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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
Snoqualmie tribal member Bethany Fackrell harvests cedar in a lush green forest.
How Tribes Are Reclaiming and Protecting Their Ancestral Lands From Coast to Coast
December 14, 2022 — Three recent examples address historic wrongs and showcase a conservation vision guided by Indigenous values.
Mounds of stored rock salt minimize a large piece of machinery.
As Salt Coats Snowy Roadways In Winter, Freshwater Ecosystems Pay a Heavy Price
December 13, 2022 — Keeping paved surfaces clear of snow and ice comes at an accumulating cost to lakes, streams, and drinking water supplies.
A hummingbird with a green body and bright iridescent magenta feathers on its head and throat perches on a branch.
The Vibrant Colors of Hummingbirds Are More Impressive Than We’d Realized
December 13, 2022 — Scientists catalogued the hues of 114 avian species. Humans can’t see every shade, but birds can.
A painting of a flock of robins in flight.
An Abundance of American Robins
December 13, 2022 — Mayuko Fujino’s flock in flight celebrates a common species threatened by climate change.
Four columns made of various colors that represent the plumages of four bird species.
This Artist’s Paint-Swatch Portraits Reveal the Beauty of Bird Plumage
December 13, 2022 — With time on his hands, Christopher Reiger found a colorful way to depict a rich variety of birds.
Standing in a meadow of yellow goldenrod, Lang Elliott listens for bird calls with a headset on.
A New App Brings Birdsong Back to People With High-Frequency Hearing Loss
December 13, 2022 — Hear Birds Again, an iPhone app, is only the latest in Lang Elliott’s long line of inventions to solve a challenge that affects more birders as they age.
A mural of many portraits of birds painted on the wall of a dark garage.
How San Diego City College Audubon Club Found Community Through a Mural
December 09, 2022 — Inspired by the Audubon Mural Project, this summer students in an Audubon campus chapter came together to paint dozens of climate-threatened birds—each in their very own frame.
What's At Stake as Nations Gather To Stave off the Global Biodiversity Crisis
December 07, 2022 — The decade's most important negotiations to protect nature and wildlife kick off this week in Canada. Ambitious goals are on the table, but success is not guaranteed.
The Flight of the Spoonbills Holds Lessons for a Changing Everglades—and World
December 06, 2022 — As sea-level rise transforms South Florida’s fringe of wetlands into open ocean, Roseate Spoonbills are moving north. Land managers are following their lead, restoring the ecosystem with an eye for resilience, too.
A man walks down a grassy trail in a field, towards a forested area. There is a railing made of rope to one side. We see the man from behind, and he has his hands on a rope.
Birding As a Blind Person Is Now Easier in Colombia, Thanks to a Tourism Project
November 30, 2022 — The unique effort, consisting of six trails and trained guides, is a showcase for ideas that make birds and nature more accessible.
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
Rose-throated Becard
Becards, Tityras and allies
Mountain Plover
Plovers
California Towhee
New World Sparrows
Wild Turkey
Pheasants and Grouse