Who the heck is Birdchick?
My last book North American Birdwatching for Beginners where I just included a one liner to just finish a deadline figuring the editor would make me correct it later…and they did not.
Hi! You’re probably here because you heard me on Outdoor News Radio, saw me on Almanac, or matched with a woman on a dating app who said she’s really into birds so you decided to do some googling. This space started as a blog many years ago and as much as I enjoy writing…who still reads a blog? Most of my writing is now used in my storytelling shows, books, and articles.
Since 1997, I have successfully made it my goal to get paid to go birding. I have traveled the world as a field trip leader, birding consultant, humorous keynote speaker, field technician, bird bander, park ranger, writer, podcaster, and video producer. I wrote the books Disapproving Rabbits, City Birds/Country Birds, and 1001 Secrets Every Birder Should Know, and North American Birdwatching for Beginners. I'm #32 in the Geek A Week Trading Card set and appear regularly on tv and radio including Outdoor News Radio, Almanac, Kare 11 Saturday Mornings, and have been on NBC Nightly News answering bird questions. I went a little mad during the pandemic and moved to Alaska for a few years but I’m currently back in Minnesota.
If you would like to book me as a speaker for your festival or event, you can contact me at sharon@birdchick.com.
How this got started:
I was getting a tattoo in 2004 and the guys at the parlor recognized me from my KARE 11 appearances as the "Bird Lady" and said, “You’re that chick that tells me to safflower to get rid of grackles and shit.” I had been looking for a new name since there are already several “bird ladies” out there. I was never comfortable with the term “bird lady” because I’m no lady. Also, people rarely pronounce or spell Stiteler correctly–FYI it rhymes with “tight-ler” not “Hitler”. So, Birdchick was born.
We had a side page called Disapproving Rabbits (which is now retired) where we posted photos of our rabbits and what they didn't like. Soon, people started sending us photos of their rabbits and we added those. Then we won the Internet lottery when Harper Collins emailed and asked if I wanted to turn it into a book...and thus began my career as an author.