Nate Swick
@n8swick.bsky.social
Birds, beers, basketball, soccer. Into birding before it was cool. Digital Comms, ABA. American Birding Podcast host. Author of bird books. Posts mine. he/him/royal “we”
Reposted by Nate Swick
That’s me! In honor of the Grue Jay I came up with a list of other potential hybrids that’d have cool names.
Mt favorite was Smooth-billed Ani x Groove-billed Ani aka the Smooth Groove Ani aka The Steely Dan Ani.
Mt favorite was Smooth-billed Ani x Groove-billed Ani aka the Smooth Groove Ani aka The Steely Dan Ani.
Another This Month in Birding episode is out!
Listen to Jennie Duberstein, Nick Lund, and Brodie Cass Talbott to discuss casual eBirding, hybrid Jays, and what bird to patronize on Halloween night: www.aba.org/09-44-this-m...
Listen to Jennie Duberstein, Nick Lund, and Brodie Cass Talbott to discuss casual eBirding, hybrid Jays, and what bird to patronize on Halloween night: www.aba.org/09-44-this-m...
09-44: This Month in Birding - October 2025 - American Birding Association
www.aba.org
November 1, 2025 at 11:31 PM
That’s me! In honor of the Grue Jay I came up with a list of other potential hybrids that’d have cool names.
Mt favorite was Smooth-billed Ani x Groove-billed Ani aka the Smooth Groove Ani aka The Steely Dan Ani.
Mt favorite was Smooth-billed Ani x Groove-billed Ani aka the Smooth Groove Ani aka The Steely Dan Ani.
Has anyone ever seen a hybrid of Blue-winged Teal and Green-winged Teal and why isn't it called a Teal-winged Teal?
October 28, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Has anyone ever seen a hybrid of Blue-winged Teal and Green-winged Teal and why isn't it called a Teal-winged Teal?
Suck it robots!
The latest on Wing Beat: "Humans outperform Merlin Sound ID in field-based point-count surveys" by Brooke Goodman
americanornithology.org/humans-outpe...
Related paper: doi.org/10.1093/orni...
#ornithology #pointcountsurvey #soundID #birdsong
americanornithology.org/humans-outpe...
Related paper: doi.org/10.1093/orni...
#ornithology #pointcountsurvey #soundID #birdsong
Humans outperform Merlin Sound ID in field-based point-count surveys - American Ornithological Society
Merlin’s sound classifier feature has revolutionized interaction with the avian world since its release in 2021. It works by learning the unique features of a species’ vocalization, and then recognizi...
americanornithology.org
October 24, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Suck it robots!
Reposted by Nate Swick
Join Nate Swick and Kelly Smith for a fun weekend of birding in Fort Myers, Florida!
Registration is now open for the October ABA Community Weekend in Fort Myers!
Registration is now open for the October ABA Community Weekend in Fort Myers!
October 20, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Join Nate Swick and Kelly Smith for a fun weekend of birding in Fort Myers, Florida!
Registration is now open for the October ABA Community Weekend in Fort Myers!
Registration is now open for the October ABA Community Weekend in Fort Myers!
Reposted by Nate Swick
If you require a distraction from The Horrors, you could listen to @captaintimh.bsky.social @n8swick.bsky.social and I deliver the hottest takes in birding, including my plan to weaponize swans. www.aba.org/09-41-take-i...
09-41: Take It or Leave It: Trumpeter Swans, Probability, and the Internet of Birding - American Birding Association
www.aba.org
October 9, 2025 at 7:39 PM
If you require a distraction from The Horrors, you could listen to @captaintimh.bsky.social @n8swick.bsky.social and I deliver the hottest takes in birding, including my plan to weaponize swans. www.aba.org/09-41-take-i...
I just bought $160 worth of nature books for $60 including shipping.
I didn't need them. But I got them anyway.
The new edition of the Collins guide to Europe is in here, by the way.
I didn't need them. But I got them anyway.
The new edition of the Collins guide to Europe is in here, by the way.
Annual reminder of the best sale in bird books! Not many new titles since last year but there’s a few I’m excited to finally get.
press.princeton.edu/sale/70-off
press.princeton.edu/sale/70-off
October 8, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I just bought $160 worth of nature books for $60 including shipping.
I didn't need them. But I got them anyway.
The new edition of the Collins guide to Europe is in here, by the way.
I didn't need them. But I got them anyway.
The new edition of the Collins guide to Europe is in here, by the way.
Not to spoil this week's Take it or Leave it episode of the American Birding Podcast, but we manage references to The Simpsons, Futurama, Arrested Development, AND Back to the Future in there.
October 7, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Not to spoil this week's Take it or Leave it episode of the American Birding Podcast, but we manage references to The Simpsons, Futurama, Arrested Development, AND Back to the Future in there.
Atlantic Puffin, Tufted Puffin, Horned Puffin.
Editor in chief, city editor, features editor
October 7, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Atlantic Puffin, Tufted Puffin, Horned Puffin.
