10-06: How to Make a Meadowlark with Johanna Beam
The American Birding Podcast
naswick
4.7 • 677 Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 2023, ABA Area birders welcomed Chihuahuan Meadowlark to the official ABA Checklist, and subsequently to many life lists. Previously considered a distinct subspecies of Eastern Meadowlark, the split was the result of work done by Dr. Johanna Beam while she was an undergraduate researcher. Informed by her background as a birder, Johanna used museum specimens, audio recordings, and genetic tools to inform the eventual split. She joins host Nate Swick to talk about how it's done, and what other potential new species might be out there.
Also, the ABA announced our 2026 Community Weekend schedule. We hope to see you out there!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the American Birding Podcast from the American Birding Association. |
| 0:10.0 | I am your host, Nate Swick. |
| 0:13.0 | Here at the ABA, we have recently announced our destinations for the ABA's Community Weekend program for 2026. |
| 0:21.8 | If you are unfamiliar with community weekends, |
| 0:25.3 | they are free birding events hosted by the ABA |
| 0:29.1 | and local partners. |
| 0:30.9 | The idea being to get out there and meet some people, |
| 0:34.0 | do some birding at some local patches all around the ABA area. They usually |
| 0:39.3 | involve a couple birdwalks on Saturday or Sunday, a workshop, and a social birds and beers |
| 0:45.8 | type event. We don't have solid dates for some of these yet. Those will be coming along shortly, |
| 0:53.0 | so keep an ear out for that but this year |
| 0:57.1 | we will be heading to philadelphia in may cradle of american ornithology albuquerque new |
| 1:04.8 | mexico in august st louis missouri in september and Charleston, South Carolina in November. |
| 1:13.5 | I personally hope to be involved in a couple of these. I am almost certain. I will be in |
| 1:18.9 | Charleston at least. That is not too far for me. I can drive down there. That's always nice. |
| 1:24.4 | I imagine that the community weekend in Albuquerque will have birders making an |
| 1:29.2 | attempt at some southwestern ABA area specialties like Chihuahuaan Metal Arc, which, |
| 1:35.3 | until recently was a subspecies of Eastern Metal Arc, but is now a species in full, |
| 1:40.3 | thanks largely to the work of my guest this week. How do you like that say way? |
| 1:44.7 | Johanna Beam is a former ABA young birder, a bird taxonomist, and the researcher you |
| 1:50.2 | can thank for the Chihuahua and Mettal Ark on your life list. |
| 1:53.2 | She joins me to talk about how to build a species, accountable species, that is, from the ground |
... |
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