Arizona Bird Call
Information for Arizona birders including summaries of research and analysis related to bird conservation and protection. Introductions to common Arizona birds, Arizona birding hotspots, governmental and non-profit agencies charged with bird conservation.
Podcast host Mike Ameigh is a retired professor/academic administrator with the the State University of New York. He holds a PhD in Public Communication from the Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University.
Episodes
218 episodes
Final Episode (218) - November 26, 2025
Please note: Due to post surgery recovery from an elbow fracture to my dominant arm I am unable to continue production of the podcast at this time. Full recovery is expected by early 2026, but whether I can continue given other health issues is...
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Season 5
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Episode 218
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36:10
Episode 217 - November 19, 2025
Lesser Snow Geese, once a rarity in Arizona and western North America more broadly have rebounded from the brink of extinction as a result of adaptation to modern agricultural practices. In this podcast part 1 of an article from Audubon Magazin...
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Season 5
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Episode 217
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35:15
Episode 216 - November 12, 2025
A brief explanation of how birds are 'smaht.' Kettles of hawks, vultures and other large birds of prey are passing through Arizona headed for South America in migration. What is a 'kettle' and how does it form? Pinto Creek in Gila County ...
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Season 5
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Episode 216
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36:41
Episode 215 - November 5, 2025
A report by the Arizona Field Ornithologists on gaps in data regarding resident bird species in Arizona. These bird information 'gaps' are being addressed by volunteers and professional wildlife personnel statewide with updates posted to the AZ...
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Season 5
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Episode 215
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35:15
Episode 214 - October 29, 2025
A report on concerns about possible effects of aerial drones on raptors. Arizona Game and Fish Department's continuing work on installation of wildlife crossovers and underpasses along Interstate 17. near Flagstaff. A report from Tucson Bird Al...
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Season 5
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Episode 214
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29:59
Episode 213 - October 22, 2025
A report on research regarding shorebird use of the Colorado River Delta by millions of shorebirds in migration. Highlights from the Northern Arizona Audubon Society August newsletter. A closeup of the Lark Bunting, elusive winter resident of t...
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Season 5
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Episode 213
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37:26
Episode 212 - October 15, 2025
The Crested Caracara, a desert scavenger and sometimes breeder in Arizona's Sonoran Desert, was spotted recently in Canada. Locals say it has been observed repeatedly and may be a year-round resident. The bird was scavenging in a town dump in t...
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Season 5
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Episode 212
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29:20
Episode 211 - October 8, 2025
A report on the release of five more California Condors at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona. This is the fifth year that new endangered condors have been introduced into to the wild through a program involving the San Dieg...
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Season 5
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Episode 211
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32:06
Episode 210 - October 1, 2010
A recent study by the Nature Conservancy confirms that thinning of forests here in the Southwest is good for trees and the wildlife sustained by them, including birds. An Audubon sponsored project involving scores of scientists has come up with...
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Season 5
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Episode 210
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35:29
Episode 209 - September 24, 2025
Arizona Game and Fish Department statement encouraging the public to not feed wildlife. Doing so has the potential to spread diseases and encourage dangerous encounters with humans. Birdability update on innovative technologies designed to give...
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Season 5
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Episode 209
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34:55
Episode 208 - September 17, 2025
A report on new research showing that Arizona Bald Eagles are expanding their ranges to include regions of the Northwestern United States. A description of how birds conform to Zipf's Law, a pattern of communication commonly observed in human l...
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Season 5
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Episode 208
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31:28
Episode 207 - September 10, 2025
A report on the Colorado River Oxbow Bridge collapse August 8, 2025. The bridge connected Cibola, Arizona to Palo Verde, California in the vicinity of the Cibola Wildlife Refuge. A description of the Sierra Madre Occidental, a unique high eleva...
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Season 5
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Episode 207
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34:33
Episode 206 - September 3, 2025
Arizona Game and Fish Department is receiving reports of coyotes and other canids with Canine Distemper, an infectious and sometimes fatal disease that, while not a threat to humans can be transmitted to unvaccinated dogs and other pets exposed...
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Season 5
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Episode 205
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37:07
Episode 205 - August 27, 2025
Scientists have discovered that plants and animals, primarily insects but including birds, communicate by exchanging information through sound. This development has upended long-held scientific assumptions and is generating new lines of researc...
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Season 5
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Episode 205
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32:45
Episode 204 - August 20, 2025
Recently ornithologists have determined that Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees, both familiar to Arizona birders, are interbreeding in the state altering certain behavioral and appearance characteristics known to both. A report on night moth...
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Season 5
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Episode 204
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31:08
Episode 203 - August 13, 2025
Birds are classified scientifically using a system devised by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus during the 18th Century. That system, titled Systema Naturae in Latin, has been adopted internationally. It undergoes constant revision as new sp...
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Season 4
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Episode 203
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36:20
Episode 202 - August 6, 2025
Birding web cams are growing in popularity, and some ornithologists think they may soon begin to make significant contributions to bird science. Bird of the episode: Band-tailed Pigeon. Birding hotspot: Upper Little Colorado River IBA. Friend o...
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Season 5
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Episode 202
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29:01
Episode 201 - July 30, 2025
A report on progress being made in documenting bird species found in underbirded area of Arizona. Bird of the episode: American White Pelican. Birding hotspot: Coon Bluff in the Tonto National Forest. Friend of wildlife: Arizona Forest and Fire...
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Season 4
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Episode 201
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31:49
Episode 200 - July 23, 2025
An in-depth look at the Bald Eagle, native to North America and historically considered to be the epitome of avian dominance. But it is a complicated story that may not be so simple, or accurate. A report on the California Fan Palm, the the onl...
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Season 4
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Episode 200
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44:00
Episode 199 - July 16, 2025
Report on a movement to reconsider rules - or lack of them - regarding extraction of water from Arizona aquifers as wells in some parts of the state run dry. A report on the surprising presence of fireflies in Arizona. Bird of the episode: Amer...
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Season 4
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Episode 198
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32:12
Episode 198 - July 9, 2025
A report on Swinhoe's White-eye, a small Asian songbird that has become established in parts of California and may be headed for Arizona and other parts of North America as well. Bird of the episode: the Neotropic Cormorant. Birding hotspot: Al...
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Season 4
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Episode 198
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31:23
Episode 197 - July 2, 2025
A report on the domestication of the American Turkey whose origins date back nearly 1,000 years in the four-corners region of the Southwest where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah come together. Indigenous people known as Anisazi are known...
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Season 4
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Episode 197
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33:24
Episode 196 - June 25, 2025
A perspective on how smartphone bird detection software may diminish the birding experience for some birders. A report by Arizona Game and Fish Department on the lack of Chronic Wasting Disease on the Arizona deer population. The disease is kno...
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Season 4
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Episode 196
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37:02
Episode 195 - June 18, 2025
A report on research indicating that the growing proliferation of hummingbird feeders may be causing evolutionary changes in the length and size of the Anna's Hummingbird bill, perhaps that of other species as well. Bird of the episode: Lark Sp...
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Season 4
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Episode 195
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25:47
Episode 194 - June 11, 2025
A report by AXIOS/Phoenix on birds that appear to be disappearing from Arizona, among them the official Arizona State bird, the Cactus Wren. News about habitat restoration activity in southeastern Arizona. An update on Northern Arizona Audubon'...
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Season 4
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Episode 194
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33:09