Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2018 i Audubon Magazine

William Lovell Finley (1876–1953) was a pioneer in using photography to promote conservation. Beginning in the late 1890s, he and his colleagues ventured into the wilds of Oregon and other Western states, capturing thousands of images of wild birds in their habitats. These vivid portraits, and his impassioned writing about key Oregon sites, helped persuade President Theodore Roosevelt to designate Three Arch Rocks, Lower Klamath, and Malheur among the first federal bird refuges in the West. Finley’s photos and writings appeared in Bird-Lore—the predecessor to Audubon—as early as 1905, and he was a founding member of what is now the Audubon Society of Portland. Throughout a long career, which included a stint as Oregon’s first state game commissioner and years as an independent activist, he continued to use photography to…

JAY BOLDEN WILL NEVER FORGET the first time he witnessed the arrival of one of Earth’s oldest animals in Delaware Bay. It was late spring, “and the beach, seemingly empty, suddenly filled with horseshoe crabs coming in from the sea,” he recalls. “It was a religious experience for me.” Bolden, a longtime birder, knew the importance of horseshoe crabs to migrating shorebirds like Red Knots. Every spring, each female crab lays at least 80,000 eggs. Many remain buried until they hatch; others, churned up by waves, are devoured by famished shorebirds migrating north to Arctic breeding grounds. Each Red Knot must consume some 400,000 eggs to fuel its flight to the tundra and breed successfully. Each Red Knot must consume 400,000 horseshoe crab eggs to fuel its flight to the…

When I was a kid, my brothers and I would get kicked out of our house in Richmond, California, and told to play outside until further notice. In the summer months, that meant being outdoors for hours on end; the only time we were called in before the night-time deadline was for lunch and snacks. There were never-ending games of chase, tag, and hide-and-seek in the park across the street. Or we’d walk 30 minutes to Point Richmond, where we’d hike the bayside hills, stopping to daydream and enjoy the ocean views. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized it was serenity that brought us back to these trails so often. Years later, I felt the same sense of serenity under the ancient sequoias in Yosemite National…

WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT BABY BIRDS? THEY EAT; THEY POOP; THEY SQUAWK LIKE there’s not enough food left on this green Earth to stuff their gizzards with. But take some time to study these neophytes, and you’ll see how complex and diverse avian behavior can be. The little ones and their parents are a testament to the incredible survival mechanisms that ensure hyper-helpless chicks make it to adulthood unscathed. Plus, most happenings in the nest are confidential, so you might discover something new to science. Or just enjoy the real-life soap opera that’s about to unfold. Number of eggs in a species’ nest each year Gather more chick tricks at audubon.org/birding…

From helpless chicks to sassy fledglings, baby birds make quite the journey as they grow. I’ve observed some fascinating behaviors while watching them in the Adirondack wilderness of New York. While viewing a pair of Common Loons on a small lake, I realized one had a bulge in its wing. Out popped a brand-new chick, bobbing on the water like a cork. After the family leaves the nest, parents literally take the young under their wings to brood and protect them. As the babies grow, turning from dark to light, they spend a lot of time riding on their parents’ backs. Canada Jays (formerly known as Gray Jays) nest in late winter, so they often have to contend with harsh weather. One freezing, rainy day, I found a female with…

YOU ARE A BIRDER. YOUR BELOVED IS NOT. Competing passions can make planning a trip that satisfies both of you—and the rest of your clan—challenging. So we turned to five couples, each made up of one dedicated birder and one…well, not necessarily avian-averse partner, but someone who wouldn’t choose a locale based on birdlife alone. They’ve got a combined 50 years of balancing wanderlust, life lists, and relationships, and they’re here to help you navigate this potentially fraught terrain. 5 Strategies for Making Sure Your Relationship Weathers Your Trip Prioritize “Finding a destination that makes both of you happy is the key,” says Andrew Del-Colle, Audubon site director. To hit upon that sweet spot, adds his fiancée, Emily Roof, they discuss what they each want from the trip, like lazing…

THE MORE THAN 8,000 PHOTOS ENTERED in our ninth annual contest by photographers from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and 10 Canadian provinces evoke the splendor, resilience, and ingenuity of birdlife. Because our selection process is blind, judges realized only after casting their votes that for the first time a photographer had swept an entire category, youth. Congratulations to the winners and honorable mentions featured here, and thank you to each and every entrant for your dedication to birds. GRAND PRIZE WINNER Category: Professional Photographer: Steve Mattheis Species: Great Gray Owl Location: Teton County, Wyoming Camera: Nikon D850 with Nikon 300mm AF-S f/4E PF ED VR lens; 1/1000 second at f/4; ISO 1600 Story Behind the Shot: After a six-week drought, I finally spotted a Great Gray flying through the…

WildLife Guards Program Audubon Connecticut WildLife Guards serve to protect by educating beachgoers on “being a good egg” around nesting shorebirds. Based along the Long Island Sound, this paid summer gig provides local high school students with hands-on experience in protecting adorable plover and tern chicks. Monitors share knowledge and tips for safe practices like picking up trash, respecting string fences, and leashing pets. Wild Indigo Nature Exploration Audubon Great Lakes Spanning nearly 70,000 acres, the forest-preserve network around Chicago is one of the largest in the country, yet it draws just a fraction of the city’s diverse population. Wild Indigo seeks to change that. Through dozens of events, from bird walks to native plantings, the program gets underserved kids into nature just minutes from their homes. Audubon Youth Leaders…

