Melissa McLeod started her popular Instagram page
@Feral_Detroit documenting the birds and wildlife of Detroit as a reaction to the elitism she experienced in the birding community.
Growing up in the city, McLeod thought you had to travel elsewhere to experience nature. And when she began attending birding groups outside of Detroit, McLeod realized she was one of the only ones not taking expensive trips abroad, one of the only ones who didn’t have the latest state-of-the-art equipment or the “proper” schooling.
So she took it upon herself, turning her attention to the city where she grew up. McLeod learned about birding and photography on her own, eventually taking to Instagram to share what she’s learned, making birding and wildlife photography more accessible in the process. McLeod has since shifted her focus to the vanishing wildlife habitats of Detroit, casualties of gentrifying neighborhoods, and development.
We ask her all about it.
Model D: What is Feral Detroit to you?
Melissa McLeod: I see the Instagram page as — it just keeps me accountable for documenting the changes I see. Nothing really exists in a vacuum, right? With nature, it's not just existing out there; it depends on a lot of things. I talk about the neighborhood where I'm from, or the changes I see. Like the post about unintentional habitat versus real habitat, you know? So I kind of see it as a project of actually documenting changes happening now and not just, like, Oh my god, I saw this bird.
Model D: In your experience so far, what sort of changes are you seeing?
McLeod: Well, for example, I was just talking to someone — there's a couple of people making a documentary and they wanted to talk to me about my experiences. I grew up in North Corktown for a little while when I was young, when I was a kid. You know, it’s very different there now than it was in the 90s. It's on a path to be even more different with tons of development coming in. So it’s seeing it as something that’s cyclical: what we had to lose for that area to become a pheasant habitat and now that pheasant habitat is going to be lost to become whatever it's going to become.
Model D: Tell us about this idea of elitism in birding and how you overcame that.
McLeod: I feel like it's definitely changed a lot in the past year, at least in terms of visibility with Black Birders Week and Feminist Bird Club and groups like that. But when I first got started, like five years ago, it was pretty much old white dudes. And they weren't very welcoming. Some were — I don't want to say all of them — but like, I went to a bird walk in Oakland County, everyone kind of knew each other and it felt like a networking event. People were talking about their trips to Africa, and all of this stuff that I just can’t relate to at all. I had a $50 pair of binoculars and people had $1,000 scopes and stuff like that.
I just felt like these are not my people, you know? So I kind of went it alone. I started doing meetups and I try to make it more welcoming to beginners. I try to present it in a digestible amount that people can understand, to make it more welcoming for people.
Model D: When do you host your meetups?
McLeod: I do them kind of sporadically. I don't have a schedule or anything, a lot of it depends on my mood. I’m a true introvert. But I’ll say, Okay, I want to do a meetup, and I'll make a post on Instagram. I'll say, The first 10 to 15 people that hit me up, we're gonna meet Sunday morning at nine, I want to take a quick walk together.
I don't want to be the guide, I just want to say, Here's this bird, and then say something that interests them. We can look at that plant and we can try to figure out what it is. Or maybe they have a specific knowledge on something that they want to share. We just do that for two hours.
Model D: So where are some of the places that you might take people?
McLeod: So far, I've pretty much kept it to Belle Isle just because that's kind of my comfort zone. But recently, someone else hosted a meetup and I went. We went to Palmer Park, and that was really cool. That was my first time there and I've gone back twice since. So that was really good, just to get out of my comfort zone and see what else there is and other parts of the city that I'm not as familiar with.
Model D: If someone is interested in trying birding out, how or where can they do it?
McLeod: You can really do it just about anywhere. Like, my work schedule was kind of crazy the last couple of weeks. So I wake up in the morning and walk out my front door and take a walk around the Cass Corridor. I was seeing birds pretty much everywhere. I mean, a lot of that will depend on the time of year. But literally anywhere, like any parks near you or your backyard if you have one. Otherwise, there are some pretty big parks in the city, like Eliza Howell, Rouge Park, Palmer Park, Belle Isle.
Model D: What are some resources that you recommend?
McLeod: I do have a bunch of Instagram Story highlights where I recommend a bunch of books. And I have a website where I have a little tab that has free resources. I made a list of birds you might see in the city. And I made a little zine you can download with beginning birding tips. And then I lead them to a guy who lives in Brightmoor named Leonard Weber — he's the greatest naturalist I've ever met and he has a blog. So I lead people to
his blog and then I give some further reading ideas.
Find Model D on Instagram for more of the Feral Detroit takeover as part of our Explorer Series, and find Melissa McLeod online at @Feral_Detroit and her website for more about city wildlife, her recommended lists of resources, guided meetups, and more.
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/modeldmedia/
https://www.instagram.com/feral_detroit/
https://feraldetroit.com
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.