Audubon

2 days ago | audubon.org | Maddie Burakoff

When the U.S. government started setting aside public land more than 150 years ago, its goal was twofold: to protect the scenery and wildlife of these special places and to allow people to enjoy them, long into the future. For decades, though, land management agencies have struggled to fulfill that original mission as Congress has trimmed their funding, leaving them understaffed.

1 week ago | audubon.org | Maddie Burakoff

It’s a common sight up and down the Pacific Coast: a shimmering, pink-throated Anna’s Hummingbird, slurping up sweet fuel from a nectar feeder. Now, research suggests that feeding hummingbirds—a beloved backyard pastime—is also a powerful evolutionary force that has reshaped the birds themselves.

2 weeks ago | audubon.org | Alex Tey

Meet the spirited sprites whose feats are as dazzling as their feathers By Alex Tey Reporter, Audubon Magazine “Hummingbirds hardly need a description,” the renowned bird illustrator and naturalist Roger Tory Peterson once wrote of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Yet we can’t resist describing them anyway.

2 weeks ago | audubon.org | Lauren Leffer

Ed Curry has been farming chile peppers in Arizona’s arid southeastern corner for 54 years. Over decades, he’s kept tabs on local groundwater levels, monitored his wells for declines, and done his best to conserve across his 2,000 acres. His father, also a farmer in Cochise County, did the same. But, until very recently, that diligence wasn’t mandatory.

2 weeks ago | audubon.org | Emily Senkosky

Wings weary after a 2,000-mile journey, but still carrying her typical illustrious air, the matriarch of the Hellgate Valley landed in the escaping evening light. Feathers ruffled, spattered in fish blood, she touched down on her perch on April 7. Expectant fans from all over the globe rejoiced: Iris, who is theoldest known Osprey alive today, had returned to her home nest in Montana right on schedule.