There’s nothing like 500,000 Sandhill Cranes landing on the banks of Nebraska’s Platte River to make a kid put down the iPhone. “Big birds—and lots of them” is a surefire way to spark interest in nature and birding, says Pete Marra, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center director. But the spectacles of massive cranes in Nebraska or colonies of charismatic Atlantic Puffins in Maine aren’t the only inroad. “The No. 1 thing is to avoid forcing anything,” Marra says. “It has to be fun and an adventure.” The quest can even begin before you leave home; a book about North American birds, for example, might kindle curiosity about species at an upcoming destination. In the field, ask young kids about bird behavior to fan interest. And it’s never too early to start,…

WHEN THE SIDEWALKS start to heat up and the scent of spring blooms is replaced with the stench of warm garbage, most urbanites plan an escape to greener pastures. But for bird photographers, a staycation in the city offers its own rewards—namely, the opportunity to document the many species that live alongside throngs of humans, adapting manmade structures for their nesting needs or taking advantage of pockets of habitat in the concrete jungle. So skip the Friday afternoon traffic out of town, grab your camera, and hit the pavement. Total number of bird species recorded on eBird (each bird = 10 species) For more urban bird photography tips, go to audubon.org/photography.…

Sam Hobson knew what he wanted: an “iconic species in an iconic location.” Namely, the European Robin, the unofficial national bird of the United Kingdom, at Cabot Tower, in the heart of Bristol. Once he had located his subject—a robin that periodically left its perch on a rock for a wormy snack—it was a matter of strategy and patience. To get this closeup, Hobson took advantage of the bird’s brief absences to inch his tripod closer and closer to the rock, always stepping away in time for the bird’s return. After about half an hour, the camera (equipped with a remote shutter) sat mere inches from the robin’s perch, allowing Hobson to nail this shot pairing an urban bird with an urban historical treasure.…

In 2017, 330 million people visited our national parks, spending a record 1.44 billion hours recreating there. Tens of millions more stopped by state and city parks, public beaches, and lakes. These are not just places that have inspired millions of people. They are our public lands, an idea first enacted by Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, set aside to restore our souls and inspire our love of the natural world. I mention national parks for two reasons. First of all, as part of the Year of the Bird, we’re celebrating the great outdoors during the months of July and August. We’re focused on getting kids into nature, and encouraging people to visit our public lands. Read through the pages of this issue for ideas, tips, tools, and avenues of discussion…

WITH MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS OF the land in the Lower 48 privately owned, the fate of North American birds is tied to that of farms, ranches, and private woodlands. And the largest federal funding source for conservation on those lands is the U.S. farm bill. That’s right—the mammoth federal legislation widely known for crop insurance and food assistance plays a critical role in restoring wetlands, replanting native grasslands, revitalizing forests, and more. “You have to work with private landowners to be successful when you’re talking about migratory bird habitat,” says Julie Grogan-Brown, Audubon’s working lands policy manager. “And the farm bill is really the federal mechanism for working directly with those landowners.” As lawmakers hammer out the 2018 reauthorization of the legislation, which expires in September, Audubon and other environmental…

On the first day of my jungle slog in Kauai with seabird biologist Andre Raine, I’m forced to devise a mental glossary to interpret and survive the man’s understated trail assessments. When he announces, “This next section is a bit slippery!” what he really means is “The already terrifyingly steep descent trail has become a vertical mud wall.” His refrain “This part has some tricky bits” translates to “Only advanced spider-monkey Jujitsu will prevent a 3,600-foot plunge to certain death.” And the repeated phrase “It’s a brief trundle away” more accurately means “It’s a godforsaken marathon involving unrelenting pain. You will cry.” Earlier that June morning a helicopter had deposited us atop a towering and frighteningly skinny forested ridgeline. It was an emerald knife slicing the sky, one of hundreds…

In the cypress woods of Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, the ponds seemed to be boiling. It was a devilishly hot April day in the western Everglades, but it wasn’t heat roiling the water—it was fish: juvenile bowfin, catfish, and other freshwater species trapped in shrinking seasonal pools. A who’s who of wading birds had descended on the banquet from nearby nest-laden trees. Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, and Tricolored Herons stalked and stabbed. Roseate Spoonbills swung their beaks like metal detectors through the muck. White Ibises probed methodically, while Wood Storks line-danced through the shallows, bills ajar, snapping them shut when they bumped a morsel. It’s a scene that played out across South Florida this spring, when abundant water created ideal breeding conditions. From coastal mangroves to tree islands in inland…

WHILE ARTIST APRIL SGAANA JAAD WHITE HAS DEPICTED MANY BIRDS that are significant to her people of Haida Gwaii, an archipelago off British Columbia, the White Ibis, a species common across Florida, was a novel challenge. Yet in its body and beak, White, who belongs to her people’s Raven clan, saw shapes and colors compatible with formline, a design style traditional to First Nations of the Northwest Coast. The technique demands a minimalist aesthetic, but “from there, there’s a lot of freedom to make it your own,” she says. With the ibis, she eschews symmetry—a classic formline tenet—but retains a sense of visual balance. The central bird fits within the curves of a human eye, and the echo of the ocular motif elsewhere hints that “we should be a lot…