May 6, 2025 • 21 mins
Maria chats with returning guest Ornithologist and bird expert Andrew Farnsworth about Spring migration from south to north; how you can enjoy birds this time of year and what you should do if you find a bird that fell out of its nest!
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Maria's MutS and Stuff. What a great idea on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to Maria's Mutts and Stuff and with me because
you know, I always love having returning guests. It is
Andrew Farnsworth, or anithologist and bird expert, and he is
returning because he was a guest back in October of
last year.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
So Andrew, welcome back.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Ria.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Nice to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Absolutely, So let's talk about I mean when we spoke,
there are a lot of things going on. Obviously we
talked a lot about the fact of all the buildings
across the country with lights and interrupting with birds and
their migration. And that was back in the fall. Now
that we're in springtime, how what has that changed? Like
(00:48):
obviously migration changes in the months and the seasons of
the year.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Is that correct, Yeah, so it does. It does. In
some ways it changes pretty dramatically and in other ways
just you know, sort of the part of the return process,
right like the opposite. So in some ways it's very simple.
But yeah, we're nearing right now kind of like think
of it as a as a wave of peak migration
(01:13):
happening from the US Mexican border to the US Canadian border,
and right now that wave of like the most intense
migration is just getting into the southern part of the US,
and that way is kind of going to break over
the US for the next few weeks, and by like
the end of the months, the third and fourth week
(01:35):
of May, the peak numbers of birds are going to
be you know, sort of up at the Canadian border
and on their way to well for those that are
still traveling anyway, on their way into the boreal forests
and up to the tundra and so on. So yeah,
we're in this period when when a lot's happening and
and this is the you know, kind of the opposite
obviously of what happened in the fall Bords. You're generally
(01:56):
moving north and so on a lot of the same species,
you know, the patterns of like the timing and exactly
where do change a little bit. But the whole process
is very much kind of a repeatable and and actually
a pretty expected and kind of predictable thing in sort
of the broad sense. Kind of like using an almanac
(02:18):
and even making a forecast about what migration will happen,
you could do a pretty good job of knowing what's
going to be on the move. Interesting Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And as far as you know, the danger zone so
to speak, and the hazards, yeah, birds are still facing
them every which way. There are some places, you know,
(02:40):
where there have been improvements though, and I think I
think it's really important to kind of call out. Like
last time we talked, there was this there was this
major event that had happened in Chicago, and it kind
of exemplifies the problem of birds colliding with buildings and
glass transparent and reflected glass, and so it was this
really big kill and a known bird killing building in
(03:01):
Chicago that didn't have treated windows so the birds couldn't
see it, and also didn't have shaded light. Now, after
the really the kind of furor about what happened there
and how how serious it was and how big it was,
those windows are now treated and there's a plan to
shade and it looks like it reduced the number of
(03:22):
dead birds beneath those windows by like ninety or ninety
five percent.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Wow, that's incredible.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, So this is a case where you know, we
know what works right and we just have to we
just have to do it. So there's some real positive
stuff that's out there, that's that's on its way hopefully,
and then you know, we want to want to capitalize
on that, right We could all use a win right now.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Yeah, No, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
And I mean, I mean the last time we spoke,
we spoke about the Javit Center in New York City
taking up six blocks and you know, after all the
time and all the birds that were lost, that they
you know, upgraded and improved and so now that's been
helpful to birds.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
So maybe Chicago took a lesson from New York City?
