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
212 episodes
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
Episode 193 - June 4, 2025
Research evidence is mounting that hearing bird songs in the wild as well as touching and smelling, even tasting many plants in their natural states is good for human health. A report on Audubon Southwest's recent water resource tour for ...
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Season 4
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Episode 193
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34:24
Episode 192 - May 28, 2025
Tips and tricks to get the most from your experiences for those new to birding. News from Arizona Game and Fish Department regarding wildlife conservation and welfare. David Allen Sibley on Chickadees. Bird of the episode: Black Phoebe. Birding...
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Season 4
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Episode 192
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32:44
Episode 191 - May 21, 2025
New research findings on migratory habits of the Desert Purple Martin, a rare breeder in the deserts of southeastern Arizona, from Jennie McFarland, Bird Conservation Biologist at Tucson Bird Alliance. Bird of the episode: Western Osprey. Birdi...
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Season 4
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Episode 191
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35:49
Episode 190 - May 14, 2025
A description of how some birds migrate from breeding grounds in extreme North America to wintering grounds in New Zealand and other southern Pacific Ocean regions in one-hop flights of thousands of miles. Some consume their own body organs to ...
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Season 4
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Episode 190
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37:55
Episode 189 - May 7, 2025
A list of detections of songbirds on our patio on April 28, 2025. Many are migrants passing through while others are regular residents of the Sonoran Desert and broader Southwestern region of the United States. Kenn Kaufman describes how ...
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Season 4
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Episode 189
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29:49
Episode 188 - April 30, 2025
Sandhill Cranes, often found wintering in southeastern Arizona, are a conservation success story. The species has come back from the brink of extirpation in Arizona. But they also represent a challenge to farmers, especially in the Great Plains...
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Season 4
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Episode 188
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34:06