![]() On the subject of your job with the Audubon, what is a bird walk with a congressional member or their staff like generally? Maybe about the belted kingfisher, but I'm also open to other birds." And I'm like, "Man, I want other people to feel this way. But like the belted kingfisher is just a bird that looking at it, you know, is really special for me. There's like I can feel like there's a nose ring. And I'm like, "wow, that's a really good tattoo bird." And also Yeah, it looks like a punk bird too like if you're really into punk culture and punk music. I saw it jump off a cat tail and do its call right as it crossed the creek, and I was just mesmerized. And it was the female that I saw with the rusted boat at Cobbs Creek. Typically people associate that with the male. And in in the female for the belted kingfisher, they actually have the rusted belt, not the male. Second, so birds typically exhibit sexual de morphia, where the male looks different than the female. number one on the list is belted kingfisher. I don't have any tattoos, but if I were to get a tattoo. What about the belted kingfisher really attracted you? Other than it being the first bird that you kind of, you know, noticed or took kind of attention to? ![]() Sharing that type of excitement and experience. And I've done you know, everybody does a book report before.that was something that really brought me to a presence in it. And I'm like, "wait a minute!" That is just that is beyond what I thought I've could have understood about it. You know, I was just looking at this thing in the book, and all of a sudden, I see it in real life. And that was the first time I was ever given an assignment of any sort that was brought to life (laugh). And then my next week at work, I got to see it live. Coincidentally, that was given to me as like an assignment to study the bird. And for me, the belted kingfisher was the bird that sparked my interest, more generally, in birds and wildlife. It's migration journey and what it means when we see that bird in this habitat. So it was not just appreciating, "oh, look at that cool looking bird." But it was also thinking about how did it get here. And that was my understanding too of birds. So it wasn't just that you were looking at that thing right there, right now. And when you're in a museum, they tie-in, like contemporary facts to reflect on the history. You know, like the same folks that are in the museum's that guide you along. ![]() When I started in high school, it was at the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center that I was a docent, which is a German or Greek word for teacher. But what sparked your interest in birds and the outdoors? ![]() I understand that you became interested in birding as a high schooler working in Philadelphia. Tykee James, thank you for talking with us today. He was also the co-organizer of the first Black Birders Week and continues to advocate for more accessible and equitable outdoor spaces. which involves lobbying for birds and taking congressional members on educational bird walks. James is the National Audubon Society Government Affairs Coordinator in Washington, D.C. Today we are talking with podcaster community organizer, conservationist and environmental educator Tykee James. He recently spoke with WPSU's John Weber on his work lobbying for birds on Capitol Hill, the success of Black Birders Week, and the important role birders play in intersectional change. Free public registration for the showcase is available at the Sustainability Institute's website. Tykee James is an upcoming virtual speaker for the Sustainability Showcase Series at the Sustainability Institute at Penn State on February 25, at noon.
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