It's the first This Month in Birding panel of the new year, and Nate welcomes a crew of birders featuring Mollee Brown, Frank Izaguirre, and Jordan Rutter to discuss predation of penguins, evolving junco bills, and weird bird stuff in our houses. Plus, is pishing an ethical birding practice?

Links to items discussed in this episode:

Penguins Become Prey for the Pumas of Patagonia

Without campus leftovers to pick through, the beaks of this bird changed shape during the pandemic

Bias in density estimates from avian point-count surveys: Prospects for post-hoc corrections using calibration data

Woman's viral "bird theory" about white people has everyone checking their homes

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This episode brought to you by All4Birding

2025 was an exciting year for rare bird sightings in the ABA Area, with two first ABA records and a fascinating array of interesting and unexpected records from all corners of the US and Canada. North American Birds editor Alex Lamoreaux and writer and teacher Tim Healy join host Nate Swick to have some fun remembering the highlights of last year.

Check out the 2026 Bird of the Year merch available NOW at aba.org/store

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Science writer Ed Yong was an invaluable resource for many of us navigating the strange pandemic landscape. His writing about Covid-19 at The Atlantic earned him a Pulitzer Prize, but left him looking for an outlet to recalibrate after that anxiety-ridden period. Inspired by his own writing in his book, An Immense World, he turned to bird-watching despite not expecting to be any good at it. It has turned into a passion, a way to explore both his home and the wider world, and an inspiration for his writing.

Also, Nate shares his experience wrangling endemics in Puerto Rico.

Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!