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Discover Audubon Magazine

Audubon magazine delivers essential news, advice, and reporting on birds and bird conservation, pairing compelling journalism with stunning photography and design. Each quarterly issue helps readers grow their appreciation of birds and learn how to help them thrive. Audubon also emphasizes, through stories and visuals, the importance of a diverse and inclusive science and conservation effort to help meet the challenges facing both birds and people today. To receive our award-winning print publication, become a member of the National Audubon Society. Our editorial team also reports and publishes stories on Audubon.org daily, including science and conservation news, birding tips, photo galleries, and interactive reader experiences. 

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Highlighted Features

Small cards, each with a different bird illustration, spread out on the rocky ground and lit by a flashlight at night.
From Audubon Magazine

Seeking Auwo: Inside the Search to Find a Secretive Tropical Bird Lost to Science

Last fall, an international team arrived on a small Papua New Guinea island to look for the elusive Black-naped Pheasant Pigeon. To track it down, they needed help from the experts: the island’s Indigenous hunters.
People birding on the side of a road with under-constructions cones in the center.
News

Travel in the Time of Climate Crisis

As climate-related disasters ramp up, how can travelers minimize the harms and maximize the benefits they bring to recovering destinations?
Maria and Robert speak with a customer over the phone in their brightly green-colored bird seed store.

The Birdseed Business Boomed During the Pandemic. Can That Energy Carry the Industry Into a New Era?

The past three years saw interest in feeding birds explode, with a surge of people joining the ranks and products—including eco-friendly and organic options—flying off the shelves.
Climate

At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change

After decades of minimal action, Congress passed the largest and most comprehensive piece of climate legislation in U.S. history. Will we make the most of this opportunity?
From Audubon Magazine

How Tribes Are Reclaiming and Protecting Their Ancestral Lands From Coast to Coast

Three recent examples address historic wrongs and showcase a conservation vision guided by Indigenous values.
The cupped edges and discoloration of leaves on an oak tree at an Arkansas farm are consistent with dicamba exposure.
News

The Weedkiller Dicamba Is Poisoning Wildlife Habitat. Will the EPA Finally Act?

Blamed for destroying crops and fraying community ties, the widely used herbicide also poses a threat to the plants birds need, experts say.

Recent Stories

Field Notes

A Proposed Reset for Public Lands Could Be a Big Boost to Conservation

By Andy McGlashen
October 02, 2023 — The agency responsible for one-tenth of the country’s terrain aims to make healthy habitat a more prominent priority.
Fire takes over a grassy forest floor, leaving black ash and smoke in the already burned area.
News

Meet the Fire Starters Restoring One of North America’s Greatest Forests

By Gabriel Popkin
October 02, 2023 — In the Southeast, the fates of longleaf pines and Red-cockaded Woodpeckers are inextricably tied. To save both, we must remember how to embrace fire.
News

How the War in Ukraine Takes a Devastating Toll on Nature

By Kristi Marciano
October 02, 2023 — As the collateral damage to the nation’s environment and wildlife mounts, conservationists, scientists, and birders do what they can to continue their work and help each other.

Investigations

News

The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem

How online sales of highly regulated, super-toxic rodenticides exploit gaps in the law and imperil wildlife.
From Audubon Magazine

A New Plastic Wave Is Coming to Our Shores

A glut of natural gas has led to a U.S. production surge in tiny plastic pellets, called nurdles, that are washing up on coasts by the millions.
News

This Brutal Pesticide Creates a 'Circle of Death.' So Why Is It Making a Comeback?

Carbofuran, a century-old chemical, is increasingly being weaponized against birds and other wildlife, decimating entire food webs.

