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 Ari Daniel

View of Cabo Rojo salt flats beneath a partly cloudy sky

Salt Flats as Bird Habitat

In the Salt Flats of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, the Indigenous Taino people found a way to harvest salt long before Europeans arrived. But this unique ecosystem isn’t just useful for sea salt production — the salty lagoons are full of brine shrimp for shorebirds to eat. Local residents banded…
An illustration of a Black-necked stilt. It's has a white underside and a black top. The text under it reads "An Unusual Place to Eat and Rest"

An Unusual Place to Eat and Rest

In Puerto Rico, there is an area of saline lagoons, salt flats and mangrove swamps where humans have extracted salt for over 500 years. We often describe the effects of human activity on the environment as negative. But the migratory birds that eat and rest in one of the most visited…
"Un Lugar Inusual Para Comer y Descansar"

Un lugar inusual para comer y descansar

En Puerto Rico hay un área de lagunas salinas, salinas y manglares donde los humanos han extraído sal por más de 500 años. Por lo general, describimos el efecto de la actividad humana sobre el medio ambiente como negativo. Pero las aves migratorias que comen y descansan en uno de los…
A small green, white and red bird perched on a diagonal branch.

Renaming the San Pedrito

The Puerto Rican Tody is a tiny green bird found only in Puerto Rico, where the species is called San Pedrito. But the scientific name for these birds is Todus mexicanus, despite the fact that they don’t live in Mexico — due to a mistake made by European scientists in the 1800s. People in…
Black-whiskered Vireo also known as "Julián Chiví" facing the viewer and looking to its left

Singing for Julián Chiví

In the 1980s, mining companies made plans for huge open-pit mines in the mountains of Puerto Rico. An organization called Casa Pueblo successfully campaigned to make open-pit mining illegal in Puerto Rico. Since then, Casa Pueblo has continued to hold cultural events in the town of…
The Threatened en Español artwork for "El nombre científico no le hace justicia"

El nombre científico no le hace justicia

Las aves tienen su nombre común en español y un nombre en los idiomas de todos los lugares por los que pueden volar. Y luego tienen su nombre en latín, que es su nombre taxonómico, el que usan los científicos. En este episodio aprendemos sobre un esfuerzo de décadas en Puerto Rico para…
Threatened episode artwork for "The Scientific name Doesn't Do It Justice"

The Scientific Name Doesn’t Do It Justice

Birds have their common English name and a name in the languages of all the places they might fly through. And then they have their Latin name, which is their taxonomic name, the one scientists use. In this episode, we learn about a decades-long effort in Puerto Rico to change San Pedrito…
Illustration for Threatened en Español: Protegiendo a un ave y a nosotros mismos

Protegiendo a un ave y a nosotros mismos

¿Cómo organizas a un grupo de personas para proteger a un pájaro de fuerzas poderosas? El Julián Chiví, o Vireo de bigotes negros, revela la historia de una comunidad que se une para salvar a una especie, su medio ambiente y, en última instancia, a las personas mismas. Los organizadores…
An illustration of a Black-whiskered Vireo, with the text: "Protecting a Bird and Ourselves"

Protecting a Bird and Ourselves

How do you organize a group of people to protect a bird from powerful forces? The Julián Chiví, or Black-whiskered Vireo, reveals a story of a community banding together to save a species, its environment, and ultimately, the people themselves. The organizers in Puerto Rico decided to go…
The artwork for Threatened en Español episode 1

El retorno de la cotorra puertorriqueña

En el estreno de la temporada viajamos a Puerto Rico para conocer a un ave que ha sobrevivido a la deforestación, a los huracanes y al comercio de mascotas exóticas. La cotorra puertorriqueña vio disminuir sus números a casi cero en un punto. Pero hoy, su población está creciendo y…