Is that possible?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Oh, that's certainly possible, you know, as much as probably
the Chicago and no one to admit it that they
actually it's a wonderful community there that's really been incredibly
positive there and actually proactive before the New Yorkers so
to speak. Okay, but when it comes to this building
and in Chicago and the same kind of success that
happened at the Javit Center, it's all because of the
(04:25):
same thing, right, It's like making this this hazard basically
not a hazard to burn and it's doable and it's
possible and it works right right right?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, are there and I'm sure there are, and maybe
you don't know this because it's like off the top
of your head. Are there other newer, modernize modern buildings
in other cities around the country that did not do
the right thing when they were built? And it seems
like there's the community getting together just like they did
(04:55):
in New York City and Chicago, Or is it too
many to tell?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
For sure? There are definitely there are definitely buildings that
did not do the right thing. We're starting to get
called out to do the right thing and frankly can
do the right thing now because there are tools available
to them right right. Then there also are architects out
there and buildings that have done the right thing and
put in from the start when they built the buildings
(05:19):
the bird friendly glass, you know, so you don't need
to reprofit it, right, you put the glass in to
start so that birds can see it. And so both
of these things are happening right the idea of the
retrofitting and recognizing like, oh, we need to do something here. Sure,
maybe it's to avoid a pr nightmare, or maybe because
we realize it's the right thing to do anyway, or
(05:41):
we've done the right thing in the first place. Both
of those things are happening.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
For sure, that's excellent.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, and usually that discussion, you know, once it starts
to happen, it's not that hard to have, you know,
it's like, oh yeah, we can still communicate as people.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Right, right, you know, you're right, which is actually kind
of it is encouraging and lifting at this point of
our lives. I completely get that.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
But also, you know, a lot of it has to
do with you because you're you know, you've been fighting
the fight and talking about it so much, and I
feel like it's almost like you know, catching fire. Not
to use that phrase, but you know what I mean,
Like the word is spreading and people realize, like it's
easier to just do the right thing from the get go,
and we build this building.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
That's right, that's right, And it's always you know, it's
always a hard thing. Right. It's like when you either
make a mistake or you do something because you don't
know it, it's like, uh, like I have to fix
that and that work, you know, but of course, like
it's always easier to fix a mistake than it is
to just let it keep going.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
No, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
For various reasons, it may not seem like that at
the time, but this is surely the case that we've seen,
you know, with the buildings that are retrofitting, and it
makes an immediate difference, right, So then of course that's
like it comes around to be like, well, look we've
done this really good sustainable thing. You know, the burgers
and the animal lovers are happy, and the people in
the building are happy because you know, they're not constantly
(06:57):
getting harassed by by people saying like you're those are
killing birds and right and so on. So it's a
win all around. Yeahs these things.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, I was gonna say, it's win win for everyone.
People can go to work in peace, but you know,
it's not their fault that they're working in a building
like that, but still, uh, you know, and then the
people who are the animal lovers can move on to
the next project.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
So that's you know, so it is it's win win,
and the most the biggest win is the fact that
birds live.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yes, yeah, that's right, that's the part of it. That's right.
Birds live and they're you know, they're obviously integral to
these ecosystems that we live in. And when you know,
when you're like maintaining the components of the ecosystem. It's
just that much more likely that you can actually maintain
the whole structure, right because obviously it's just like the birds,
(07:46):
only it's clearly like the whole thing that's important. And uh,
they're just a proxy for how to how to kind
of keep the whole system healthy, right.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Right, Yeah, No, it's actually it's excellent.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yay, some good news. Yay, Andrew, I knew you'd you
come over with some good news. Indeed, No, it's good,
it's good.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
So let's see.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So what else can we can we share with listeners
now that I mean with the whole migration with birds,
how about getting into the summertime?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
And I mean, is and maybe this is.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Totally off off kilter, but like off in the sense
of with people traveling and I'm doing like going camping.
Is that is there something that affects birds because there's
more people are more out in nature, even though we
want them to be more out in nature because of
the warm weather.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
You know, the interactions between people and birds, I mean,
they they're kind of in the places where they're difficult,
like things we're talking about with buildings or where people
are disruptive or whatever that that happens all year round. Yes,
there are places where, you know, like if you're out
in the Hamptons and you're out on the beach there,
like don't go wandering into the nesting area up these turns, right,
(09:00):
there are obvious things you can do. But I think
I think the even better thing to think about is
like the summer is a great time in particular in June,
you know, in New York and sort of all over
the state. It's a really great time to keep a
close eye on birds because they're all singing, right, this
is the time when they're like when they they look
(09:21):
the coolest in terms of there's the greatest diversity of colors, right,
images are all fresh, and and the males and females
are all you know, on territory, and they've got nests
and so there's a lot of singing. There are a
lot of cool behaviors. It's kind of like the best
time of the year, you know, to be to be
out and listening and looking. So in some ways it's
(09:41):
like flip the flip the human element on its head
and be like, oh, okay, well this is the time
I actually really want to go out and experience, and yeah,
do it smartly, like don't don't disrupt, and don't be
loud and sure like be be mindful when you observe,
but but do get out there and see it, because
it's the time you really can engage. And I mean
(10:03):
even if it's something as simple as you know, like
in New York City, like on people's terraces and sometimes
on their air conditioners. Right, they may have a mourning
dove or an American robin nesting, and this is the
time when you know the parents are coming in and
feeding young, and like there's a there's a closeness and
