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Ryan Shostack

Syracuse-area birder and Rosamond Gifford Zoo bird keeper who advocates for inclusive, autism-friendly birding and leads "Birding for All" programs.

Oct 21, 2026

35:04
Okay.
35:04
Um, could be chances for neurodivergent birders to speak or lead even.
35:11
Um, something I've run into a lot of, unfortunately, is elitism.
35:16
S- some of these birders who just think that they're, you know, they're, they're it.
35:22
They're, you know, gatekeeping of different species or just, they're, they're very, like, oh, persnickety who they talk to and whatnot.
35:32
They, um, feel it's like their mission is just to have a big, it's all about the life list, having a huge...
35:45
Which is all fine and dandy, but s- moving on from one bird to the next and it's, like, pushing other people out of the way.

7 MINS LATER

43:21
And what would you say, again, it varies so much by individual, but in general, people that are planning a group outing or whatever, what's, what thing do you think is most important currently to really keep in mind to make sure we're planning and having these activities and thinking about the neurodivergent birders that may be in the group?
RJHOST
6:37
So Ryan, where, where did you grow up birding then?
6:39
So I live in Syracuse, New York.
6:41
So around here we have places like Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, um, well-known.
6:47
Um, the Lake Ontario shoreline brings in a lot of, um, migrants.
6:51
We have Derby Hill.
6:54
It's a big hawk watch.
6:56
And about two hours away from here is the Adirondack Park, which you can actually see boreal species.
9:35
Oh, wow.

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