BirdNote is a nonprofit public media organization that aims to inspire people to care about the natural world and take steps to protect it. BirdNote produces
BirdNote Daily', a daily
radio program
A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
Radio netw ...
dedicated to sharing the joy and wonder of birds with listeners and promoting the conservation of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s and their
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
s. BirdNote also produces longform podcasts
Bring Birds Back' and
Threatened', and the Spanish language show,
BirdNote en Español'. ''BirdNote Daily'' episodes are two-minute vignettes that incorporate the sounds of birds with stories that illustrate their way of life. Shows can be heard on radio, online, and as a
podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
. BirdNote's Executive Director is Nick Bayard.
The ''BirdNote Daily'' radio broadcast originated in the Pacific Northwest under the umbrella of the
Seattle Audubon Society, a chapter of the
National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...
and operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Tune In to Nature.Org. ''BirdNote Daily'' airs twice daily on
KNKX
KNKX (88.5 MHz) is a public radio station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States. A member of National Public Radio (NPR), it airs a jazz and news format for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by Pacific Public Me ...
, an affiliate of
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
, and also on
KTOO-FM,
KJJF,
KWMR,
WNPR
Connecticut Public Radio, commonly known as WNPR, is a network of public radio stations in the state of Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and East End (Long Island), eastern Long Island, affiliated with NPR (National Public Radio). It is owned ...
/Connecticut Public Radio,
WRVO,
KPBX,
KCAW,
KYRS,
KPFZ,
KHSU,
KRTS,
KUNM, and more than 300 other public radio stations across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. BirdNote's podcasts reaches approximately 200 countries and sovereign territories. Stories include natural history, equity and accessibility in birding, environmental conservation, the language and music of birds, and other topics.
BirdNote's mission statement is: "Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world — and take steps to protect it." Story subjects and interviewees have included
J. Drew Lanham,
Amy Tan
Amy Ruth Tan (born February 19, 1952) is an American author best known for her novel '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1989), which was adapted into a 1993 film. She is also known for other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir. ...
,
Christian Cooper,
Rachel Carson
Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservation movement, conservationist whose sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book ''Silent Spring'' (1962) are credited with advancing mari ...
,
Corina Newsome,
Deja Perkins,
Roger Tory Peterson
Roger Tory Peterson (August 28, 1908 – July 28, 1996) was an American natural history, naturalist, Conservationist (biology), conservationist, citizen scientist ornithology, ornithologist, artist and illustrator, educator, and a founder of th ...
,
Tig Notaro,
Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American writer, Philosophy, philosopher, Natural history, naturalist, scientist, Ecology, ecologist, forester, Conservation biology, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a profes ...
,
Frank Chapman,
Barry Lopez
Barry Holstun Lopez (January 6, 1945 – December 25, 2020) was an American author, essayist, nature writer, and fiction writer whose work is known for its humanitarian and environmental concerns. In a career spanning over 50 years, he ...
,
Terry Tempest Williams
Terry Tempest Williams (born September 8, 1955) is an American writer, educator, conservationist, and activist. Williams' writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of Utah. Her work foc ...
,
H. Jon Benjamin,
David Allen Sibley,
Ivan Doig
Ivan Doig (; June 27, 1939 – April 9, 2015) was an American author and novelist, widely known for his sixteen fiction and non-fiction books set mostly in his native Montana, celebrating the landscape and people of the post-war American West.
W ...
,
Tony Angell,
whooping crane
The whooping crane (''Grus americana'') is an endangered Crane (bird), crane species, native to North America, named for its "whooping" calls. Along with the sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis''), it is one of only two crane species native to ...
migration, the extinction of the
dodo
The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinction, extinct flightless bird that was endemism, endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest relative was the also-extinct and flightles ...
, birds in myth, music, and pop culture, and the natural history of hundreds of species of birds. BirdNote also produces special series featuring the organizers of
Black Birders Week an
Indigenousleaders.
Contributors
Most bird sounds for ''BirdNote'' are provided by the Macaulay Library of the
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Writers have included Dennis Paulson, Curator Emeritus of The Slater Museum of Natural History at the University of Puget Sound, the late Robert Sundstrom, birding-by-ear expert with the Seattle Audubon Society, Francis Wood, and other writers and naturalists. Shows are reviewed for scientific accuracy by a panel of advisors. Narrators include Michael Stein, Ariana Remmel, Mary McCann, Frank Corrado, and many others. John Kessler, of
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
’s
Mountain Stage
''Mountain Stage'' is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio (NPR). Hosted by Larry Groce from the show's inception until 2021 and curr ...
fame, was the senior producer. All shows have a companion photo, many of which were taken by photographer-naturalist, Paul Bannick.
''BirdNote's'' theme music was composed and played by John Kessler and Nancy Rumbel of
Tingstad and Rumbel
Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel are musicians who have performed, recorded and traveled together since 1985, and are responsible for 19 albums.
Eric Tingstad is a composer who plays fingerstyle guitar. Nancy Rumbel plays oboe, English horn and ...
.
References
{{reflist
External links
BirdNote onlineThe Macaulay Libraryat the
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
American public radio programs
2000s American radio programs