an ability to see that.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Now, right, it's.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
A good time to get out and be looking. I
mean it always is, but now especially.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Especially Yeah, yeah, yeah, I almost feel like it's it's
because it's the time of year that humans, like it's
a rebirth for us bring into summer, and I feel
like it's the same thing you know, to explore, and
it's the same thing for the birds well for nature.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yeah, yeah, that's for sure. It definitely is a time
when you can you can you know, it's obviously comfortable,
generally comfortable to be to be a human outside at
this point it's not like your frigid Sure, yeah, exactly
with wind and ice and all kinds of things. And
and a lot of these activities are happening because there's
so much energy you know, uh that's translating into greenery, insects,
(11:06):
you know, for birds, et cetera. Right, it's like it's
almost first energetic principles. Right, it's like some real basic
physics there that the sun is there, it's at its highest,
you know, the days are at their at their longest,
and there's all this amazing stuff going on because of that.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Sure, no, that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
And you know, you we were talking about the parents
coming out and feeding so and this just popped into
my head because sometimes it happens.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
What's the best thing for.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Someone to do, Say they're out and there in the
park or something and they see a baby bird that
fell out of a nest. What's the best thing to do.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
So that's a good question. A lot of people ask
that all the time. So if it's there's a good
sort of a good you know, a good gauge, if
it's if it's featherless, or if it if it really
seems like it's a very very new uh, you know,
kind of nestling that has has hopped out of the
nest and really does not have feathers on it. If
(12:03):
you see the nest, you know you can return that
to the nest. Okay, so that's something that absolutely you
can you can do. You can sort of gently scoop
it up and place it back in there. And you know,
you also if you can't get back to the nest,
like if it's somewhere high up or I don't know,
on a wall or a tree or something like that,
you can make kind of a surrogate nest, right, you
(12:24):
can sort of create a little a little area where
you can place the bird because the parents are guaranteed
to be watching, right, they've invested.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
In this sure of course. Yeah, so that's.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
The one thing. If it's if it's a nest, like
so basically if it's like a featherless.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Bird, ok yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Yeah, And if you see a bird that's feathered, you
know that is not exactly you know, sort of like
looking like it's uh, for lack of a better term,
you know, fully baked the shovel, but it's got feathers
on it and it can move around and it looks
like it's trying to fly. That's what we call the
fledgling stage. And again the parents are probably nearby and
that birds looking to fly, and there's that's sort of
(13:02):
a like, okay, you can keep it out of harm's
away if it's trying to get into your house or
if it's you know, crafting your window, and try to
safely navigate it away. But that's one where you sort
of leave it alone.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Leave it alone. Yeah, that's what I figured. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, obviously, if it's in immediate danger, you know, okay,
like you can you can move it a little ways
to keep it out, but generally speaking, like you know,
hands off. At that point, it's the bird sledged and
has feathers on it and is moving around.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
No, that's great, that's you know what, that's great advice
because featherless. I would never realize that or think about it,
because there's always that thing in your head, probably like
a myth, oh well if you touch it and give
it and put it back in the nest, and the
parents are going to say, oh no, it had a
human touch. But that's not true at all, right, I
mean that's true, Like that's kind of a myth that
people think.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
It is yeah, birds, you know, I mean, we don't
fully know like the extent of their their sensive smell,
but it is not very good generally, to the point
where let's say, you know, the old sort of tail
of Oh, you get your scent on it, and the
birds aren't going to come back. No, that's not the case.
That's not you know, that's actually not the reason they
wouldn't come back. It's if there's a whole lot of
(14:07):
disturbance and there's some predator around for sure, like hanging
over the nest and just like constantly you know, right there.
That's why they're not going to come back. It's not
because you have your scent on the you know, on
the bird. So absolutely they don't have a strong sense
of smell, and that's not an issue. Getting that featherless
bird back is definitely a thing you can do, for sure.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
No, that's great, that's so great.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I you know, I've always wondered about that because you know,
there's so many schools of thought and obviously they were
all incorrect, and I needed to speak to you the
expert on it.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Nobody.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
It's good because it's good for my listeners to know too,
because I'm sure it happens. You know, you could be
walking through a park or something, you know, taking a
springtime stroll, and it happens. Sometimes birds fall out of
the nests. But yeah, featherless perfect perfect.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Yeah, that's right. Featherless or feather that's your that's the
key out of the key.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Yeah, no, that makes sense. And of course the parents
are always nearby.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
It's not like, you know, they're going out partying and
leaving the babies back, so you know.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
But interestingly, you know parents like the that happens later.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Oh okay, yeah, exactly when the.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Birds, right, So when the bird sledge, when the young
birds are out there forging and can fly and concede
on their own, the parents do leave, right, and then
they actually leave at different times, like the males and
females will start migrating at different times, you know, the
male parent, female parent, and they'll go to perhaps different places,
you know, where they're not competing against one another to
(15:32):
spend the winter, and the young will follow, right, So
they do. In fact, the parents do leave early, but
not so early when the birds are still you know
obviously featherless or.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
You know, right, they don't kick them out of the
house until that their kids are ready to stand on
their own two wings or something, right, Is that right? Yeah?
So for you for your job, what happens for you
like this time of year obviously after the birds the
migration that happens into June, like summertime, is that like
(16:01):
a more complicated time for your job or is it?
