Curated Collection
Best Bird-Watching Podcasts
Bird-watching has gone mainstream — nearly 1 in 3 Americans now partake, helped along by apps like Merlin that take the guesswork out of birdsong ID. These seven shows will help you start the hobby, deepen it, or just learn something new about the more than 11,000 species sharing the planet with us.
7 podcasts · Updated 2026
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- 1
Get Birding
by Peanut & Crumb
British actor Sean Bean — yes, the Lord of the Rings / James Bond Sean Bean — turns out to be a lifelong birder, and he hosts this charmingly beginner-friendly show with deep practical tips. Recurring guests include broadcasters, zoologists, and conservationists, all of whom share their stories of falling for the hobby with infectious enthusiasm. His own birding-since-Sheffield-teenagedom makes the whole thing feel accessible rather than expert-coded.
Starter episode: Garden Symphony
- 2
The Science of Birds
by Ivan Phillipsen
Naturalist and zoology PhD Ivan Phillipsen hosts this biweekly deep dive into bird biology, and despite the title there is nothing dry about it. Episodes range across species profiles (cuckoos, herring gulls), regional habitats, and phenomena like vagrancy — plus shorter 'Random Bird Thursday' segments packed with facts about overlooked species. It is the show to play when you want to come away knowing something specific.
Starter episode: Avian Navigation: How Birds Find Their Way
- 3
How many geese?
by Jack Baddams & Roddy Shaw
Equal parts ornithology, urban forestry, and the hypothetical question of which animal you could plausibly defeat in single combat. Hosts Jack Baddams and Roddy Shaw work through the strange corners of natural history — wartime weaponized bats, historical animal trials — before settling into the signature 'how many of this species could I take in a fight' bit. The show wrapped after 100 episodes, but the back catalog is a deeply weird joy.
Starter episode: The Extended Nuclear Animals Universe
- 4
Life List: A Birding Podcast
by George Armistead, Alvaro Jaramillo, and Mollee Brown
Three experienced birders — George Armistead, Alvaro Jaramillo, and Mollee Brown — swap stories of rare sightings and lessons from failed searches, both close to home and on international trips. The format is conversational; the camaraderie between hosts is real. A 'life list' refers to the cumulative tally of every species a birder has personally spotted, so identification is the spine of the show.
Starter episode: Birding the Eastern Himalayas, a Backyard Long-eared Owl, and Safari Adventures With Jason Hall
- 5
BirdNote Daily
by BirdNote
From the nonprofit BirdNote, this is a daily two-minute meditation more than a podcast. Each episode pairs a fact about a specific bird species with field recordings of its calls and the surrounding soundscape — closer in spirit to a nature broadcast than a talk show. Perfect for the moments before you fully wake up, or a walk through a green space when you want a small reminder that things are happening.
Starter episode: House Wrens and Dummy Nests
- 6
The American Birding Podcast
by American Birding Association
Approaching a decade old and produced by the American Birding Association, this is the institutional voice of U.S. birding, done with warmth. Regular host Nate Swick rotates in ABA colleagues and outside scientists and conservationists. Topics span avian news, conservation interviews, and personal stories — like a recent episode on 'spark birds,' the term birders use for the species that first hooked them on the hobby.
Starter episode: Saving Birds to Save the Planet With Scott Weidensaul
- 7
The Field Guides
by The Field Guides
Hosts Steve and Bill cover North American wildlife broadly, but birds turn up over and over. Each monthly episode breaks down one species or phenomenon — sometimes with the hosts in the field recording ambient audio, sometimes chasing specific rarities like Central Park's snowy owl. The format leans documentary, and the result lands somewhere between a nature feature and a buddy show.
Starter episode: The Dawn Chorus (Part 1)
How this list is built
We rank podcasts using a composite score that combines current chart position, cross-platform popularity signals, episode publishing cadence, and listener engagement. The list is refreshed regularly as new chart snapshots and metadata flow into our pipeline.