Hello, friends, and welcome to episode 151 of Just the Zoo of Us.

This week, we're doing things a little different from our usual format, but trust the process

because it is a lot of fun.

I'm sitting down with the author and science writer behind The Birdist to discuss the national

bird of the United States of America.

Our guest gives us insight into the

process that actually goes into designating official state birds, the history behind the bald

eagle's use as the country's symbol, and why the turkey was once famously suggested to be

America's next top waddle. This week's twist is that instead of reviewing just one animal like we usually do on this

podcast, we each humbly submit our very own top three candidates for the National Bird

of the United States.

Just the Zoo of Us presents nominating the National Bird with Nick Lund.

Music Bird with Nick Lund. Hey everybody. It is Ellen Weatherford. This is your favorite animal review podcast, just the zoo of us. And this week,

I'm really excited to bring y'all a friend who you may already be familiar with his work. This is Nick Lund. Say hi, Nick. Hello, everyone. Hello, Ellen. What's going on? I'm so excited to talk to you.

People may know you already through your science writing, the books that you've written.

They may also know you from Twitter.

Nick, for folks listening at home, let us know a little bit what kind of materials they may already be familiar with from you.

Well, if you're on Twitter, I may have thrown a few bird tweets in front of your eyes.

I write under the name The Birdist. On Twitter, I write a lot for the National Audubon Society

on their website, a number of other outlets. And I just published two books on the same day.

One is a history of the earth for middle grade kids called the

ultimate biography of earth, which is really fun through workman publishing, a beautiful book

...