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I mean?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Or probably your job is always complicated and always busy
with different if that makes sense, But like what's different
for you as we get into the summer with what
you do with your job?
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Well, I can finally go to sleep now. I know.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
You're not up all night watching birds?
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Right, degrations happening?
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Right, You're always up.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
There's always there's always something interesting happening. And you know, obviously,
like the bird world has a lot of I think
pursuits in science and many things, but times in particular,
there's there's always dynamism and there's always something exciting to
think about. So it's not so much like there's there
might be downtime from like watching the weather like a
hawk and try to understand, you know, how how birds
(16:49):
are going to interact with severe weather or like really
favorable conditions or whatever, or how interesting patterns are unfolding.
It's kind of the time to start digesting a little
bit and obviously you know, thinking about like okay, well
what what just happened and what's likely to happen again.
It's kind of a little bit of a reset for sure,
But I don't know, the complexity doesn't change. It just
(17:11):
sort of shifts into into a different mode of like,
all right, this frenetic period where there are you know,
a few billion birds on the move is about to
get you know, going again in a month. What did
I learn this spring? You know, we're the head of
schedule behind schedule. Did the models work well? That predicted
you know, when birds were going to be here or
(17:32):
there where they're different sort of odd unexpected patterns that happened.
It's a really good time to kind of digest that stuff.
And I try to do that, you know, they try
to make sense from that perspective. I mean, yeah, it's
your you know, your Monday morning quarterback or whatever whatever
way you phrase them, you know, right, Yeah, and so
it's not really really a downtime per se. It just
(17:52):
is it changes the kind of the nature of like, okay,
it's it's almost overload from you know, a in May
and then again in September and October because there's so
much happening and now there's so many people out birding
that the information coming in is just incredible. Sure, So
so that does change, you know, during like June and July,
(18:13):
and it's it's kind of nice to just sort of
be able to think about the data and look at
what happened and try to understand like, okay, like how
does this year compared to others? Like what what am
I expecting for the fall? Now? What kind of in
New York City? What kind of a season are we
talking about? You know, like right now, for example, we're
(18:35):
a little above the typical numbers of birds that have
passed through like over Manhattan, for example, we're just over
like a million birds for the for the year, and
that'll go up to well, I don't know, like two
and a half to three millions, so you know, we're
still to come in the big peak and in June
it'll be like, okay, well, how did that actually transpire?
(18:56):
What did do we get to that sort of average number?
Was it earlier than usual? That's the kind of stuff
that happens in the same.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Right, right, So it's time for you then to digest it,
put it all together, do your research, and also for
you probably to take a breather here and there as
well over the summer.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah, there definitely are. There definitely aren't as many you know,
stories and other things to spin when when birds are
more stationary, there are different stories to talk about, right,
But for me, you know, with the migration talk and background,
that is definitely a time when I could just sort
of think about like, oh okay, like I don't have
to feel that call today, right, and that discussion can
(19:34):
be tabled for a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Sure, no, that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, it's.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Cool, it's great.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
And you know what, I do appreciate that you took
the time out because I know this is kind of
your busy season.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
So I appreciate that and appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I find you so fascinating and your information just so
useful and you know, and that we can all for
those of us who aren't bird experts or you know,
just know a little bit about birds, you explain it
so well for all of us, for me and I
list and I really do appreciate you so and so thank.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
You for that.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Well, I really appreciate being you know, being here. Thank
you Mary for having me. And it's it's nice to
talk to the audience, you know, and and hopefully, uh,
you know, it inspires people to get out and think
about these things and and obviously you know, to to
explore the way I see it often when there's two elements, right,
when when you walk into a cocktail party and say,
(20:23):
you know you study birds, right first, there's like, wait,
what right exactly, but it's a little bit rare, but right, everybody, everybody,
everybody has a story is related to birds, and it
does not take much to get people very animated about
their story. And because of that, it's the really easy
(20:44):
thing to talk about, right, And if there's inspiration that
that gets people more interested, I'm all for it. I'm
happy to do it. I'd love to, you know, love
to to have people be able to share some of
these things that I've been fortunate to learn and see, sure,
and have more people do it. You know, it's like
it's a win all around.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Yeah, no, that makes sense. It makes so such perfect sense.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And you know, if anybody goes to a cocktail party
and somebody says something about birds, they can say, oh, I.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Know Andrew Farnsworth. He talks to Maria all the time.
