Discover 探花精选 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

探花精选 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. Our editorial team also reports and publishes stories on 探花精选.org daily, including science and conservation news, birding tips, photo galleries, and interactive reader experiences. In print and digital, through stories and visuals, 探花精选 emphasizes 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 探花精选 Society.  For our full editorial statement, masthead, pitch guidelines, and pay rates, please visit here

Read the Entire Summer 2025 Issue
A plover chick peeks out from under its parent's feathers on a rocky beach.
Read the Entire Summer 2025 Issue

Inside: Using hi-tech trackers to spy on Mallards. A decades-long campaign helps Piping Plovers reach new heights. How smart feeders connect us to local birdlife鈥攁nd each other. The Native-led raptor center protecting sacred species and traditions. In Alaska, a push for more industry threatens irreplaceable habitats. You, too, can have a hummer summer. Read these stories and more.

Highlighted Feature Stories
North Carolina's Cape Fear River Is a 鈥楩orever Chemical鈥 Hotspot鈥擶hat Does That Mean for Its Birds and People?
North Carolina's Cape Fear River Is a 鈥楩orever Chemical鈥 Hotspot鈥擶hat 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鈥檚 even harder with wild animals.

Latest News and Articles
A colorful mural of birds and flowers painted on a garden shed.
Northern Waterthrush by Vanesa 脕lvarez D铆az
July 29, 2025 — Location: Ten Eyck Garden, 15-17 Ten Eyck Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206
A garden shed painted with Blackpoll Warblers and native flowers.
Blackpoll Warbler by Yukiko Izumi
July 29, 2025 — Location: Stockholm Street Community Garden, 143 Stockholm St, Brooklyn, NY 11221
A garden shed painted with a Blue-winged Warbler on the left and two purple coneflowers on the right.
Blue-winged Warbler by Geobany Rodriguez
July 29, 2025 — Location: El Coqui Liberation Community Garden, 924 Melrose Avenue, Bronx, NY 10451
Gray Catbird by Pelumi Adegawa
July 29, 2025 — Location: Dias y Flores Community Garden, 520 East 13th Street, New York, NY 10009
A collage of two taxidermied bird specimens, a cloacascope, a book, and two documents on a black background.
鈥楩eather Detective鈥 Roxie Laybourne鈥檚 Career in Six Objects
July 22, 2025 — 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鈥檚 first forensic ornithologist.
A gull walking on pavement holding a piece of green baked good in its beak.
This Researcher Wants Your Photos of 鈥楪ulls Eating Stuff鈥
July 21, 2025 — A community science project examines how gull diets are shifting amid population declines.
A colorful, iridescent pigeon preens its mate, standing on a wood railing with a black background.
What Birding Can Teach Us About Living
July 18, 2025 — After an inspiring pigeon encounter with her son, a mother discovered a new appreciation for birds and the everyday wonders around us.
A grid of six colorful hummingbirds.
Quiz: How Well Do You Know Your Western Hummingbirds?
July 10, 2025 — Think you can tell a Calliope from a Costa's? Let's find out.
Two Bald Eagles perch on driftwood facing each other.
10 Fun Facts About the Bald Eagle
July 02, 2025 — Not every bird carries the distinction of being a Guinness World Record-Holder.
A roadrunner leaps off the edge of a rock with its long tail pointed straight up.
A Bird You Need to See: the Greater Roadrunner
July 01, 2025 — Spotting this speedy desert dweller in the wild is about as surreal as birding gets.

Find a Read

探花精选 magazine publishes a variety of story types in print and online. Peruse鈥攁nd enjoy鈥攋ust a sampling of our work below. 

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 Remarkable Life of Roxie Laybourne
The Remarkable Life of Roxie Laybourne

From deep within the Smithsonian, the world鈥檚 first forensic ornithologist cracked cases, busted criminals, and changed the course of aviation鈥攎aking the skies safer for us all.

Essays
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鈥攐ne that has felt poignant this past year. 聽

Remembering Toni Morrison, the Bird Whisperer
Remembering Toni Morrison, the Bird Whisperer

A year after Morrison鈥檚 passing, a journalist and birder reflects on how her time with the cherished author changed her relationship with birds鈥攁nd with herself.

The 探花精选 Guide to Climate Action
The 探花精选 Guide to Climate Action

Feeling like you can鈥檛 make a difference? That couldn鈥檛 be further from the truth. Our award-winning guide shows you where to begin and how to 颅amplify your efforts to make lasting change in the world.

Dispatches

The 2024 探花精选 Photo Awards: Top 100

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

Hooded Merganser. Photo: Edwin Liu/探花精选 Photography Awards
Photo Essays
Birding Advice and News
Bird Books and Culture
A New Book Explores Our Disdain for Pests
A New Book Explores Our Disdain for Pests

Journalist Bethany Brookshire argues that the idea of a 鈥減est鈥 is more about humans鈥 view of unwanted animals than the critters themselves.

The 探花精选 Bird Guide
Ridgway's Rail
Rails, Gallinules, Coots
! Priority Bird
Mottled Duck
Ducks and Geese
Little Egret
Herons, Egrets, Bitterns
Common Crane
Cranes