Discover Audubon Magazine

Where the latest news about birds and conservation takes flight.
On Florida's Marco Island, families of Burrowing Owls live among the locals. Photo: Karine Aigner
Winter 2025 Issue
A puffin scampers across the top of the water as it takes off with a fish in its beak.
Tufted Puffins Are Vanishing Across the Pacific Northwest—Can an Ambitious New Effort Save Them?
December 18, 2025 — Armed with enthusiasm, researchers and volunteers have joined forces to safeguard the flamboyant seabirds as climate change warms their ocean homes.
Two owl chicks sit in a nest as their much larger mother, with a rodent in her beak, comes in for a landing atop a broken tree snag.
Dead Trees Support a Bounty of Birdlife, but Preserving Them Isn’t Always Clear Cut
December 18, 2025 — By studying Great Gray Owls, scientists hope to help more people see that snags offer vital habitat.
Get to Know the Ancient Birds That Lived During the Age of Dinosaurs
December 18, 2025 — Tens of millions of years ago, a diverse array of bird species soared, swam, and thrived amid their scaly reptile cousins—and set the stage for modern birdlife.
Editors' Picks
Magazine
Essential reporting on birds and bird conservation delivered to your door.
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. 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. In print and digital, through stories and visuals, Audubon emphasizes the importance of a diverse and inclusive science and conservation effort to help meet the challenges facing both birds and people today.
Latest Stories
Close up of a condor chick with wrinkly, bald, pink head and neck and a fluffy, gray, downy body, sitting in a wooden enclosure with a feather on the floor in the foreground.
Mixed Emotions
October 03, 2023 — Giving birds the best chance requires dedication—and a dose of resilience.
A cracked white egg with a chick's beak breaking through the shell sits on a towel in a clear box against a dramatically lit black background.
As Avian Flu Ravaged Wild Condors, One Chick Became a Ray of Hope
October 03, 2023 — Helpless to stop the virus, biologists did everything in their power to protect the endangered species amid the deadly crisis—including trials of an avian flu vaccine never before used on U.S. birds.
Illustration of a crowd of people in a park looking at and photographing an owl in a tree with the Manhattan skyline in the distance.
Social Dilemma: What’s at Stake When We Propel Wild Birds to Stardom?
October 03, 2023 — Manhattan Bird Alert, a New York-based social media account, has fueled the rise of celebrity birds while attracting droves of new birders. But like many a story of unchecked fame, the phenomenon is also a cautionary tale.
Illustration of an egret holding a postcard in its beak.
Send a Child’s Imagination Soaring With This Migration-Themed Activity
October 02, 2023 — Use the Bird Migration Explorer to learn about the journeys of different species—then write a postcard from a place one has visited.
Lush greenery along two rivers in a desert landscape.
A Proposed Reset for Public Lands Could Be a Big Boost to Conservation
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.
Meet the Fire Starters Restoring One of North America’s Greatest Forests
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.
A huge cactus towers above other cacti and plants in a landscape.
A Bold Bet to Ensure the Future of Desert Birds: Plant Thousands of Cacti
October 02, 2023 — Can saguaro cacti that take root today survive the next century of extreme wildfire and drought? Tucson Audubon aims to find out.
White storks sit on a large stick nest they've made on a utility pole next to an old-looking brick house.
How the War in Ukraine Takes a Devastating Toll on Nature
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.
These Are the Seabirds Most Vulnerable to Plastic Pollution
October 02, 2023 — As more marine plastic accumulates, the biology of some ocean-going birds puts them at particular risk. Scientists can now pinpoint which species may face the highest exposure.
A crane lowers its neck to forage in shallow water, with the rest of the flock in the background. The sunrise casts an orange glow on the foggy pond.
Don’t Sleep on the Other Sandhill Season
October 02, 2023 — Autumn offers a cornucopia of crane-viewing options.
Bird and Conservation News
More News
Silhouette of someone installing a pole in the ground next to a body of water and wind turbines. A second photo of someone holding a bird affixed with a gps tag.
Scientists Can Now Track the Roseate Tern's Migration—and Identify Dangers Along the Way
December 18, 2025 — The findings could help ensure the imperiled seabirds safer passage from the northeastern United States to roost sites in Brazil, where offshore wind development is ramping up.
A Burrowing Owl stands on a concrete block outside a solar panel complex.
How Burrowing Owls Found a Home on an Arizona Solar Farm
December 18, 2025 — As development pushes these charismatic owls from their underground nesting sites, a solar project aims to show that habitat and renewable energy can coexist.
Collage of birds flying around binoculars pointed at a city and logging.
To Reverse Common Bird Declines, Conservationists Will Need to Think Bigger
December 17, 2025 — The most abundant birds are disappearing the fastest. Saving them requires bold, landscape-scale action.

Find a Read

Audubon magazine publishes a variety of story types in print and online. Peruse—and enjoy—just a sampling of our work below. 

Highlighted Feature Stories
North Carolina's Cape Fear River Is a ‘Forever Chemical’ Hotspot—What Does That Mean for Its Birds and People?
North Carolina's Cape Fear River Is a ‘Forever Chemical’ Hotspot—What Does That Mean for Its Birds and People?

Amid mounting global health concerns about PFAS, communities living along the waterway must grapple with how contamination is affecting life on the river. Yet as hard as it is to conduct health studies on humans, it’s even harder with wild animals.

Investigations
A New Plastic Wave Is Coming to Our Shores
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.

Profiles
The Long, Exceptional Life of Frank Graham
A man sitting at a desk with a microscope looks up and smiles.
The Long, Exceptional Life of Frank Graham

As Audubon magazine’s Field Editor for 45 years, Frank Graham, Jr. brought the beauty and resilience of nature into focus—as well as the tenacity of those striving to save it.

The Remarkable Life of Roxie Laybourne
The Remarkable Life of Roxie Laybourne

From deep within the Smithsonian, the world’s first forensic ornithologist cracked cases, busted criminals, and changed the course of aviation—making the skies safer for us all.

Essays
The Day We Didn’t Save the Starling
An illustration of a woman and young girl crouching down looking at something in a driveway next to a house.
The Day We Didn’t Save the Starling

In our rescue attempt, I thought I was giving my young daughters a lesson in compassion. It ended up being the reminder that I needed.

What a Songbird Lost at Sea Taught Me About Survival
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.  

Remembering Toni Morrison, the Bird Whisperer
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.

The Audubon Guide to Climate Action
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.

Dispatches
An Anna's Hummingbird perches on a twig in the center of the frame against a blurred background of blue, yellow, and green.

The 2025 Audubon Photo Awards: Top 100

Revel in the staggering beauty and surprising behaviors featured in this gallery of our favorite images.

More Photo Essays
Portrait of a Forest on the Climate Edge
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.
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.

Birding Advice and News
Arts and Culture
‘Feather Detective’ Roxie Laybourne’s Career in Six Objects
A metal instrument called a cloacascope on a black background.
‘Feather Detective’ Roxie Laybourne’s Career in Six Objects

From a gynandromorphic grosbeak to feathers collected at a murder investigation in Florida, biographer Chris Sweeney shares six unusual artifacts he found while researching his new book about the world’s first forensic ornithologist.

The Audubon Bird Guide
California Condor
New World Vultures
Dark-eyed Junco
New World Sparrows
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Tyrant Flycatchers
Arctic Loon
Loons