He's a bird expert. Well, Andrew, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
I know we'll talk again, and I actually for once
feel optimistic that I feel like when we talk again,
you'll have a story about another city that did the
right thing with a new construction, you know, new construction
of a building.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
I just have that feeling.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Yes, I have the same feeling and the data to
support it even which is even better.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Absolutely, Well, thank you so much, thank you for all
you do and for your time, and we will definitely
talk again.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Thank you so much for you
It's Maria's MutS and Stuff. What a great idea on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to Maria's Mutts and Stuff and with me because
you know, I always love having returning guests. It is
Andrew Farnsworth, or anithologist and bird expert, and he is
returning because he was a guest back in October of
last year.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
So Andrew, welcome back.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Ria.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Nice to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Absolutely, So let's talk about I mean when we spoke,
there are a lot of things going on. Obviously we
talked a lot about the fact of all the buildings
across the country with lights and interrupting with birds and
their migration. And that was back in the fall. Now
that we're in springtime, how what has that changed? Like
(00:48):
obviously migration changes in the months and the seasons of
the year.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Is that correct, Yeah, so it does. It does. In
some ways it changes pretty dramatically and in other ways
just you know, sort of the part of the return process,
right like the opposite. So in some ways it's very simple.
But yeah, we're nearing right now kind of like think
of it as a as a wave of peak migration
(01:13):
happening from the US Mexican border to the US Canadian border,
and right now that wave of like the most intense
migration is just getting into the southern part of the US,
and that way is kind of going to break over
the US for the next few weeks, and by like
the end of the months, the third and fourth week
(01:35):
of May, the peak numbers of birds are going to
be you know, sort of up at the Canadian border
and on their way to well for those that are
still traveling anyway, on their way into the boreal forests
and up to the tundra and so on. So yeah,
we're in this period when when a lot's happening and
and this is the you know, kind of the opposite
obviously of what happened in the fall Bords. You're generally
(01:56):
moving north and so on a lot of the same species,
you know, the patterns of like the timing and exactly
where do change a little bit. But the whole process
is very much kind of a repeatable and and actually
a pretty expected and kind of predictable thing in sort
of the broad sense. Kind of like using an almanac
(02:18):
and even making a forecast about what migration will happen,
you could do a pretty good job of knowing what's
going to be on the move. Interesting Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And as far as you know, the danger zone so
to speak, and the hazards, yeah, birds are still facing
them every which way. There are some places, you know,
(02:40):
where there have been improvements though, and I think I
think it's really important to kind of call out. Like
last time we talked, there was this there was this
major event that had happened in Chicago, and it kind
of exemplifies the problem of birds colliding with buildings and
glass transparent and reflected glass, and so it was this
really big kill and a known bird killing building in
(03:01):
Chicago that didn't have treated windows so the birds couldn't
see it, and also didn't have shaded light. Now, after
the really the kind of furor about what happened there
and how how serious it was and how big it was,
those windows are now treated and there's a plan to
shade and it looks like it reduced the number of
(03:22):
dead birds beneath those windows by like ninety or ninety
five percent.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Wow, that's incredible.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, So this is a case where you know, we
know what works right and we just have to we
just have to do it. So there's some real positive
stuff that's out there, that's that's on its way hopefully,
and then you know, we want to want to capitalize
on that, right We could all use a win right now.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Yeah, No, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
And I mean, I mean the last time we spoke,
we spoke about the Javit Center in New York City
taking up six blocks and you know, after all the
time and all the birds that were lost, that they
you know, upgraded and improved and so now that's been
helpful to birds.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
So maybe Chicago took a lesson from New York City?
Is that possible?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Oh, that's certainly possible, you know, as much as probably
the Chicago and no one to admit it that they
actually it's a wonderful community there that's really been incredibly
positive there and actually proactive before the New Yorkers so
to speak. Okay, but when it comes to this building
and in Chicago and the same kind of success that
happened at the Javit Center, it's all because of the
(04:25):
same thing, right, It's like making this this hazard basically
not a hazard to burn and it's doable and it's
possible and it works right right right?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, are there and I'm sure there are, and maybe
you don't know this because it's like off the top
of your head. Are there other newer, modernize modern buildings
in other cities around the country that did not do
the right thing when they were built? And it seems
like there's the community getting together just like they did
(04:55):
in New York City and Chicago, Or is it too
many to tell?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
For sure? There are definitely there are definitely buildings that
did not do the right thing. We're starting to get
called out to do the right thing and frankly can
do the right thing now because there are tools available
to them right right. Then there also are architects out
there and buildings that have done the right thing and
put in from the start when they built the buildings
(05:19):
the bird friendly glass, you know, so you don't need
to reprofit it, right, you put the glass in to
start so that birds can see it. And so both
of these things are happening right the idea of the
retrofitting and recognizing like, oh, we need to do something here. Sure,
maybe it's to avoid a pr nightmare, or maybe because
we realize it's the right thing to do anyway, or
(05:41):
we've done the right thing in the first place. Both
of those things are happening.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
For sure, that's excellent.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, and usually that discussion, you know, once it starts
to happen, it's not that hard to have, you know,
it's like, oh yeah, we can still communicate as people.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Right, right, you know, you're right, which is actually kind
of it is encouraging and lifting at this point of
our lives. I completely get that.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
But also, you know, a lot of it has to
do with you because you're you know, you've been fighting
the fight and talking about it so much, and I
feel like it's almost like you know, catching fire. Not
to use that phrase, but you know what I mean,
Like the word is spreading and people realize, like it's
easier to just do the right thing from the get go,
and we build this building.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
That's right, that's right, And it's always you know, it's
always a hard thing. Right. It's like when you either
make a mistake or you do something because you don't
know it, it's like, uh, like I have to fix
that and that work, you know, but of course, like
it's always easier to fix a mistake than it is
to just let it keep going.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
No, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
For various reasons, it may not seem like that at
the time, but this is surely the case that we've seen,
you know, with the buildings that are retrofitting, and it
makes an immediate difference, right, So then of course that's
like it comes around to be like, well, look we've
done this really good sustainable thing. You know, the burgers
and the animal lovers are happy, and the people in
the building are happy because you know, they're not constantly
(06:57):
getting harassed by by people saying like you're those are
killing birds and right and so on. So it's a
win all around. Yeahs these things.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, I was gonna say, it's win win for everyone.
