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 variety of birding gear laid out on a beige background.
The Birding Gear You Need (If You're a Time Traveler)
July 20, 2024 — Over 125 years, '探花精选' has featured myriad products to help generations of avian aficionados better know and support birds. We brought gear from every era together for a photo session.
Take It or Leave It: Which Birding Practices Stand the Test of Time?
July 20, 2024 — Early issues of 鈥楤ird-Lore鈥 and 鈥樚交ň♀ magazine brimmed with tips and tidbits for the bird enthusiast. Some aged better than others, as the matrix below shows.
From the Archives: Roger Tory Peterson 鈥 Artist at Work
July 19, 2024 — Follow along as the renowned bird artist and then-art director for 鈥溙交ň♀ sketches and paints the 1942 November-December cover of the magazine.
Covers of Bird Lore and 探花精选 collaged in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
A Sense of Purpose
July 19, 2024 — The ideas that have energized this magazine for more than a century still animate its pages.
Black and white portrait of Rachel Carson outside with binocualars.
From the Archives: Rachel Carson Answers Her Critics
July 19, 2024 — After the publication of 鈥淪ilent Spring,鈥 Rachel Carson faced fierce blowback from the pesticide industry. This was her response.
A painting of the Black-crowned Night Heron, surrounded by greens and blues with collaged buildings.
The Black-crowned Night-Heron鈥檚 Unlikely Refuge
July 16, 2024 — Artist Lauren Levato Coyne鈥檚 painted collage is a pointed commentary on how vulnerable the endangered bird is to habitat destruction.
A colorful male Painted Bunting perched on a leafy vine.
See the Special Molting Locations of Three Migrating Bird Species
July 16, 2024 — Called molt-migrants, some birds take a detour on their annual trip south just to refresh their plumage.
Ring-billed Gull in flight in a blue sky.
Why (and How) to Look for Molting Birds This Summer
July 15, 2024 — Bolster your birding skills by observing this vital yet underappreciated phenomenon.
A large painting of a Northern Goshawk on the side of a brick building.
Bring the 探花精选 Mural Project to Your Town
July 15, 2024 — For the past decade, the initiative has used public art to showcase birds threatened by climate change. Now, communities are putting their own local spin on the effort鈥攁nd yours could be next.
An Osprey perches on a bare branch against a blue sky background, looking to the left with its yellow eye.
Birders, Consider a Bridge Camera
July 15, 2024 — A field biologist explains how a superzoom camera can enhance your birding experience without weighing it down.

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
Elegant Tern
Gulls and Terns
White-winged Crossbill
Finches
Short-eared Owl
Owls
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
Finches