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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
A little brown and white thrush with its feathers fluffed up perches on a fallen tree in a forest holding a red berry in its beak.
Forest Fragments Act Like ‘Convenience Stores’ for Migrating Birds, Study Finds
March 31, 2023 — Using radar data, scientists identified the most popular stopover sites for migrants across the eastern United States. But these same strongholds are often overlooked in conservation strategies
A bird head, wing, feather, and foot silhouetted against a brain scan.
Yes, Birding Does Change Your Brain
March 29, 2023 — Neuroscientists puzzling over how human memory and learning function often turn to birdwatchers to connect the dots.
A close-up portrait of a kestrel with a spot of green dye on its feathers.
What Is Causing the American Kestrel’s Perplexing Decline?
March 29, 2023 — Although still common, these much-loved falcons continue to disappear from North American skies. Scientists are racing to understand why.
A woodpecker stuck to a glue trap with several bugs. Its wings are splayed out stuck to the paper with many feathers ripped out.
Meant to Catch Spotted Lanternflies, Glue Traps Are a Horrifying Hazard for Birds
March 29, 2023 — Wildlife rehabilitators, unable to save many victims, are urging the public to choose bird-safe methods of managing the invasive insects.
People birding on the side of a road with under-constructions cones in the center.
Travel in the Time of Climate Crisis
March 29, 2023 — As climate-related disasters ramp up, how can travelers minimize the harms and maximize the benefits they bring to recovering destinations?
A small brown and gray bird perches at the entrance of its dome-like, moss-and-lichen nest, holding plant material in its beak.
Bird Nests Tell Extraordinary Stories, If You Learn How to Read Them
March 29, 2023 — Casey McFarland, author of “Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests,” describes how paying attention to nests can improve your birding.
As Storms Grow Stronger, a Historic Building Gains Height to Stay Dry
March 28, 2023 — Rather than abandon the 19th-century structure, staff at Hog Island Audubon Camp have elevated the Queen Mary by three feet.
A male Greater Sage-Grouse with a spiky, fanned tail stands in a field of sagebrush habitat with an out of focus pronghorn behind him.
The Window for Saving the Sagebrush Ecosystem is Rapidly Closing
March 28, 2023 — A health report for a vast western landscape finds alarming habitat loss but offers a strategy for saving what remains.
A dove sits in a hanging planter basket next to a house.
What Should I Do If I Find a Nest Where It Doesn’t Belong?
March 24, 2023 — Sometimes birds nest too close to home. Experts share what to do if you find birds raising young on your house or building.
Why You Should Scale Up Your Birding By Looking for Reptiles
March 23, 2023 — Lower your binoculars and expand your next trip by seeking out snakes, lizards, and amphibians. Here are some expert tips to get you started.
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
Morelet's Seedeater
Tanagers
Northern Wheatear
Old World Flycatchers
Henslow's Sparrow
New World Sparrows
Caspian Tern
Gulls and Terns