People can go to work in peace, but you know,
it's not their fault that they're working in a building
like that, but still, uh, you know, and then the
people who are the animal lovers can move on to
the next project.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
So that's you know, so it is it's win win,
and the most the biggest win is the fact that
birds live.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yes, yeah, that's right, that's the part of it. That's right.
Birds live and they're you know, they're obviously integral to
these ecosystems that we live in. And when you know,
when you're like maintaining the components of the ecosystem. It's
just that much more likely that you can actually maintain
the whole structure, right because obviously it's just like the birds,
(07:46):
only it's clearly like the whole thing that's important. And uh,
they're just a proxy for how to how to kind
of keep the whole system healthy, right.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Right, Yeah, No, it's actually it's excellent.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yay, some good news. Yay, Andrew, I knew you'd you
come over with some good news. Indeed, No, it's good,
it's good.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
So let's see.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So what else can we can we share with listeners
now that I mean with the whole migration with birds,
how about getting into the summertime?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
And I mean, is and maybe this is.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Totally off off kilter, but like off in the sense
of with people traveling and I'm doing like going camping.
Is that is there something that affects birds because there's
more people are more out in nature, even though we
want them to be more out in nature because of
the warm weather.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
You know, the interactions between people and birds, I mean,
they they're kind of in the places where they're difficult,
like things we're talking about with buildings or where people
are disruptive or whatever that that happens all year round. Yes,
there are places where, you know, like if you're out
in the Hamptons and you're out on the beach there,
like don't go wandering into the nesting area up these turns, right,
(09:00):
there are obvious things you can do. But I think
I think the even better thing to think about is
like the summer is a great time in particular in June,
you know, in New York and sort of all over
the state. It's a really great time to keep a
close eye on birds because they're all singing, right, this
is the time when they're like when they they look
(09:21):
the coolest in terms of there's the greatest diversity of colors, right,
images are all fresh, and and the males and females
are all you know, on territory, and they've got nests
and so there's a lot of singing. There are a
lot of cool behaviors. It's kind of like the best
time of the year, you know, to be to be
out and listening and looking. So in some ways it's
(09:41):
like flip the flip the human element on its head
and be like, oh, okay, well this is the time
I actually really want to go out and experience, and yeah,
do it smartly, like don't don't disrupt, and don't be
loud and sure like be be mindful when you observe,
but but do get out there and see it, because
it's the time you really can engage. And I mean
(10:03):
even if it's something as simple as you know, like
in New York City, like on people's terraces and sometimes
on their air conditioners. Right, they may have a mourning
dove or an American robin nesting, and this is the
time when you know the parents are coming in and
feeding young, and like there's a there's a closeness and
an ability to see that.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Now, right, it's.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
A good time to get out and be looking. I
mean it always is, but now especially.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Especially Yeah, yeah, yeah, I almost feel like it's it's
because it's the time of year that humans, like it's
a rebirth for us bring into summer, and I feel
like it's the same thing you know, to explore, and
it's the same thing for the birds well for nature.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yeah, yeah, that's for sure. It definitely is a time
when you can you can you know, it's obviously comfortable,
generally comfortable to be to be a human outside at
this point it's not like your frigid Sure, yeah, exactly
with wind and ice and all kinds of things. And
and a lot of these activities are happening because there's
so much energy you know, uh that's translating into greenery, insects,
(11:06):
you know, for birds, et cetera. Right, it's like it's
almost first energetic principles. Right, it's like some real basic
physics there that the sun is there, it's at its highest,
you know, the days are at their at their longest,
and there's all this amazing stuff going on because of that.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Sure, no, that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
And you know, you we were talking about the parents
coming out and feeding so and this just popped into
my head because sometimes it happens.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
What's the best thing for.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Someone to do, Say they're out and there in the
park or something and they see a baby bird that
fell out of a nest. What's the best thing to do.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
So that's a good question. A lot of people ask
that all the time. So if it's there's a good
sort of a good you know, a good gauge, if
it's if it's featherless, or if it if it really
seems like it's a very very new uh, you know,
kind of nestling that has has hopped out of the
nest and really does not have feathers on it. If
