05-05: In Defense of the Cowbird with Sarah Winnicki

The American Birding Podcast

naswick

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

4.7 • 632 Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2021

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Pity the poor cowbird. Under-appreciated at best and outright hated at worst, the cowbird and its nest parasitic ways certain lend themselves to strong opinions. But it is a remarkable bird in its own right, capable of amazing developmental feats that allow it to fit into its very odd niche. Ornithologist Sarah Winnicki of the University of Illinois's "cowbird lab" makes the case for cowbirds, arguing that you don't have to love the, but you should respect them.

Also, a Snowy Owl in Central Park? Uh oh. And another Pileated Woodpecker story from listener Jordan Leahy.

ABA members are eligible for a 15% discount to Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of the World subscription. Log into your ABA account to get the code.

Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Play, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I think we all know the pedigree of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology when it comes to bird
0:03.9	resources. And we at the ABA are excited to partner with the Cornell Lab of O to offer an
0:08.7	amazing deal exclusive to ABA members. ABA members can now get a 15% discount to any new
0:14.2	subscription to Cornell's amazing new Birds of the World resource that is applicable for three years.
0:20.5	Birds of the World is a powerful resource that brings
0:22.6	deep scholarly content from four celebrated works of Ornithology into a single platform, where
0:27.9	birders can answer all their life history questions for every species of bird they could want.
0:31.9	It is extraordinary. You can get more information at birdsof the world.org.
0:35.8	Music get more information at burrs of the world.org.
0:44.6	Well, and welcome to the American Burning Podcast from the American Burning Association.
0:45.9	I am your host, Nate Swick.
0:54.0	We're into February, and I am pleased to announce that January 2021 was the busiest month ever for the American Burning Podcast. That may not matter to you,
0:57.6	but it's gratifying for me. And I just want to thank all of you for your ratings, for your
1:02.5	reviews, and especially your word of mouth endorsements, because I really do think that
1:07.6	is the best sort of publicity a podcast can get.
1:11.4	So thank you for that.
1:12.8	It was also a dramatic month in Snowy Owl News following the discovery of one in Central
1:18.2	Park, New York City for the first time in well over 100 years.
1:23.3	Of course, snowy owls are not uncommon on the beaches around New York and onto Long Island.
1:28.0	And as you might expect, the drama that surrounds owls in general,
1:33.2	and especially snowy owls in particular, was cranked 2.11 this week.
1:39.7	Thanks for nothing, Harry Potter.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from naswick, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of naswick and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.