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
鈥楾he Birds That 探花精选 Missed' Provides New Insights Into the Age of Avian Discovery in America
May 09, 2024 — In his latest book, bird expert Kenn Kaufman focuses on the species that evaded John James 探花精选 and his peers to explore an exhilarating yet knotty era in ornithology. Read on to learn more about the book and for a Q&A with the author.
A camouflaged whip-poor-will sits on the ground among brown and green leaves.
As the Whip-poor-will鈥檚 Chant Wanes, Our Cultural Loss Grows
May 06, 2024 — The iconic call of the Eastern Whip-poor-will has long been part of the fabric of American life, marking annual spring rituals and inspiring odes in popular music. What happens when we lose our connection with its meaning?
A Bald Eagle soars above a seascape, a ray of sunlight coming through the clouds.
With a New Anthology and National Parks Tour, U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Lim贸n Declares 鈥淣ature Is Who We Are鈥
April 29, 2024 — In 50 poems and plenty of birds, the collection, titled 鈥淵ou Are Here,鈥 aims to expand expectations of what a nature poem can be.
Woodcocks Don鈥檛 Let Migration Mess With Their Sex Lives
April 24, 2024 — A new study finds the first proof that timberdoodles mate as they migrate, an extremely rare behavior known as itinerant breeding.
A calling loon is silhouetted against rippling water reflecting the golden light of sunset.
How the Common Loon's Eerie Call Took Over Pop Music
April 23, 2024 — The beloved bird has wailed its way through decades of hits. It鈥檚 time we give the species its royalties.
A large flock of shorebirds sit in muddy vegetation in a lagoon.
As Coastal Habitat Shrinks, Scientists Take Inspiration from Surfing Shorebirds
April 19, 2024 — Birds rest on rafts of eelgrass when they can't find a safe space to roost onshore. Now conservationists are mimicking the behavior to give them more places of respite.
A flock of pigeons eating seeds on a sidewalk.
Cities Are Testing Birth Control to Solve Pigeon Problems
April 16, 2024 — Booming populations of these familiar urban birds are causing complaints. Can contraception help?
Illustration of people watching birds next to a lake.
A New Birding Club Wants to Help COVID Long-Haulers Safely Enjoy Nature Together
April 12, 2024 — Ed Yong, an award-winning science journalist who widely covered the pandemic, recently launched The Spoonbill Club to provide community鈥攁nd an accessible hobby鈥攆or folks with long COVID.
A brown bird perched in green leaves, looking up.
How Extreme Weather Tests Facilities Housing the Last of a Species
March 29, 2024 — Natural disasters fueled by climate change imperil critically endangered species under human care. Breeding centers must be more ready than ever to swing into action in an emergency.
A plain brown bird perches on a mossy branch.
Ask Kenn: What's the Secret to Identifying Flycatchers?
March 28, 2024 — Don鈥檛 let these difficult birds get you down. Instead, take this sage advice from 探花精选 Field Editor and bird expert Kenn Kaufman.

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
Brewer's Sparrow
New World Sparrows
Neotropic Cormorant
Cormorants
Acorn Woodpecker
Woodpeckers
Couch's Kingbird
Tyrant Flycatchers