(12:03):
you see the nest, you know you can return that
to the nest. Okay, so that's something that absolutely you
can you can do. You can sort of gently scoop
it up and place it back in there. And you know,
you also if you can't get back to the nest,
like if it's somewhere high up or I don't know,
on a wall or a tree or something like that,
you can make kind of a surrogate nest, right, you
(12:24):
can sort of create a little a little area where
you can place the bird because the parents are guaranteed
to be watching, right, they've invested.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
In this sure of course. Yeah, so that's.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
The one thing. If it's if it's a nest, like
so basically if it's like a featherless.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Bird, ok yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Yeah, And if you see a bird that's feathered, you
know that is not exactly you know, sort of like
looking like it's uh, for lack of a better term,
you know, fully baked the shovel, but it's got feathers
on it and it can move around and it looks
like it's trying to fly. That's what we call the
fledgling stage. And again the parents are probably nearby and
that birds looking to fly, and there's that's sort of
(13:02):
a like, okay, you can keep it out of harm's
away if it's trying to get into your house or
if it's you know, crafting your window, and try to
safely navigate it away. But that's one where you sort
of leave it alone.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Leave it alone. Yeah, that's what I figured. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, obviously, if it's in immediate danger, you know, okay,
like you can you can move it a little ways
to keep it out, but generally speaking, like you know,
hands off. At that point, it's the bird sledged and
has feathers on it and is moving around.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
No, that's great, that's you know what, that's great advice
because featherless. I would never realize that or think about it,
because there's always that thing in your head, probably like
a myth, oh well if you touch it and give
it and put it back in the nest, and the
parents are going to say, oh no, it had a
human touch. But that's not true at all, right, I
mean that's true, Like that's kind of a myth that
people think.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
It is yeah, birds, you know, I mean, we don't
fully know like the extent of their their sensive smell,
but it is not very good generally, to the point
where let's say, you know, the old sort of tail
of Oh, you get your scent on it, and the
birds aren't going to come back. No, that's not the case.
That's not you know, that's actually not the reason they
wouldn't come back. It's if there's a whole lot of
(14:07):
disturbance and there's some predator around for sure, like hanging
over the nest and just like constantly you know, right there.
That's why they're not going to come back. It's not
because you have your scent on the you know, on
the bird. So absolutely they don't have a strong sense
of smell, and that's not an issue. Getting that featherless
bird back is definitely a thing you can do, for sure.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
No, that's great, that's so great.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I you know, I've always wondered about that because you know,
there's so many schools of thought and obviously they were
all incorrect, and I needed to speak to you the
expert on it.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Nobody.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
It's good because it's good for my listeners to know too,
because I'm sure it happens. You know, you could be
walking through a park or something, you know, taking a
springtime stroll, and it happens. Sometimes birds fall out of
the nests. But yeah, featherless perfect perfect.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Yeah, that's right. Featherless or feather that's your that's the
key out of the key.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Yeah, no, that makes sense. And of course the parents
are always nearby.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
It's not like, you know, they're going out partying and
leaving the babies back, so you know.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
But interestingly, you know parents like the that happens later.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Oh okay, yeah, exactly when the.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Birds, right, So when the bird sledge, when the young
birds are out there forging and can fly and concede
on their own, the parents do leave, right, and then
they actually leave at different times, like the males and
females will start migrating at different times, you know, the
male parent, female parent, and they'll go to perhaps different places,
you know, where they're not competing against one another to
(15:32):
spend the winter, and the young will follow, right, So
they do. In fact, the parents do leave early, but
not so early when the birds are still you know
obviously featherless or.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
You know, right, they don't kick them out of the
house until that their kids are ready to stand on
their own two wings or something, right, Is that right? Yeah?
So for you for your job, what happens for you
like this time of year obviously after the birds the
migration that happens into June, like summertime, is that like
(16:01):
a more complicated time for your job or is it?
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I mean?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Or probably your job is always complicated and always busy
with different if that makes sense, But like what's different
for you as we get into the summer with what
you do with your job?
