawn to birds as a shy child, because they rewarded patience. In college, she struggled to connect with her classes in anthropology. She began volunteering with a group in Toronto that tries to stop birds from hitting windows. At the same time, she created a cartoon…
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American Crow calling, perched on branch against clear blue sky

Spark Bird: Kira Jane Buxton's Crow Rescue

Kira Jane Buxton wrote two novels about a foul-mouthed pet crow navigating the extinction of humanity. But her love for crows began just a few years before writing the books. She found an injured crow surrounded by 60 others calling out in alarm. Though Kira was nervous, she took the crow…
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American Crow calling, perched on branch against clear blue sky

Spark Bird: Kira Jane Buxton's Crow Rescue

Kira Jane Buxton wrote two novels about a foul-mouthed pet crow navigating the extinction of humanity. But her love for crows began just a few years before writing the books. She found an injured crow surrounded by 60 others calling out in alarm. Though Kira was nervous, she took the crow…
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Greater Adjutant Storks standing in their nest with young chicks at their feet

Filming Rare Storks in Their Nests

Photographer Gerrit Vyn traveled to northeastern India to document the daily life of the Greater Adjutant stork. These endangered birds nest high in trees on privately owned land in the state of Assam, where they’re known as Hargila. Conservation biologist Purnima Devi Barman helped Gerrit…
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Purnima Devi Barman seen in the middle of a group of women dancing, the "Hargila Army"

Saving the Hargila

Conservation biologist Purnima Devi Barman returned to Assam, India, where she grew up, to work with a highly endangered bird, the Greater Adjutant stork. The species nests in populated areas of Assam, where it’s known as Hargila. Because they’re scavengers, some see Hargila as unclean and…
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Male Mallard duck in flight, seen in left profile, wings extended, against a pale blue sky and autumn foliage

Spark Bird: Drew Lanham Takes Flight

Acclaimed ornithologist and writer J. Drew Lanham’s obsession with birds began when he was a kid, when he wished to take flight alongside them. He tried out cardboard wings and an umbrella, trying to defeat gravity. He kept refining his designs and finding better jump-off spots. He…
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Male Mallard duck in flight, seen in left profile, wings extended, against a pale blue sky and autumn foliage

Spark Bird: Drew Lanham Takes Flight

Acclaimed ornithologist and writer J. Drew Lanham’s obsession with birds began when he was a kid, when he wished to take flight alongside them. He tried out cardboard wings and an umbrella, trying to defeat gravity. He kept refining his designs and finding better jump-off spots. He…
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Male Indigo Bunting, a vivid blue bird with black stripes on the wings.

BirdNoir - The Mystery of the Blue Bird

In this episode of BirdNoir, Michael Stein — Private Eye — gets a call from a friend, Danny, who wants to know why the bluest bird he’s ever seen has vanished. But there are many birds that are blue besides the true bluebirds (which belong to the thrush family). To solve the mystery, the…
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