The image above is two ravens having a bit of a chat. We can imagine them discussing how silly humans can be.

Episode 8 Synopsis - In this episode, Emily and Michelle go it alone because they had too much to say! Birds remind us of the morethanhuman on a daily basis and they have inspired many of the most important developments for conservation science in the United States beginning in the 19th century.

Postscript. Click here to listen to our Postscript on the sources that most inspired the stories we share in this episode.

meme via: San Jose State University Writing center

Links and Citations for Learning MORE THAN you already know!

The fins in Arches National Park that set the scene for the raven (Corvus corax) rescue of Michelle in the 1990s. Photo from NPS - public domain.

When we think historically, everything looks differently. Including our feathered friends.

The Morley Lake National Conservation Area near Boise provides a pantry-like place for birds of prey like the Prairie Falcon pictured to the right. The photo is from the Bureau of Land Management whose website is down at this writing (Jan 29, 2025). When it comes back we will update links.

The Birds of Prey partnership in Idaho is an excellent example of the power of the morethanhuman to compel humans to create connections, to innovate new policies, and to think solutions to grand problems.

Emily asks us to ask the question - do birds need us to "name" them? Interested in thinking about this more? Read this!

Birds have long been at the center human efforts at conservation. All birds, but especially songbirds called attention to their own decline. One of the earliest causes of bird disappearances was the fashion craze of the late 1800s when wealthy women adopted a new fashion craze - bird hats. Yes - hats with birds on them. Sometimes entire birds.

"The statistics were staggering. Good Housekeeping reported in its winter of 1886-1887 issue: "At Cape Cod, 40,000 terns have been killed in one season by a single agent of the hat trade." On Cobb's Island along the Virginia Coast, an "enterprising" New York businesswoman bagged 40,000 seabirds —at 40 cents apiece — to meet the demands of a single hat-maker. The magazine questioned the sense — and sensibilities — of such inhumane behavior."

~ both image to the left and quote from NPR

Some artists drew depictions of the strange contradiction of "civilized" ladies and the overhunting occurring to outfit their hats. Image from Smithsonian Magazine (via the Library of Congress).

Female scientists, in particular, often got their start by studying and interacting with birds because they could be observed in the domesticated space of the yard and the home (vs the wild). One of the earliest activists for birds was Florence Merriam Bailey (pictured below). She wrote the book Birds through the Opera Glass (which were the old name for binoculars). This was one of the first field guide for birders. Her papers are at housed at the Smithsonian Museum.

Florence Merriam Bailey and a page from her book

Florence's diary from 1874.

The theme of the episode that birds have long helped women "fly" into new positions of knowledge and power. Rachel Carson's study of the world around her resulted in one of the most important biology books of all times...Silent Spring. Her discovery of the toxicity of DDT ( for the great birds of prey of the nation (like the peregrine falcon and the bald eagle) was met with scorn among many of the scientific establishment but eventually led to its ban in the United States.

Rachel Carson also worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The same government agency so responsible for so much hunting of "nuisance" animals. They have a lovely tribute to her and her pathbreaking work here. Everything in the history of the morethanhuman is complex.

"I think we’re challenged as mankind has never been challenged before to prove our maturity and our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”

~ Rachel Carson

There are several books we relied on for this episode that our listeners might really like. When Birds Were Hats by Jenny Price, Kindred Nature by Barbara Gates, and Jennifer Ackerman's The Genius of Birds all have incredible stories about the power of birds.

Join us for the next episode where Emily and Michelle make some of the most random connections yet. Cities, Rodents, and Archives frame Episode 9.