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!

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Shows With Contributions by Hayden Maynard

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 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…
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…
A graphic with the Bring Birds Back artwork on the right side, a headshot of Caroline Brewer in the top-left corner, and a photo of Steve Hampton in the bottom-left corner.

What's in a Name?

Names have power. In North America, more than 100 species of birds have eponymous names, many honoring white colonizers. The “Bird Names for Birds” movement to change these names, or “verbal statues,” can be traced to Ph.D candidate Robert Driver’s 2018 proposal about the Thick-billed…
A graphic with the Bring Birds Back artwork on the right side, a headshot of Julia Wang in the top-left corner, and a photo of Tenijah Hamilton looking through binoculars in the bottom-left corner.

Lights Out

Migratory birds use starlight to find their way on their long journeys — which makes light pollution a serious threat. Drawn off course by bright, artificial lighting, birds can wind up fatally colliding with windows or wasting precious time and energy that they need to survive. “Lights…
A graphic with the Bring Birds Back artwork on the right side, a headshot of Conor Gearin in the top-left corner, and a photo of Tenijah Hamilton looking through binoculars in the bottom-left corner.

The Bird Journey Continues!

Tenijah got hooked on birding at the start of the pandemic, and during the last season of Bring Birds Back she learned a lot about our feathered friends. This season, she’s ready to learn and share more simple ways to help birds — while discovering new birding skills from experts. After…