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Well, I can finally go to sleep now. I know.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
You're not up all night watching birds?
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Right, degrations happening?
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Right, You're always up.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
There's always there's always something interesting happening. And you know, obviously,
like the bird world has a lot of I think
pursuits in science and many things, but times in particular,
there's there's always dynamism and there's always something exciting to
think about. So it's not so much like there's there
might be downtime from like watching the weather like a
hawk and try to understand, you know, how how birds
(16:49):
are going to interact with severe weather or like really
favorable conditions or whatever, or how interesting patterns are unfolding.
It's kind of the time to start digesting a little
bit and obviously you know, thinking about like okay, well
what what just happened and what's likely to happen again.
It's kind of a little bit of a reset for sure,
But I don't know, the complexity doesn't change. It just
(17:11):
sort of shifts into into a different mode of like,
all right, this frenetic period where there are you know,
a few billion birds on the move is about to
get you know, going again in a month. What did
I learn this spring? You know, we're the head of
schedule behind schedule. Did the models work well? That predicted
you know, when birds were going to be here or
(17:32):
there where they're different sort of odd unexpected patterns that happened.
It's a really good time to kind of digest that stuff.
And I try to do that, you know, they try
to make sense from that perspective. I mean, yeah, it's
your you know, your Monday morning quarterback or whatever whatever
way you phrase them, you know, right, Yeah, and so
it's not really really a downtime per se. It just
(17:52):
is it changes the kind of the nature of like, okay,
it's it's almost overload from you know, a in May
and then again in September and October because there's so
much happening and now there's so many people out birding
that the information coming in is just incredible. Sure, So
so that does change, you know, during like June and July,
(18:13):
and it's it's kind of nice to just sort of
be able to think about the data and look at
what happened and try to understand like, okay, like how
does this year compared to others? Like what what am
I expecting for the fall? Now? What kind of in
New York City? What kind of a season are we
talking about? You know, like right now, for example, we're
(18:35):
a little above the typical numbers of birds that have
passed through like over Manhattan, for example, we're just over
like a million birds for the for the year, and
that'll go up to well, I don't know, like two
and a half to three millions, so you know, we're
still to come in the big peak and in June
it'll be like, okay, well, how did that actually transpire?
(18:56):
What did do we get to that sort of average number?
Was it earlier than usual? That's the kind of stuff
that happens in the same.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Right, right, So it's time for you then to digest it,
put it all together, do your research, and also for
you probably to take a breather here and there as
well over the summer.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah, there definitely are. There definitely aren't as many you know,
stories and other things to spin when when birds are
more stationary, there are different stories to talk about, right,
But for me, you know, with the migration talk and background,
that is definitely a time when I could just sort
of think about like, oh okay, like I don't have
to feel that call today, right, and that discussion can
(19:34):
be tabled for a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Sure, no, that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, it's.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Cool, it's great.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
And you know what, I do appreciate that you took
the time out because I know this is kind of
your busy season.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
So I appreciate that and appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I find you so fascinating and your information just so
useful and you know, and that we can all for
those of us who aren't bird experts or you know,
just know a little bit about birds, you explain it
so well for all of us, for me and I
list and I really do appreciate you so and so thank.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
You for that.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Well, I really appreciate being you know, being here. Thank
you Mary for having me. And it's it's nice to
talk to the audience, you know, and and hopefully, uh,
you know, it inspires people to get out and think
about these things and and obviously you know, to to
explore the way I see it often when there's two elements, right,
when when you walk into a cocktail party and say,
(20:23):
you know you study birds, right first, there's like, wait,
what right exactly, but it's a little bit rare, but right, everybody, everybody,
everybody has a story is related to birds, and it
does not take much to get people very animated about
their story. And because of that, it's the really easy
(20:44):
thing to talk about, right, And if there's inspiration that
that gets people more interested, I'm all for it. I'm
happy to do it. I'd love to, you know, love
to to have people be able to share some of
these things that I've been fortunate to learn and see, sure,
and have more people do it. You know, it's like
it's a win all around.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Yeah, no, that makes sense. It makes so such perfect sense.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And you know, if anybody goes to a cocktail party
and somebody says something about birds, they can say, oh, I.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Know Andrew Farnsworth. He talks to Maria all the time.
He's a bird expert. Well, Andrew, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
I know we'll talk again, and I actually for once
feel optimistic that I feel like when we talk again,
you'll have a story about another city that did the
right thing with a new construction, you know, new construction
of a building.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
I just have that feeling.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Yes, I have the same feeling and the data to
support it even which is even better.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Absolutely, Well, thank you so much, thank you for all
you do and for your time, and we will definitely
talk again.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Thank you so much for you
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