Two California Condors soar above forested hills. The dark-brown birds with featherless heads are the largest land birds in North America, with wingspans stretching 10 feet. Photo: Jeff Foott/NPL/Minden The California Condor is perhaps America’s most iconic endangered species and conservation success story. In the 1980s, the wild population dwindled to just 25 birds, which

Photo: Nataliia Yankovets/Alamy The holidays are a time to relax and recharge from the year. At the close of an especially challenging one, Audubon‘s editors are excited to detach and find new curiosities and inspiration in books—and we wanted to share some of our favorite reads with you.  Here are seven books that are sure to appeal to bird

Jumar is no stranger to the presence of elephants. Having lived and farmed in the village of Pematang Pudu village in Bengkalis district, in Indonesia’s Riau province, for more than 20 years, he’s seen elephants wandering through his village and fields of sweet potato. And he has never become upset with the animals. He says

Northern Saw-whet Owl. Photo: Jim Bachman/Audubon Photography Awards Nearly a month ago, while setting up the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, workers found an unexpected present. Tucked into the base of the massive spruce tree, which had been cut down near Oneanta and transported to Manhattan, was a Northern Saw-whet Owl. The bird, appropriately named Rockefeller

The holidays are often a busy time in the kitchen. Make time to whip up tasty treats for birds, too. These festive goodies will attract an array of avian visitors outside your home. Suet Wreath Materials: Bundt pan Large pot Wide ribbon 3 blocks rendered suet (available at garden centers) 1⁄2 cup additive-free nut butter 9

Ridgway’s Rail. Photo: Rick Lewis/Audubon Photography Awards Tucked away in the giant omnibus spending legislation passed this week was a small package of bills focused on western water. Western rivers provide important benefits to rural communities, the recreation economy, and bird and wildlife habitat, in addition to providing critical water supplies for cities, irrigated farmland,

An Ohio man shot and killed his son when he mistook him for a deer on a hunting trip, officials said. Bradley Smith, 63, shot his 28-year-old son, Andrew Smith, while with a group of friends last week in a heavily wooded area just outside the city of Delaware, the Columbus Dispatch reported. “It’s just

Great Blue Heron. Photo: Mick Thompson On Monday, Congress passed a massive spending package, which now awaits the president’s signature. Appended to that bill was a similarly momentous achievement, the first energy bill in over a decade, a version of the American Energy Innovation Act of 2020 from Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Joe Manchin

Ruddy Duck. Photo: Don Bland/Audubon Photography Awards Thanks to sustained bipartisan support, the 2020 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) will be enacted as part of the omnibus appropriations legislation passed this week. WRDA is critically important because it authorizes projects and programs led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study, design, and construct

Magnificent Frigatebird. Photo: Luke Franke/Audubon WASHINGTON (December 21, 2020) — As part of the sweeping legislation passed by Congress ahead of the holiday break, Congress has passe̶̶̶d the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, a bill that will substantially phase down both the consumption and production of some of the most powerful greenhouse gases. “This bill

Common Loon. Photo: Jelieta Walinski/Audubon Photography Awards (WASHINGTON) “After months of negotiations, it is good to see Congress come together to make investments in economic stimulus, conservation, climate resilience, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” said Sarah Greenberger, interim chief conservation officer and senior vice president, Conservation Policy. “This bill advances many critical programs that will help

Three Maryland hunters have been charged with the illegal hunting of deer, including an albino deer that was shot from the rear seat of a vehicle. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, after concluding its investigation, identified the suspects as Jeremy Hoalcraft, 18, of Oakland; David Georg, 29, of Swanton, and Jordan Dawson, 22, of

The new Guardian documentary The Wolf Dividing Norway, goes to the heart of the wolf hunting debate, currently splitting political parties, families and communities. Set against a snow-capped landscape, a group of hunters wait to hear if the government will permit their yearly hunt, while the environmentalists grow ever more fearful of what lies ahead.