So against my better judgment I'll probably watch this. I worry, though.
www.hallmarkchannel.com/adventures-i...
www.hallmarkchannel.com/adventures-i...
September 23, 2025 at 1:34 PM
So against my better judgment I'll probably watch this. I worry, though.
www.hallmarkchannel.com/adventures-i...
www.hallmarkchannel.com/adventures-i...
I recorded an interview with novelist Amy Tan the other day for an upcoming ABA podcast episode, and I'm pretty sure she's the first guest on the American Birding Podcast who has been featured on The Simpsons.
August 1, 2025 at 8:20 PM
I recorded an interview with novelist Amy Tan the other day for an upcoming ABA podcast episode, and I'm pretty sure she's the first guest on the American Birding Podcast who has been featured on The Simpsons.
I'm just happy that my home state of NC got two native species here.
![Comic. The Most-Observed Animal and Plant in Each State on iNaturalist. (Not the most common species in the state, just the one people have reported the most times.) [labeled map of the US] WA: Mallard/Western Sword Fern. OR: Mule Deer/Western Ponderosa Pine. CA: Western Fence Lizard/California Poppy. HI: Green Sea Turtle/‘Ōhi’a Lehua. ID: Mallard/Big Sagebrush. NV: Common Side-Blotched Lizard/Creosote Bush. MT: White-Tailed Deer/Common Yarrow. WY: American Bison/Sticky Geranium. UT: Mule Deer/Utah Juniper. AZ: Ornate Tree Lizard/Saguaro. CO: Mule Deer/Great Mullein. NM: Mule Deer/Creosote Bush. AK: Moose/Fireweed. ND: American Bison/Prairie Rose. SD: American Bison/Hoary Vervain. NE: American Robin/Common Milkweed. KS: Ornate Box Turtle/Amur Honeysuckle. OK: Pond Slider/Eastern Redcedar. TX: Northern Cardinal/Pinladies. MN, WI, IL: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Common Milkweed. IA, MI: White-Tailed Deer/Common Milkweed. MO: Brown-Belted Bumble Bee/Amur Honeysuckle. AR: Three-toed Box Turtle/Chinese Privet. LA: Green Anole/Baldcypress. IN: American Robin/Amur Honeysuckle. OH: Eastern Pondhawk/Virginia Springbeauty. KY: Common Box Turtle/Amur Honeysuckle. TN: American Robin/Christmas Fern. MS: Northern Cardinal/Pale Pitcher Plant. AL: Gulf Fritillary/American Sweetgum. GA: Green Anole/American Sweetgum. FL: Brown Anole/White Beggarticks. NY: Eastern Gray Squirrel/White Snakeroot. PA: White-Tailed Deer/Garlic Mustard. WV: White-Tailed Deer/Great Rhododendron. VA: White-Tailed Deer/Eastern Poison Ivy. MD: White-Tailed Deer/Wineberry. DE: Fowler’s Toad/American Pokeweed. NC: Eastern Gray Squirrel/Christmas Fern. SC: Northern Cardinal/American Sweetgum. NJ: Spotted Lanternfly/Common Mugwort. VT: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Eastern White Pine. NH: White-Tailed Deer/Eastern White Pine. MA: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Eastern White Pine. CT: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Striped Wintergreen. RI: American Herring Gull. ME: American Herring Gull/Canadian Bunchberry.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreic4f56ywseq7bqc7zza3y76pxyzn5c5htebrior6jdbrfszhuiquy@jpeg)
July 25, 2025 at 10:02 PM
I'm just happy that my home state of NC got two native species here.
I have downloaded the Avilist excel spreadsheet of birds of the world and it is clearly an impressive amount of work, but it is so huge that it makes my computer run like a steam engine and takes 10 minutes to search for one bird.
July 15, 2025 at 7:31 PM
I have downloaded the Avilist excel spreadsheet of birds of the world and it is clearly an impressive amount of work, but it is so huge that it makes my computer run like a steam engine and takes 10 minutes to search for one bird.
Reposted by Nate Swick
Only one week left for participants of the North American Breeding Bird Survey to complete their routes for the 2025 season! Don’t forget to enter your data online and mail in a physical copy of your data sheets and route map when you’re finished. The sooner the better!
July 1, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Only one week left for participants of the North American Breeding Bird Survey to complete their routes for the 2025 season! Don’t forget to enter your data online and mail in a physical copy of your data sheets and route map when you’re finished. The sooner the better!
Lots of stuff getting tossed from this bill but as far as I can tell, the elimination of the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area, which includes the Bird Banding Lab and the Breeding Bird Survey, is still in there.
Would love to hear otherwise if anyone knows more.
Would love to hear otherwise if anyone knows more.
Talking Points Memo reports the Medicaid trans ban was just struck from the reconciliation bill. talkingpointsmemo.com/live-blog/ba...
Backlash Over ‘Big Beautiful’ Bill Continues In Congress
The wildly unpopular “Big Beautiful” reconciliation package continues to face challenges as...
talkingpointsmemo.com
June 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Lots of stuff getting tossed from this bill but as far as I can tell, the elimination of the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area, which includes the Bird Banding Lab and the Breeding Bird Survey, is still in there.