Profiles

A man with glasses, wearing a blue t-shirt, stands in  a forest.
From Audubon Magazine

Best-Selling Author Jeff VanderMeer Finds That Nature Is Stranger Than Fiction

The novelist attained fame with gripping works of eco-fiction. How hard could it be to rewild his own backyard?
News

Seventy Never Looked So Good: The Long, Wondrous Life of Wisdom the Albatross

The Laysan Albatross is the oldest known wild bird on the planet, an international icon, and still hatching eggs. This year she had her 39th chick.
News

How an Acclaimed Composer Found His Musical Voice Through Birdsong

Decades after a songbird's whirling melody set him on a new artistic path, John Luther Adams is more determined than ever to help us hear the planet's power and wild beauty—and fight to protect it.
Audubon Magazine

Explore Our Archives

Find new and old issues of Audubon magazine from the past decade.

Essays

Snow Geese lift off at sunrise in the vicinity of the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, a stop on their spring migration.
From Audubon Magazine

How Migrating Snow Geese Helped Stretch My Perspective

The seasonal movements of birds have captivated humans for millennia. Now we know enough about their flights to make surprising connections.
Bird-Friendly Communities

When a Battle Against an Invasive Weed Feels Like a Battle for Your Spirit

I was feeling discouraged in life, when I began volunteering at a local park. That’s when the project’s leader, Eleanor Osgood, changed my outlook.
COVID-19

What a Songbird Lost at Sea Taught Me About Survival

Aboard a mission to explore the alien life of the deep ocean, a chance encounter with a migratory bird offered a point of connection—one that has felt poignant this past year.  
COVID-19

In Quarantine, I Finally Understood the Magic of Birds

It took a pandemic for me to see what my mother had been trying to show me my whole life.
Culture

Remembering Toni Morrison, the Bird Whisperer

A year after Morrison’s passing, a journalist and birder reflects on how her time with the cherished author changed her relationship with birds—and with herself.
COVID-19

Sheltering in Place in Manhattan—With 18 American Chestnut Saplings

Disease and logging nearly wiped out the towering trees in the early 20th century. Now the pandemic endangers a one-man operation trying to help the species endure.

The 2022 Audubon Photography Awards: Top 100

Take a scroll through these spectacular, artistic, and playful avian images, while reading the story behind each.

Dispatches

From Audubon Magazine

It Takes a Helicopter Parent to Rescue a Rare Seabird from Extinction

Raising the world’s entire population of Bermuda Petrels, or Cahows, requires undivided attention—and a relentless drive to see them succeed.
From Audubon Magazine

The Grand Dream of an International Park With Mexico Meets a Complicated Reality

Much has changed since F.D.R. called for a great transboundary conservation area spanning the Rio Grande, but the vision lives on. Is it an idea whose time has come—or come and gone?
News

Scientists Race to Uncover the Secrets of Madagascar’s Treasure-Filled Forests

The rediscovery of a long-lost duck spurred the creation of two protected areas in the country. Now researchers are scouring these spots for other endemic species before it's too late.
Dispatch

Can the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Be Found in Cuba?

A birder, ornithologist, writer, and photographer set off on an extreme adventure through the muck and memories of eastern Cuba.
Dispatch

Land of the Lost Birds: Searching for Life in the Forests of Bioko

A crew of American scientists is venturing into remote Equatorial Guinea, even as rampant development threatens its bird-filled wilderness.
News

Can These Seabirds Adapt Fast Enough to Survive a Melting Arctic?

On a remote Alaskan sandbar, under the watchful eye of a devoted scientist for more than four decades, climate change is forcing a colony of seabirds into a real-time race: evolve or go extinct.
Climate

The Audubon Guide to Climate Action

Feeling like you can’t make a difference? That couldn’t be further from the truth. Our award-winning guide shows you where to begin and how to ­amplify your efforts to make lasting change in the world.
News

This Wave Theory of Spring Migration Will Prepare You for Your Next Birding Outing

Songbirds don’t leave their wintering grounds all together. Here’s when to expect different species as they cross the eastern United States.
News

Appreciate These Magnificent Avian Nests—and the Next One You Find in the Field

Birds build an amazing variety of nest types, and each construction is a work of art.
Birding

The Big Tern Cheat Sheet: How to ID Four Common Species

In summer, North America’s four largest terns are near look-alikes. With a keen eye for detail you can tell them apart.
Binocular Guide

The Audubon Guide to Buying Binoculars

Seeking your first set of bins, or just looking for an upgrade? Our guide features excellent options for every budget.

