My guest is Kendall Kroesen, the Community Outreach Coordinator for Mission Garden, who you might remember from Episode 39. With a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology he participated in a number of archaeological and conservation projects. In the early 2000s, he left social science and joined the Tucson Audubon society, where he created the Urban Bird Habitat Program and was involved with rural habitat restoration. He’s joining us today to kick-off a little summer series focused on backyard birds and native plants that might attract them.  For more about what's going on at Mission Garden, please check out:https://www.missiongarden.org/eventsFor some pictures of some of the birds and plants we discussed during this episode, please checkout the podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast Chapters00:00 - Intro00:34 - Mission Garden Summer Visitors01:57 - Bird of the Episode: Abert’s Towhee12:30 - Native Plant Segment: Mid-story Shrubs26:28 - Gardening Tip: Leaf Litter28:23 - Native Plant Habitat Considerations and Structural Diversity31:23 - Upcoming Mission Garden Events34:47 - OutroThank you for listening!