Twenty years ago this week, on Feb. 21, 2005, a very catchy theme song began airing daily on KPLU 88.5 FM, heralding a sound-rich yet brief lesson about birds.
That radio station that went on to become KNKX, and BirdNote extended its reach dramatically. It is now broadcast by more than 330 radio stations nationwide – and seven Spanish-language broadcasters in four countries.
The origin story of how BirdNote came to be, as well as the origins of its very recognizable theme song, have been told and re-told over the years.
For this anniversary, the vigentennial, we wanted to hear more about how the show has managed to expand so rapidly.
KNKX Environment Reporter Bellamy Pailthorp brought BirdNote Executive Director Nick Bayard into our studios to learn more.
Click "Listen" above to hear their conversation and find highlights below.
Interview Highlights
On how BirdNote grew
I really give credit to the original team that came up with the concept, because what BirdNote does is pretty miraculous. It balances entertainment and content. It is really doing science communication work in a way that's entertaining for people, and it connects people with nature, all in a minute and 45 seconds. So, a lot goes into these shows. We have people working on these shows for weeks before they're sent out to radio stations, and really the stations, once they start airing the show, they don't ever stop airing it, because they'd get in trouble with their listeners.
On why people care so much about birds
I think they're all around us, first of all. And so if you're not paying attention to birds, and you happen to hear BirdNote, it's an invitation to pay more attention to what's already there. And that, I think, is really the magic that most people first experience when they hear bird note.
And then, once you start to pay attention, you realize there's this whole world of activity going on, and all these incredible creatures around you doing these amazing things, traveling these miraculous distances, surviving impossible odds. And all you have to do is pay attention and you can enter into their world.
On why the expansion into Spanish language adaptations works
Something we're really proud of and working on is expanding the voices and communities and identities that are represented through BirdNote storytelling. So to have someone who's from Mexico narrating a story, or from you know, different parts of the U.S. has been really great.
And people have noticed that over the past five or six years — that we're telling more stories that might have a specific geography related or a specific community in mind, and that helps more people be able to connect to it and sort of hear themselves in the stories.
[For example, listen to the Spanish version or English version of the Resplendent Quetzal episode.]
On BirdNote’s conservation mission
When we love something, we feel moved to protect it. So BirdNote, first and foremost, aims to cultivate a love of birds in the natural world among listeners. And I think we've done that really well for 20 years now.
Last year, we actually launched a three year campaign to lean a little bit more into the action side of our mission statement – to inspire people to take steps to protect birds in the natural world. And so we set a goal to try to inspire a million people to do something to get involved with bird conservation.
On the strategic goal “From love to action”
You know, the funny thing about working for BirdNote — and anyone who works for BirdNote will tell you this — whenever we introduce ourselves to someone and tell them where we work, they literally will jump up in the air. Like I've seen people literally jump up and down and say, “I love BirdNote. I love it!” And almost like have to stop themselves from shaking me. They're so excited. So it just made sense to us to call this ‘from love to action.’ ...Okay, you love BirdNote, now what? What are you going to do with that love?
And we hope it is: engage with us. Come to our website, birdnote.org, we can give you tips and ideas on how you can get connected. And we're producing more episodes now that have more of a focus on things people can do from where they are, and we want these things to be accessible.
