Trevor Herriot grew up exploring the aspen parkland and grasslands of southern Saskatchewan, deeply connected to the natural world around him. His passion for the prairies led him to become one of Canada’s most vocal proponents for the protection of grassland birds through his writing.

With a recently released first novel, The Economy of Sparrows, and several award winning non-fictions books under his belt, we were keen to sit down with Trevor to learn more about what drives his grassland focused writing, and explore the threats and issues that are top of mind for many across the prairies.

Help bird habitats today, simply by sipping on a cup of Birds and Beans coffee! When you purchase through this link, Birds and Beans will even donate 10% of the purchase price to Birds Canada. Thank you!

Recommended reading from this episode:
The Economy of Sparrows - Trevor Herriot
Grass, Sky, Song - Trevor Herriot
Hours and the Birds - R. D. Symons
The Wind Birds - Peter Matthiessen
The Singing Life of Birds - Donald Kroodsma
The Spell of the Sensuous - David Abram
Arctic Dreams - Barry Lopez
Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Unsettling of America - Wendell Berry
Or anything written by Scott Weidensaul or Aldo Leopold

If you’ve got another book that listeners would love, please leave your recommendation in a review!

Trevor Herriot is a naturalist, grassland conservationist, and the author of several award-winning books, including Grass, Sky, Song and the national bestseller River in a Dry Land, both of which were short-listed for the Governor General’s Award for Nonfiction. He is a recipient of the Kloppenburg Award for Literary Merit and the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. He and his wife Karen live in Regina, and spend much of their time on a piece of Aspen Parkland prairie east of the city. His latest work, The Economy of Sparrows is his eighth book, but first novel.

Jody Allair is an avid birder and naturalist who enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for the natural world. He is the Director of Community Engagement at Birds Canada and has written numerous articles on birds, birding and connecting with nature. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @JodyAllair.

Andrea Gress (she/her) secretly thinks Piping Plovers are better than all the other birds...studied Renewable Resource Management at the University of Saskatchewan. She pivoted towards birds, after an internship in South Africa. Upon returning, she worked with Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan, and then as the Ontario Piping Plover Coordinator. Years of sharing her love of plovers with beach goers has turned into a full time communications role with Birds Canada.

Join the Birds Canada Birdathon today! Sign up here.

Do you track bird sightings on eBird? Or have you participated in a citizen science project that helps to monitor bird populations, like Project FeederWatch or the Christmas Bird Count?

In this episode we learn what happens after the binoculars are put away. Whether reporting a single American Goldfinch at your feeder, or the efforts of a really successful Big Day, your observations create a real impact in bird conservation actions across Canada!

Catherine Jardine joins us to explain how your findings feed into NatureCounts, a massive database that helps to track bird populations and leads to informed conservation actions.

Catherine Jardine is the Associate Director of Data Science and Technology at Birds Canada. Her work focuses on supporting hundreds of research and monitoring projects investigating the ecology, distribution and population dynamics of all bird species through two main platforms; NatureCounts (naturecounts.ca) and the Motus Wildlife Tracking System (motus.org).

Andrea Gress (she/her) secretly thinks Piping Plovers are better than all the other birds...studied Renewable Resource Management at the University of Saskatchewan. She pivoted towards birds, after an internship in South Africa. Upon returning, she worked with Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan and now coordinates the Ontario Piping Plover Program for Birds Canada.

Join the Birds Canada Birdathon today! Sign up here.

The Roseate Tern is a dapper looking seabird that spends much of its breeding season far away from humans....yet most of the threats it faces are human related. Julie McKnight joins us to explore the challenges and joys of protecting and monitoring this threatened species.

Share Roseate Tern sightings and photos using eBird, you'll make Julie very happy! And if you're lucky enough to see a banded tern, report that sighting here.

If you're fascinated by some of the finer details of Roseate Tern conservation in Nova Scotia, check out the Tern Reports by Ted D'Eon, an extremely passionate friend of the terns!

Julie McKnight is a Species at Risk Recovery Biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada. Based in Halifax, NS, she works with species experts to develop recovery programs for a range of Species at Risk, primarily in Atlantic Canada. She co-chairs the Canadian Roseate Tern Recovery Team and can’t wait to welcome the terns back to Canada this May.

Andrea Gress (she/her) secretly thinks Piping Plovers are better than all the other birds...studied Renewable Resource Management at the University of Saskatchewan. She pivoted towards birds, after an internship in South Africa. Upon returning, she worked with Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan and now coordinates the Ontario Piping Plover Program for Birds Canada.

This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada through the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change is supported by funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada. The views expressed herein are solely those of Birds Canada.

Join the Birds Canada Birdathon today! Sign up here.