Would love to hear otherwise if anyone knows more.
Would love to hear otherwise if anyone knows more.
Four year late but Hot Limpkin Summer finally reached Greensboro, NC.
June 21, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Four year late but Hot Limpkin Summer finally reached Greensboro, NC.
Reposted by Nate Swick
It’s important to remember that every one of these rocket explosions is a massive pollution event of the coast and ocean.
Jun 19: SpaceX Starship 36 explodes into massive fireball during static test last night
June 19, 2025 at 10:19 PM
It’s important to remember that every one of these rocket explosions is a massive pollution event of the coast and ocean.
Reposted by Nate Swick
"It’s for brainstorming, it’s for extrapolating, it’s for helping me come up with 20 ideas for different questions"
Motherfucker that's what TAKING WALKS is for!
Motherfucker that's what TAKING WALKS is for!
June 18, 2025 at 8:40 PM
"It’s for brainstorming, it’s for extrapolating, it’s for helping me come up with 20 ideas for different questions"
Motherfucker that's what TAKING WALKS is for!
Motherfucker that's what TAKING WALKS is for!
Yup
I rarely go to Twitter and when I do I make sure to keep it quick.
Part of the reason is that the place is an open sewer and I don’t miss the stench at all.
But another part is that I invariably see someone I know who’s still posting there and just lose a lot of respect for them.
Part of the reason is that the place is an open sewer and I don’t miss the stench at all.
But another part is that I invariably see someone I know who’s still posting there and just lose a lot of respect for them.
June 17, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Yup
The release of the new AviList, the latest attempt to create a standardized bird taxonomy, has radicalized me into an IOC zealot.
Sadly, eBird will adopt this mess and we'll be stuck with it unless I go back to a spreadsheet list.
Sadly, eBird will adopt this mess and we'll be stuck with it unless I go back to a spreadsheet list.
June 10, 2025 at 6:27 PM
The release of the new AviList, the latest attempt to create a standardized bird taxonomy, has radicalized me into an IOC zealot.
Sadly, eBird will adopt this mess and we'll be stuck with it unless I go back to a spreadsheet list.
Sadly, eBird will adopt this mess and we'll be stuck with it unless I go back to a spreadsheet list.
This equates to approximately 764.8 years of funding the Breeding Bird Survey.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pentagon says deploying Marines and National Guard to protests in Los Angeles will cost $134 million.
June 10, 2025 at 5:08 PM
This equates to approximately 764.8 years of funding the Breeding Bird Survey.
I was taking summer courses at college and was up at 3 AM watching this game in my shitty off campus duplex. Immediately afterwards I jumped on my bike to go to the library computer lab to read media reactions. What a time.
Twenty-three years ago today, the USMNT stunned Portugal in their opening game of the 2002 World Cup 🇺🇸
An amazing victory—the USMNT's first against European opposition at a WC for 52 years—which kickstarted a run to the quarter-finals 🦅
An amazing victory—the USMNT's first against European opposition at a WC for 52 years—which kickstarted a run to the quarter-finals 🦅
June 5, 2025 at 1:37 PM
I was taking summer courses at college and was up at 3 AM watching this game in my shitty off campus duplex. Immediately afterwards I jumped on my bike to go to the library computer lab to read media reactions. What a time.
The potential deletion of 100 years of bird banding, breeding bird survey, and various other survey data would cripple bird conservation efforts not only in the US, but in the entire hemisphere.
The 2026 federal budget proposes eliminating the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area, threatening bird banding, research, and conservation nationwide, endangering 100+ years of vital ecological data. www.aba.org/proposed-bir...
May 30, 2025 at 5:18 PM
The potential deletion of 100 years of bird banding, breeding bird survey, and various other survey data would cripple bird conservation efforts not only in the US, but in the entire hemisphere.
When I officiate rec league soccer games for children I won’t even accept a post game juice box from a team because of the potential appearance of impropriety.
ABC reports Trump to take “flying palace” from Qatar and use it as temporary Air Force 1 before converting it to a personal possession.
Trump administration poised to accept 'palace in the sky' as a gift for Trump from Qatar: Sources
President Trump poised to accept "palace in the sky" as a gift from Qatar: Sources
abcnews.go.com
May 12, 2025 at 12:43 AM
When I officiate rec league soccer games for children I won’t even accept a post game juice box from a team because of the potential appearance of impropriety.
Look, if you want to work birding into a murder mystery the way to do it is to have the murderer get caught because they found a county bird at the site where they dumped the body and created an eBird checklist for it.
Watching a murder mystery where birdwatchers have murdered each other, possibly over who can see the Rare Bird Du Jour. What these shows get wrong is that 99.9% of birders, if you express even the slightest interest, will drag you over hill and dale to SHOW you the bird.
May 11, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Look, if you want to work birding into a murder mystery the way to do it is to have the murderer get caught because they found a county bird at the site where they dumped the body and created an eBird checklist for it.