Your Bird Story

Matthias Garff is an artist based in Germany. His sculpture practice is 80% focused on birds. His passion for birds developed through his relationship with his grandfather, who sent poems about the birds in his garden in Buenos Aires. We spoke with Garff about his year-long International Studio & Curatorial Program Residency in New York City, where he used discarded materials to create life-sized birds of the city. Garff’s goal is to "show biodiversity or...this variety of life around us.”

*Leave a review. Share the episode with a friend.*

—

Follow Matthias Garff on his website and on Instagram.

⁠Click here⁠ to learn more about the International Studio & Curatorial Program.

—

Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans

Producer and Editor: Pod for the People

Vocalizations: 

American Robin (song) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/151051571

Blue Jay (call) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/107289291

Pigeon (song) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/108565061

Eurasian Jay (call) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/254553511

Jenn Lodi-Smith is a PhD psychologist and founder of The Spark Bird Project. The initiative flickered into life at the Hog Island Audubon Family Camp where Lodi-Smith was introduced to the concept of "spark birds." Lodi-Smith and her colleagues record and analyze contributed stories to better understand how people become birders and why they continue to bird. The Spark Bird Project shares its research findings with community partners to help organizations engage with established and new birders.

—

The Spark Bird Project website

—

Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans

Producer and Editor: Pod for the People

Vocalizations: 

Atlantic Puffin call https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/62361

Atlantic Puffin bill rattle https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/216892

Barred Owl (duet) https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/28839251

Screech Owl https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/107446

Atlantic Puffin bill rattle https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/216892

In this episode, we talk with Amy Berkov, a research scientist specializing in beetles and plant chemistry. Dr. Berkov shares her journey from artist to scientist, and her strong expertise in insect ecology, and the relationships among plants and birds.

—

Read Amy Berkov’s research.

—

Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans

Producer and Editor: Pod for the People

Vocalizations: 

American Goldfinch song https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/230747651

Montezuma Oropendola https://xeno-canto.org/522867

Red-winged Blackbird song https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/223686181

Hooded Merganser call https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/229281

Wood Duck call https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/136505 

Edmundo Martinez’s patches are Starlight and Concrete Parks in the Bronx. He has seen inland birds including warblers and woodpeckers as well as aquatic birds like herons and egrets. The Bronx River, New York City’s only fresh water river, flows through these parks. Martinez birds big parks like Pelham Bay Park (2,722 acres) and small parks like Hunts Point Riverside Park (1.4 acres). He purposefully birds smaller parks in Black and brown communities to show that you don’t have to leave your neighborhood to observe the species of birds typically associated with Central Park. Martinez found his way to birding while cycling; “I’m a big cycling guy,” he said. Observing birds has become a form of meditation for him, bringing him peace and joy. 

—

Follow Edmundo Martinez @bxmundo.

—

Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans

Producer and Editor: Pod for the People

Vocalizations: 

Downy Woodpecker drumming https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/62766

Hairy Woodpecker drumming https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/211304391

Laughing Gull flock call https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/97299221

Great Black-backed Gull long call https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/171253471

Pileated Woodpecker drumming https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/63086

Northern Flicker drumming https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/534422

Kelli Hata founded the Haecceity Project to chronicle the birds who die by colliding with glass structures on the Yale University campus. The word haecceity was coined by John Duns Scotus, a Medieval scholar. Wikipedia defines haecceity as meaning “each individual entity has a unique, unrepeatable quality that makes it different from every other entity.” The bird care work which Hata has been involved with for years in California and in New Haven embodies the sacredness and innate value of each and every bird. We also discuss practicalities--(1) the preventability of glass collisions and (2) the responsibility of universities to conserve birds as they migrate through their campuses.

—

Follow the Haecceity Project, Yale @yale_haecceity.

—

Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans

Producer and Editor: Pod for the People

Vocalizations: 

Scrub Jay: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/225405191

Mockingbird song: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/213457711

Prothonotary Warbler song: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/99435531

Dark-eyed Junco song: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/85243

What do you do when there isn’t a bird guide for neck of the woods? You write one. Aaron N.K. Haiman is the author of the new book,Birds of the California Delta. Haiman talks about Delta habitats and shares his insights into the lives of a few of the 25 bird species profiled inBirds of the California Delta. Web search “Yellow-billed Magpie” now! Haiman is also a mentor, paying forward his passion and expertise by supporting young people in birding including a bird-a-thon team.