Starving foxes were forced to feed on the rotting corpses of others, an investigation by animal rights charity has found, highlighting the brutal conditions the animals are subjected to on fur farms in Poland. Open Cages, a British animal welfare charity, was probing a complaint of animal cruelty after a local NGO informed it about

A Bald Eagle sits on a dead tree snag in front of a peaceful blue sky. Photo: Mick Thompson The year 2020 was supposed to be the year I rediscovered the joy of birding. Not the joy of birds, mind you. As a science writer with a focus on ornithology, I spend a lot of

There’s nothing quite like down—it’s a natural, incredibly warm, and breathable insulation that we stuff into winter jackets and sleeping bags, couches and blankets. No wonder ducks look so comfortable paddling around ponds on sub-zero days. Yet the way some farmers harvest this fluffy material might make birders uncomfortable. The vast majority of the 270,000 metric tons

U.S. Representative Deb Haaland speaks at a reception hosted by the Congressional Native American Caucus, January, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Alamy The current U.S. Secretary of the Interior is a former fossil-fuel lobbyist with so many conflicts of interest that he’s been known to carry around an index card to keep them all straight. If confirmed by

It’s not exactly news that spending time in nature benefits human health and well-being. But an experiment conducted by social scientists along some mountain trails in Colorado shows – it’s not just the wind in your face or the grandeur of the scenery we need to thank. The authors call it a “phantom chorus.” (See

Two protected brown bears have been shot dead on what has been dubbed a ‘dark day’ for efforts to preserve the species. The adult females were killed on the same day by wild boar hunters in Spain, despite conservation groups working to grow the population from near-extinction. The brown bear known as Sarousse which was

Late one summer evening, just as the day’s monsoon rains receded, a 68-year-old activist named Robin Silver climbed through a barbed-wire fence outside Tombstone, Arizona. He was headed for a riverbend near the site of a ghost town locals know as Charleston. It had taken Silver most of the afternoon to cover the short distance

Paramedics have hailed the “remarkable” survival story of a South Australian surfer who swam back to shore alone and walked 300 metres for help after suffering “extraordinary” injuries from a shark bite at a remote beach. Paramedic Michael Rushby said the man had “serious” lacerations on his back, backside and leg “consistent with quite a

As we think about 2020 during this holiday season, many of us simply can’t wait for what we hope will be a new beginning in 2021. I won’t try to convince anyone that this has been anything other than an incredibly difficult year, even for those of us who have plenty for which to give

Barn Swallow. Photo: Melissa Groo As this issue of Audubon goes to press, the election is just wrapping up—with the exception of a couple of runoff elections like those for the Senate seats in Georgia. People are rising up to demand action on climate change and racial equity. And birds are telling us there is

This is the face of one of Britain’s most prolific ­trophy hunters. Asif Wattoo has killed beautiful animals all over the world. He then boasts about the “thrill” on social media. Animals he has hunted for fun include zebras, African buffaloes, antelope and impala. He has also posed for dozens of pictures with giraffe carcasses. Asif Wattoo is

The Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act, introduced in the House in October, lays out an innovative plan to protect and enhance coastal and marine ecosystems facing climate impacts. In addition to centering the ocean and coasts in the fight against climate change, the bill also advances important measures to protect ocean health and to ensure that

A 25-year-old British expat who was shot and killed by a hunter who mistook him for a boar close to his home in south-western France has been named. Morgan Keane is thought to have died instantly when a bullet fired by a hunter hit him in the isolated hamlet of La Garrigue, north of Toulouse. A

Birds are facing problems at local landfills. According to reporting in National Geographic, landfill facilities that burn methane to dispose of it are putting birds in harm’s way. Because methane is colorless when it burns birds can fly into it. Hilary DeVries, a wildlife rehabilitator at the center, located in Española, New Mexico, described a

A spate of baffling swan deaths is strongly suspected to be caused by a virulent new strain of avian flu sweeping across Britain. Dying swans were found spinning in circles and discharging blood from their nostrils on Ulverston canal, Cumbria. Swan rescuers have taken in more than 25 dying birds in Worcestershire and nine swans

When Pedro Rodrigues began studying cormorants at the Austral University of Chile, he had no intention of writing about the Inca Empire. A biologist who specializes in the evolution and geographic distribution of birds, Rodrigues was initially researching genetic diversity in Neotropic Cormorants, a waterbird that spends most of its time in South and Central America.