Birding the gender gap

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

During the annual World Series of Birding in New Jersey, US, teams compete to see who can identify the most bird species in 24 hours. For team Galbatross the goal is different and much harder - they only identify female birds. This self-imposed restriction is a form of activism, calling into question centuries of ornithology that has focused primarily on male birds, with their bright plumage, elaborate dances, and loud songs. We follow team Galbatross as they attempt to break their own record for the most female birds spotted during the World Series of Birding. We also hear from scientists and birders alike about how we got where we are, and how expanding science to be more inclusive of species of all genders can change our perspective on ourselves and the environment.

Transcript

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0:00.0	All right, if people can take their seats, we'll get started.
0:07.2	We're sitting in a hotel ballroom, in a small beach town on the northeast coast of the United
0:12.5	States. It's Sunday morning. It's also Mother's Day in the U.S. But the 200-odd people
0:19.6	gathered today are not here to clink their glasses
0:22.4	and give their mom's flowers.
0:24.6	They're here for an award ceremony.
0:27.2	It is my pleasure to welcome you
0:29.1	to the 42nd annual World Series of Birding Awards brunch.
0:33.7	How about a big round of applause for everybody here?
0:38.3	The World Series of Birding is an annual tournament held in Cape May on the southern tip of the state of New Jersey.
0:45.3	It's a 24-hour race where teams compete to identify the greatest number of bird species.
0:51.3	The tournament had finished just 10 hours earlier, and awards were given out in a whole
0:56.6	range of categories.
0:58.7	The overall winners ended up spotting almost 200 different bird species.
1:04.0	But one of the biggest cheers of the morning was given to a team that barely got a fifth
1:09.2	of that total.
1:11.3	One of their members got up to the microphone near the end of the ceremony.
1:16.4	Hi everyone, my name is Stephanie Bilki, and I'm a member of the Galbatrosses.
1:24.4	The Galbatrosses are one of just a few all-female teams, and they were not expecting to win
1:30.2	the World Series of Birding. In fact, the last time they competed in 2019, they were second to last
1:36.9	behind a team called Tiny Tots, made up of literal toddlers. But this year, the Galbatrosses were back.
1:47.6	And while it would have been nice to spot more bird species than the team that could barely
	...

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