Image: 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!

RESERVE YOUR SPOT

Shows With Contributions by Tenijah Hamilton

A small bird with lemon yellow breast and light brown back is perched on a branch in partial sunlight

The Feminist Bird Club

The Feminist Bird Club, or FBC for short, is a birding group that’s intentional about making sure people from all backgrounds feel welcome, says FBC board member Jeana Fucello. At this group’s events, birding and social justice go hand-in-hand, says Kasia Chmielinski, the co-founder of the…
A night scene of Los Angeles seen from a nearby hill. The dense city lights make a milky glow in the sky above.

Lights Out for Bird Migration

Many birds migrate at night, taking advantage of less turbulent conditions and cooler temperatures. But that also means that migrating birds can get disoriented by bright lights and collide with a building. Julia Wang is the project leader for BirdCast, which provides forecasts for bird…
Birdability group members pose together on a birding trip with Bring Birds Back podcast host Tenijah Hamilton and BirdNote producer Mark Bramhill

Making Birding Spots More Accessible

Freya McGregor is the former coordinator of Birdability, an organization that works to make birding more accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities. She says that one of the big challenges is that different parts of accessible design don’t get connected — for example, when a…
A graphic with the Bring Birds Back artwork on the right side, a photo of Ashley C. Ford in the top-left corner, and a photo of Tracy Clayton in the bottom-left corner.

Bird Heroes

Tenijah has been on a birding journey since she was drawn into bird watching at the start of the pandemic — and now, she’s inspiring new birders with Bring Birds Back. For our season finale, Tenijah talks to two of the heroes who inspired her: Tracy Clayton and Ashley C. Ford. They’re…
A Palm Warbler stands on a log, and displays its yellow and brown striped plumage

Being an Ethical Birder

Birding has many benefits for your well-being. But Martha Harbison, the vice president of the Feminist Bird Club, says you should make sure your relationship with birds isn’t just about taking, but about giving back, too. You’re benefiting from the birds and the places they live, so you…
A graphic with the Bring Birds Back artwork on the right side, a group photo of Tenijah with a birding group in the top-left corner, and a photo of Freya McGregor in the bottom-left corner.

Birding is for Every Body

People with disabilities often face barriers to birding. These can be infrastructural and cultural. The organization Birdability is addressing those barriers by raising awareness, crowdsourcing information on what trails and birding spots are already accessible (or what other locations…
John J. Audubon's printed material on display in a clear case at Longmont Museum.

Reckoning with Audubon's Legacy

John J. Audubon’s name is featured in the titles of many bird conservation groups. The Audubon Naturalist Society, or ANS, is one of the oldest, though not the largest, which is the National Audubon Society. In 2021, ANS, that smaller organization based near D.C., announced that they're…
A graphic with the Bring Birds Back artwork on the right side, a headshot of Martha Harbison in the top-left corner, and a photo of David Lei in the bottom-left corner.

How to Be a More Ethical Birder

Since her bird journey began, Tenijah’s been learning how to be a better birder —but not just with new birding skills. There’s also the important lesson of how to be an “ethical birder” or treating the birds with respect. Tenijah talks to writer Martha Harbison about “the rules” of birding…
A graphic with the Bring Birds Back artwork on the right side, a headshot of Kasia Chmielinski in the top-left corner, and a photo of Jeana Fucello in the bottom-left corner.

Finding Your Flock

If we want as many people caring for birds as possible, we need people to not only become interested, but to have mentorship and community available for them. Tenijah speaks with Jeana Fucello and Kasia Chmielinski from the Feminist Bird Club, a birding group centered around being an…
A graphic with the Bring Birds Back artwork on the right side, a headshot of Joe Siegrist in the top-left corner, and a photo of Kieran MacDonald in the bottom-left corner.

The Past, Present, and Future of Purple Martins

Purple Martins and people have a long history. Native Americans started a practice of providing homes for the birds, which was copied by European colonizers. But those colonizers released invasive species and cleared habitats to the point that the species is entirely reliant on man-made…