—

You can findBirds of the California Deltaathttps://www.heydaybooks.com/catalog/birds-of-the-california-delta/ or your local bookseller. Haiman is on Instagram as@ abirdingnaturalist andYouTube.

—

Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans

Producer and Editor: Pod for the People

Vocalizations: 

Sandhill Crane juvenile callhttps://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/42404971

Great-tailed Grackle callhttps://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/210599

Sandhill Crane callhttps://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/28803581

Yellow-billed Magpie callhttps://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/199531981

American Kestrel callhttps://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/133146

Bryony Angell writes about birding culture and lifestyle. Her latest exploration into our relationship with birds is bird-friendly comestibles. In this episode, we talk about cocoa grown by Zorzal in the Dominican Republic, a bird reserve and farm certified as 100% bird-friendly by the Smithsonian Institute. Three chocolatiers based in the U.S. use Zorzal's cocoa in their bars and other chocolate products: Raaka Chocolate, Dandelion Chocolate , and Fruition Chocolate. Georgia has eaten bars by Raaka and Fruition--two thumbs up.  Eat sweetly for bird conservation!!

—

You can find Bryony Angell on the web at https://www.bryonyangell.com and on Instagram as @ bryonyangell.  

—

Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans

Producer and Editor: Pod for the People

Vocalizations: 

Bicknell’s Thrush song https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/195711

Bicknell’s Thrush in Independencia, Dominican Republic  https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/96097

Bicknell’s Thrush call https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/197068

In this episode, I talk with Melissa Hafting about her birding routines and rituals. Hafting’s life is about “giving back to the birds for all they have done for us.” She is the keeper of the BC Rare Bird Alert and founder of the BC Young Birders Program. Entering birding, Hafting—a Black woman—experienced gatekeeping. This challenging experience motivated her to establish the BC Young Birders Program, a welcoming space in nature for BIPOC and the LGBTQ community. She is a biologist and has worked with the City of Richmond to install nest boxes for Tree Swallows and Purple Martins. She is also the author of Dare to Bird which she dedicated to her parents both of whom passed away before the publication of the book.

—

You can find Melissa Hafting on Instagram as @ bcbirdergirl, on the web at https://daretobird.blogspot.com/ and https://bcbirdalert.blogspot.com/ and https://www.bcyoungbirders.ca/. Her book is Dare to Bird: Exploring the Joy and Healing Power of Birds.

—

Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans

Producer and Editor: Pod for the People

Vocalizations: 

Western Bluebird song https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/111074

Western Bluebird https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/111074

Snow Goose https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/142622161

Tree Swallow song https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/49588

Siberian Accentor https://xeno-canto.org/424294

Rough-legged Hawk call https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/133387

Are you the bird swiftie? Can you tell the different swifts apart? Do you know the connection between hummingbirds and swifts? Have you watched swifts come home to roost? Can you hold your house together with your saliva?

Longtime friend and supporter of the pod, and conservationist, Loyan Beausoleil joins Your Bird Story to talk about Chimney and Vaux's Swifts.

—

Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans

Producer and Editor: Pod for the People

Vocalizations: 

Chimney Swift https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/57780721

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/107413

Crested Treeswift

https://xeno-canto.org/439763

Vaux’s Swift

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/72057131

SamSam Graves is a NYC-based artist, zine maker, and birder. In our conversation we touched on these aspects of her life. SamSam spoke passionately about Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) conservation.

You might be surprised to learn that Piping Plovers nest annually on Rockaway Beach in NYC!! However, subspecies C. m. melodus are listed an endangered species in New York State and classified as threatened by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service.

SamSam also shares her stance on birding ethics and a fascination with mousebirds.

—

Information about New York City’s Piping Plovers is available at NYC Plover Project, NYC.gov, NYC Parks, NYS DEC, and U.S. FWS.

—

Creator and Host: Georgia Silvera Seamans

Producer and Editor: Pod for the People

Vocalizations: 

Piping Plover call: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/27747281

Northern Cardinal: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/225370771

Piping Plover song: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/64002271

Speckled Mousebird https://ebird.org/species/spemou2