Audubon MagazineSummer 2023

Letter From the Editor

Let’s Be Real

Not only do the best visuals look impressive; they also reflect what’s true.
Audubon View

Our Next Five Years of Climate Action

Audubon is ready for swift and bold action on renewables and natural carbon storage at this critical time for the planet.
The Aviary

A Sculpture That Captures the Dry Reality for Black-necked Stilts

By Jessica McKenzie
July 11, 2023 — Artist Sarah Conti situates life-size versions of the shorebirds in a disappearing habitat.
A crowd watches a baseball game while a flock of birds circles overhead.
From Audubon Magazine

Why Baseball and Birding Go Together Like Peanuts and Cracker Jacks

By Joe Trezza
July 10, 2023 — America’s pastime presents plenty of opportunities to spot birds, according to sports writer Joe Trezza.
A bird feeder with a camera and microphone hangs outside.
Tech

These Smart Devices Can Identify the Birds Outside Your Window

By Jessica Leber
July 10, 2023 — The Bird Buddy and the Haikubox offer new ways to get excited about birding from home.
A person in hiking boots steps onto a bus in a city. The side of the bus says "Trailhead Direct" and shows a photo of people hiking in a forest.
Field Notes

Why Cities Need Better Public Transit to Public Lands

By Kharishar Kahfi
July 10, 2023 — More transportation agencies and nature advocates want to help people explore the outdoors without a car. But they face challenges.
A woman wades into a rocky river in a vast old growth forest.
News

Fieldwork for All

By Jenny McKee
July 10, 2023 — Eager young scientists dream of careers outdoors, studying and protecting wildlife and ecosystems. To succeed, they need something that’s proven elusive: a feeling of safety.
Sunlight peeks through dark storm clouds over a landscape of dense forest.
News

The Cerrado, the World’s Most Biodiverse Tropical Savannah, Is in Peril

By Sarah Sax
July 10, 2023 — A young bird expert is among the scientists racing to document Brazil's ancient and understudied biome—while simultaneously raising the alarm about what’s being lost.
People wearing life vests look through binoculars while sitting in canoes on a river.
From Audubon Magazine

The Single Most Important Way to Make Your Binoculars Last

By Hannah Waters
June 30, 2023 — Experts share how to keep your foremost birding tool in working order and what to do if yours breaks.
News

Black Vultures’ Northward Expansion Creates New Conflicts with Farmers

By Andy McGlashen
June 30, 2023 — The newcomers occasionally prey on calves, leading livestock producers to take up arms. But are reports of the problem exaggerated?
A woman looks something up on her phone in a forest, while high school students to the right hold up a plant and look through binoculars.
Field Notes

Don’t Have Binoculars To Go Birding? Try Borrowing a Pair From the Library

By Jason Gregg
June 30, 2023 — Libraries across the country are lending gear to patrons, creating a new entry point to birding with no costs attached.
Illustration of a person looking through binoculars in a forest surrounded by internet browser windows open to unpaid job offers.
From Audubon Magazine

Unpaid Labor Is a Problem for Conservation

By Jenny McKee
June 30, 2023 — Failing to offer adequate pay to student and early-career biologists excludes many from the field, reducing diversity and creativity in science.
An Atlantic Puffin stands on a rock with its wings outstretched, puffing out its chest and holding two fish in its large orange beak. Next to it is a worn looking painted wooden decoy puffin affixed to the rock.
News

50 Years of Project Puffin: An Oral History of An Audacious Idea

By Rene Ebersole
June 29, 2023 — In 1973 a young biologist hatched a plan to bring a charismatic seabird back to Maine. It was the start of a five-decade scientific adventure that would ultimately revolutionize seabird restoration.
From Audubon Magazine

How to Have a Bird-Friendly Fourth of July

By Zoe Grueskin
June 28, 2023 — Fireworks can disturb birds and pets, spark wildfires, and pollute. Consider forgoing your own pyrotechnics, or joining a cleanup the morning after.
A cormorant bird swims underwater, rays of sunlight shining through dense kelp plants.
From the Magazine

A Photographer Documents Kelp Forests’ Decline and Efforts to Bring Them Back

By Zoe Grueskin
June 24, 2023 — In our attempts to restore kelp forests, hungry sea urchins should not be villainized, says Kate Vylet. “Everything’s just trying to survive.”
A bright yellow female Baltimore Oriole with a clump of thin light strands held in her bill perches at the end of a branch and faces to the right in the frame. The strands billow around her, slightly out of focus, in front of a blurred green background.
Audubon Photography Awards

The 2023 Audubon Photography Awards: Winners and Honorable Mentions

By The Editors
June 21, 2023 — We pored through thousands of entries for this year’s contest. The best images show birds going about their business in the most glorious ways.
Audubon Photography Awards

What Does Generative AI Mean for Bird and Nature Photography?

By Allen Murabayashi
June 21, 2023 — Soon we may not be able to easily tell if a bird photo is real or fake. And that poses fundamental questions that the wildlife photography field must grapple with.
News

With a Historic Dam Removal Imminent, Tribes Prepare for a Klamath River Rebirth

By Elyse DeFranco
May 24, 2023 — The project, set to begin this summer, promises to boost dwindling salmon populations, bolster tribal traditions, and restore a rich ecosystem.

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