05-07: A Sparrow Back from the Brink with Andrew Walker

The American Birding Podcast

naswick

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

4.7 • 632 Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2021

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of the most underrated bird stories of the last few years, has been the rapid decline of the resident Florida subspecies of Grasshopper Sparrow. In 2017, that population reached a record low of 75 wild birds, and many thought it would fade into extinction much like Dusky Seaside Sparrow before it. But a working group of biologists and conservationists led by the Fish & wildlife Foundation of Florida have stopped that decline. The foundation's president Andrew Walker joins Nate Swick to talk about how they did it.

Also, congrats to the hummingbird heroes of the polar vortex, and some thoughts on "seen anything good?".

Thanks to Field Guides for sponsoring this episode. Check out their new video series, Out Birding with Field Guides.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody, Nate here. Before we get going on this episode, I just want to acknowledge that
0:04.6	the ABA is aware of the very serious and credible allegations made against a frequent
0:10.1	contributor and guest on this podcast, Jason Ward. If you're wondering why we don't talk
0:15.1	about those allegations in this episode, just because we recorded these parts before
0:20.1	they were made public.
0:23.1	We will talk a little bit more about the fallout and what the ABA is doing next week.
0:27.8	A lot of things are moving very fast, and it might be nice to have just a little bit of space
0:33.1	before we really dig into that.
0:35.0	So thank you so much for your patience. And on with the episode.
0:38.4	Have you been outburning? Outburning with field guides is the new birding video series you've been
0:43.2	hearing about. The latest episodes from Lima, Peru, Arizona, Brazil, Cape May, and the
0:48.1	prey potholes include adventure, conversations with fascinating bird people, and field pointers.
0:53.5	Remember, even when you're at home, you can always go outburning with field guides. Join the fun at outburning.com slash aBA. Hello and welcome to the American Birding Podcast for the American Birding Association. I'm your host, Nate Swick. I hope you all are staying warm, especially those of you
1:12.4	in the middle of the ABA area, and especially, especially those of you who are maintaining
1:17.5	those feeding stations in this abnormal polar vortex eruption. Can I call it an eruption if it's
1:25.7	meteorological instead of biological? She feels like
1:28.5	it. I'm not sure. Extra proper to those of you maintaining hummingbird stations and freezing
1:33.3	temperatures, that is dedication. I've been following Joita Martinez on Twitter of late. She is a
1:40.5	birder in Louisiana who has a diverse clientele of hummingbird visitors at her home,
1:46.9	as is frequently the case in Louisiana this time of year. And she's been documenting the links
1:51.5	that she is going to to maintain her hummingbird feeder set up in the bitter cold, and that is
1:57.2	bitter by anyone's standards, not the relatively mild Louisiana standards.
	...

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