04-02: 2020 Bird of the Year Artist Tony Fitzpatrick

The American Birding Podcast

naswick

Science, Birding, Hobbies, Travel, Birdwatching, Leisure, Aba, Ornithology, Nature, Birds

4.7 • 632 Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2020

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We're back to the Bird of the Year basics for 2020--Cedar Waxwing! While the past two ABA Birds of the Year have been extremely range restricted (Iiwi 2018) or a vagrant to the ABA Area (Red-billed Tropicbird 2019), the 2020 Bird of the Year is truly a bird of the people. The Cedar Waxwing is an exquisite example of North American birddom and a favorite of so many birders in the US, Canada, and beyond. We chose it, in part, because they are known for flocking and sharing, two wonderful characteristics of the North American birding community. And to illustrate these perennial crowd-pleasers, we are fortunate to have multimedia artist Tony Fitzpatrick. Tony's work has been featured in major American museums and on the covers of roots albums. He is every bit as gregarious as a Cedar Waxwing, as you'll see in this interview with host Nate Swick from this year's Bird of the Year reveal party in Tony's hometown of Chicago, Illinois.

Also, Nate tells a story of nostalgia for people who inspire our birding and places that it takes us.

Thanks to Vortex Optics for sponsoring this episode and the Bird of the Year reveal party.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of the American Birding podcast is brought to you by Vortex Optics.
0:03.7	With a wide array of choices and an industry-leading unlimited, unconditional lifetime warranty,
0:08.4	Vortex Optics can provide you with equipment that you'll be comfortable taking anywhere under any conditions.
0:14.2	Learn more about their entire range of binoculars and scopes at vortexoptics.com.
0:21.6	It's wintertime here in Delaware.
0:25.6	Hello and welcome to the American Birding Podcast from the American Birding Association.
0:44.0	I'm your host, Nate Swick, and by now, you have almost certainly heard about the 2020 bird of the year.
0:52.4	It's Cedar Wax Wing, bombicilla, sidorum, maybe bombicilla
0:57.7	Cidorum, I'm not exactly sure how you pronounce that, Cedar Siltail, if you like Latin
1:02.9	translations.
1:04.3	We announced the bird of the year in Chicago at an event featuring the artist Tony Fitzpatrick,
1:09.6	and that was a lot of fun.
1:11.6	We had a great turnout of Chicago area birders.
1:15.8	That is a birding crew that knows how to party, even in the middle of the day on a Sunday.
1:22.2	You're just like a flock of cedar wax wings, actually, except instead of holly berries.
1:26.5	It was pores of kinslogger
1:28.6	savenblanc this weedy fruity beer that was very tasty and very waxwing appropriate we have had
1:36.4	you know a great response from folks regarding the choice for the bird of the year and the
1:40.6	amazing artwork that tony created for us c Waxwing is a crowd favorite for sure.
1:45.7	It turns out to have been the Sparkbird for many, many birders, and I totally get why.
1:51.7	I don't recall my very first Cedar Wax Wing. It was way, way, way at the beginning of my
1:56.8	birding career. We had this big mulberry tree in the yard where I grew up that frequently hosted wax swings all year round. I have been fortunate enough to be in the presence of a lot of newer birders when they see cedar wax swings for the first time. And it's not an uncommon birds. So if you're on a birdwalk for the very first time, there's a decent chance that you're going to run into them, no matter where you are on the continent.
	...

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