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
187 episodes
Episode 187 - April 23, 2025
Part II of an article that explains the extraordinary iridescence of hummingbird feathers. Hummingbirds are the most colorful birds in the Western Hemisphere. David Allen Sibley describes notable aspects of bird movement. Bird of the episode: Y...
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Season 4
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Episode 187
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35:45
Episode 186 - April 16, 2025
Native plants are preferable to man-made birdfeeders. Ornithologist Michael Plagens explains why and how to make your bird feeding stations nature friendly. Part 1 of an article explaining iridescence in hummingbird feathers. Hummingbirds are t...
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Season 4
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Episode 186
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39:12
Episode 185 - April 9, 2025
Make your favorite birding location your 'sit spot.' You can enjoy birding with very little effort by by making it part of your daily routine where you are. We'll have some thoughts on that from the Tucson Bird Alliance. And, Arizona Game and F...
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Season 4
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Episode 185
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31:34
Episode 184 - April 2, 2025
Aerospace engineers at Princeton University have discovered that applying feather-like flaps to airplane wings has the potential to improve aircraft efficiency and maneuverability. New research suggests that the resurgence of Bald Eagles across...
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Season 4
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Episode 184
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34:11
Episode 183 - March 26, 2025
Thoughts by an eminent biologist with decades of experience probing animal intelligence on whether humans are smart enough to know how smart animals are. It's a question that is gaining momentum within the scientific community, generating more ...
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Season 4
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Episode 183
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32:08
Episode 182 - March 19, 2025
A description of how ornithologists recently discovered the location of non-breeding Giant Hummingbirds, a long-time mystery dating back to Charles Darwin's discovery tour of Latin America. Darwin had a hunch, but but the improbability and the ...
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Season 4
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Episode 182
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31:08
Episode 181 - March 12. 2025
A description of how and why Mountain Chickadees often encountered in Arizona at elevations above 5,000 feet are smarter than chickadees found in lower elevation forests and desert scrublands. Bird of the episode: White-crowned Sparrow. Birding...
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Season 4
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Episode 181
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30:28
Episode 180 - March 5, 2025
A report on Tucson Audubon Society's ongoing 'green infrastructure' habitat restoration project. A description of how seed dispersal by birds and other wildlife is critical to range expansion of many plant species helping them fend off di...
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Season 4
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Episode 180
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35:30
Episode 179 - February 26, 2025
An eyewitness account of a warbler (Ovenbird often spotted in Arizona) landing on the ocean off Mexico's east coast, taking what appeared to be a break from its southerly migration to wintering grounds in South America, then launching back into...
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Season 4
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Episode 179
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35:55
Episode 178 - February 19, 2025
An account of how an owl nest was saved following an invasion by a swarm of bees. A nature photographer and a beekeeper teamed up to move owl eggs from the nest to a quickly constructed nest box that was then mounted nearby. The female owl quic...
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Season 4
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Episode 178
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34:01
Episode 177 - February 12, 2025
An update on research that describes how birds learn to communicate with one another through imitation and practice. A report on how bird losses affect the ability of some plant species to expand their ranges leaving them vulnerable to disease ...
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Season 4
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Episode 177
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30:53
Episode 176 - February 5, 2025
A perspective on the extraordinary conservation movement involving social, cultural, industrial and political alliances that let to the establishment of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Bird of the episode: Abert's Towhee. Birding hotspot...
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Season 4
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Episode 176
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35:59
Episode 175 - January 29, 2025
A report on work underway to mitigate wildfire danger along roadways in Patagonia. A description of 'dust bathing,' a desert bird behavior among quail and other species that appears to help maintain good feather structure and control ectoparasi...
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Season 4
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Episode 175
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33:21
Episode 174 - January 22, 2025
A report on new research indicating songbirds communicate across species during overnight migration. These findings are challenging long held beliefs about bird communication in general. A report on how and why the City of Tucson is using goats...
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Season 4
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Episode 174
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32:36
Episode 173 - January 15, 2025
A review of the Kenn Kaufman book 'The Birds Audubon Missed' by Tom Gatz. New research on effects of fireworks on birds. Bird of the episode: Curve-billed Thrasher. Birding hotspot: Arivaca Lake south of Tucson. Friend of wildlife: Grand Canyon...
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Season 4
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Episode 173
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25:14
Episode 172 - January 8, 2025
An extensive report of bird detections captured by the Haikubox located on my patio in the North Valley of the Phoenix metro. Bird of the episode: Vaux's Swift. Birding hotspot of the episode: Lake Havasu National Wildlife Refuge and Important ...
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Season 4
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Episode 172
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31:31
Episode 171 - January 1, 2025
A look at how birds raise their young from egg laying to hatching to fledging. An overview of the unique behavior of corvids (jays) and why they are such an attraction among birders. Bird of the episode: the Upland Sandpiper. Birding Hotspot: G...
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Season 4
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Episode 171
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33:37
Episode 170 - December 25, 2024
Information about restrictions on activity near Bald Eagle nest sites across Arizona as a new breeding cycle begins. California Condor recently released into the wilds of northern Arizona returns to the site where the egg from which she h...
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Season 4
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Episode 170
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35:54
Episode 169 - December 18, 2024
Sweetwater Wetlands reopens to wetland birds and birders after controlled burns eradicate invasive wetland plant species. Arizona Field Ornithologists conduct field expedition to Greenlee County. Cochise County receives $1.5 million Arizona sta...
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Season 4
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Episode 169
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31:00
Episode 168 - December 11, 2024
News from the Northern Arizona Audubon Society December Newsletter. A Bureau of Land Management plan to save the Greater Sage Grouse in grasslands across the West. A report on the unique nature of bird vision. Bird of the episode: Elf Owl. Bird...
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Season 4
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Episode 168
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36:34
Episode 167 - December 04, 2024
A discussion about bird memory. A description of the Northern Parula, a small New World Warbler sometimes encountered in Arizona. Audubon Southwest report on efforts to conserve and protect birds as renewable energy systems roll out across Ariz...
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Season 4
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Episode 167
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36:05
Episode 166 - November 27, 2024
How discarded fishing line (monofilament) endangers wildlife throughout Arizona and how to dispose of it properly. How Towhees and other birds use a variety of foraging techniques to uncover insect prey. Bird of the episode: the Common Whimbrel...
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Season 4
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Episode 166
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31:07
Episode 165 - November 20, 2024
A report by Arizona Game and Fish Department on record-setting success in Bald Eagle nesting and fledging across the state during the 2024 breeding season. A report on efforts in the West to monitor saline lake populations of the Snowy Plover, ...
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Season 4
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Episode 165
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38:32
Episode 164 - November 13, 2024
A report on how birds invented the internet. How Canada Geese have expanded their range throughout North America including in Arizona. Bird of the episode: the Cactus Wren, North America's largest wren. Birding hotspot, Whitewater Draw and the ...
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Season 4
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Episode 164
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33:46
Episode 163 - November 6, 2024
Some thoughts about a new book by renowned fiction writer and beginning birder Amy Tan, author of the long-time New York Times bestseller The Joy Luck Club and, more recently, Backyard Bird Chronicles that describers her experiences as a new bi...
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Season 4
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Episode 163
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34:10