Bring Birds Back | BirdNote

Like many birders, host Tenijah Hamilton discovered her love of birds during the pandemic. Now she invites listeners to join her in appreciating the beauty and mystery of the birds all around us and taking action on their behalf. As Tenijah speaks with bird enthusiasts from many different backgrounds, identities, and communities, listeners learn with her how to bring birds back.

Illustration of a Baltimore Oriole, Osprey and American Tree Sparrow flying over our host, Tenijah Hamilton, smiling and holding binoculars, against a background of trees and tall buildings

How Can We Protect Birds From Plastics?

August 25, 2021

In the Bring Birds Back season finale, host Tenijah Hamilton heads to Tybee Island off the Georgia coast for a day at the beach... picking up trash. She joins Tim Arnold, founder of Tybee Clean Beach Volunteers, to see firsthand how plastics and trash can pose a threat to migratory…

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How Can Coffee Help Birds?

August 11, 2021

Host Tenijah Hamilton hears firsthand from coffee grower Oswaldo Acevedo in Colombia how shade-grown coffee farms offer better wildlife habitat and working conditions than most industrial coffee plantations. She speaks to Ruth Bennett and Justine Bowe from the Smithsonian Institute…

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How Can Native Plants Help Birds?

July 28, 2021

In this installment, host Tenijah Hamilton joins volunteers planting wildflowers and grasses along Atlanta’s BeltLine, an urban rail trail, where she learns how native plants can provide food and shelter for birds within cities. She talks to ecologist Desiree Narango about why birds depend…

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For Birds to Win, Do Cats Have to Lose? – Part 2

July 14, 2021

The second of this two-part segment pulls apart the issues with cats and birds. Host Tenijah Hamilton gets an overview of how outdoor cats affect bird populations, why it’s such a controversial issue, and what’s to be done about it. She discusses this with producer Mark Bramhill and guests…

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For Birds to Win, Do Cats Have to Lose? – Part 1

June 30, 2021

The first of this two-part segment pulls apart the issues with cats and birds. Host Tenijah Hamilton gets an overview of how outdoor cats affect bird populations, why it’s such a controversial issue, and what’s to be done about it. She discusses this with producer Mark Bramhill and guests…

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Can we make our cities safer for birds?

June 16, 2021

In the third installment of Bring Birds Back, host Tenijah Hamilton talks with NYC Audubon Senior Conservation Biologist Kaitlyn Parkins and Seattle Audubon Urban Conservation Manager Joshua Morris to break down the challenge that glass in our built environment poses to birds, how a local…

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Who Is Birding For?

June 2, 2021

In the second installment of Bring Birds Back, host Tenijah Hamilton and Sheridan Alford, co-founder of Black Birders Week, talk about how to celebrate Black people who love birds. Then they get out into the wilds of Georgia in search of, you guessed it, birds. Check out the #ForTheBirds…

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How Do We Know that Birds are in Trouble?

May 19, 2021

In the inaugural episode of Bring Birds Back, host Tenijah Hamilton gets to know biostatistician Dr. Adam Smith, coauthor of the study that found we’ve lost 3 billion birds in North America since 1970, and helps us wrap our heads around that gigantic number. The good news? There are lots…

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