Photo Essays

As the sunrise creates a gradient of oranges, blues, an purples four male Sharp-tailed Grouse spread their wings, low to the ground, as they try to impress a mate.
Photography

Fall In Love With the Ancient Dance of the Sharp-tailed Grouse

Beguiled by the birds’ courtship ritual, wildlife photographer Noppadol Paothong makes a difficult journey to document their glory so that others can appreciate it.
Two blue Pinyon Jays sitting in a pine tree, one opening a pinecone with its beak.
News

The Intimate Relationship Between Pinyon Jays and Piñon Pines Is Unraveling

Drought, beetle infestations, and warming temperatures have pushed both species into a snowballing decline. Scientists are working to revive them.
A bird's eye view of a winter scene of a forest with some green pine trees and bare aspen, paper birch, and red maple trees.
From Audubon Magazine

Portrait of a Forest on the Climate Edge

In Minnesota, a boreal forest ecosystem could shift north over the Canada border this century. Local photographers, scientists, and land managers are grappling with what that means—and how to respond.
Photography

Windows Into Another World: Take a Tour of Bird Blinds Across the Country

What compels birders to hunker down in dark, often cramped structures? An intimate view of avian lives. But as with birds, every blind has its own character—and story.

The Future of North American Birds

Audubon’s new climate report warns of massive avian losses if we don’t change course and stabilize global carbon emissions. 

Blackburnian Warbler. Shirley Donald/Audubon Photography Awards

Birding Culture

Why You Should Scale Up Your Birding By Looking for Reptiles

Lower your binoculars and expand your next trip by seeking out snakes, lizards, and amphibians. Here are some expert tips to get you started.
News

Some of Music’s Biggest Names Create a Trove of New Tunes to Help Birds

The man behind your favorite film soundtracks wants to build a joyful movement around bird conservation. On ‘For the Birds: The Birdsong Project,’ he’s enlisted musical legends and silver-screen icons to help.
Culture

A Ludicrously Deep Dive Into the Birds of Spelling Bee, Wordle, Scrabble, and More

It’s only a game. It’s only a game.

Books

A flock of Sandhill Cranes fly in a line against a blue sky, the moon in the background.
Books

‘Flight Paths’ Unfurls the Wondrous History of Migration Science

A new book details how amateur birders and bird-loving scientists pieced together the true story of avian migration.
Books

A New Book Explores Our Disdain for Pests

Journalist Bethany Brookshire argues that the idea of a “pest” is more about humans’ view of unwanted animals than the critters themselves.
Books

Master Falconer Rodney Stotts Extols the 'Healing Power of Wildlife'

Stotts' new memoir details his unlikely journey to the ancient art. Now, his dream is to inspire more people like him to discover a love for raptors.
Books

Ziggy Marley Is Here to Teach Kids About ‘Vulture Culture’

A new children’s book by the musician and his wife, Orly, aims to educate youth on the threats the birds face and the vital ecological role they play.
Books

This New Field Guide Aims to Change Your Mind About Pigeons

Cartoonist and author Rosemary Mosco shines a witty and compassionate spotlight on what she calls "the world's most misunderstood bird."
Books

5 New Climate Books to Empower Teens and Help Turn Anxiety into Action

Climate change is happening—and it's scary. But these nonfiction reads prove people all over can come together for a brighter future.
The Aviary

Where Birds Inspire Art, Awe, and Action

In this series we ask artists to explore the intersection of birds and art as a catalyst for shifting perspectives and perceptions.

The Audubon Bird Guide