In 1999, Ruth Beasley abandoned city life and returned to live in the Texas Panhandle, 15 cattle-guards from town. Surrounded by wildlife and her grandmother’s bird books, she began watching, reading, writing, and Learning the Birds. Appearing first as a newspaper column, her weekly radio feature describes her abiding interest in the vast and surprising world of birds.

Ruth doesn’t claim to be an expert. She isn’t even much of a birder, though she likes to try… Like so many others she has found herself captivated by the subject of birds.

Each week she picks a bird or Bird World topic, does her homework, and shares the result. Personal experience and the works of Bent, Burroughs, and Ridgeway enliven the science of Sibley, Peterson, and Dunn. Increasingly, it is the sound of birds that captures her imagination. Listening to birds is a powerful learning tool. In her radio productions, Ruth utilizes sound to enhance the enjoyment of birds. Her carefully-crafted backgrounds of natural sound have become a signature ingredient of Learning the Birds.

Learning the Birds is a feature of regional programming on High Plains Public Radio. Archives and podcasts of recent Learning the Birds shows are available on the HPPR website. The 4½-minute feature airs every Tuesday morning at 10:30 CST, and Saturday mornings at 11:30, or so, during Western Swing & Other Things.

Learning the Birds began as a newspaper column in The Canadian Record, an award-winning newspaper in Canadian, Texas. The Record appears on newsstands in Canadian every Thursday, and is available online at http://www.canadianrecord.com.

Click on the Nighthawk feather to contact Ruth.