This week, our editors recommend notable features and essays by Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Justin Heckert, Gloria Liu, Sharon Levy, and Mychal Denzel Smith.
birds
Posted inEditor's Pick
How the Yurok Tribe Is Bringing Back the California Condor
Condor 746, on loan from a captive breeding program in Idaho, traveled to California in spring 2022. He’s the first California condor in over a century to reach the ancestral land of the Yurok Tribe, and made the journey to mentor four young birds in a condor facility in Redwood National Park. Condors are very […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Off the East Coast, a Massive Network of Wind Turbines Is Coming—Along With New Risks for Migrating Birds
Birds crossing the Atlantic Ocean, like gannets, will soon have to navigate wind farms — and some will die because of them. But the shift to clean energy is crucial for their survival — and for the future of our entire ecosystem. In the coming years, gannets zipping along the Eastern Seaboard will encounter unprecedented […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
My Friend Goo
When the pandemic upended her daily life, Deb Olin Unferth started walking, and one day met a goose. A measured, tender tale of loss and love and difficult friendship — one that warns you throughout that a sting is coming, but manages to sneak up and wallop you anyway. He was feisty, the town bully, […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Plovers Quarrel: A Tiny, Endangered Bird Returns to Sauble Beach to Find Sunbathers Dug Into the Sand
After a 30-year absence, the plover, a tiny bird, returned to touristy Sauble Beach on the Ontario Peninsula. Now, the town’s residents are arguing over what the beach should be — and how both humans and these endangered birds can share the sand. Pristine white sand is the preferred backdrop for sunbathing, picnics, sandcastles and […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Strange, True Story of John Williams and Charles Pennock
“In the early 1900s it wasn’t unusual for men to suddenly go missing. Among them were two accomplished bird experts whose lives turned out to be surprisingly intertwined.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Featured, Highlight, Quote Posts, Quotes, Science & Nature
The Dark Side of Birding
“Undeniably, eBird … brings birders together and allows for rapid information sharing. It’s also created new—and sometimes contentious—etiquette and social dynamics.”
Posted inFeatured, Highlight, Profiles & Interviews, Quote Posts, Quotes
Roxie Laybourne: the World’s First Forensic Ornithologist
“Having spent thousands of hours preparing thousands upon thousands of specimens, Laybourne had accumulated a library’s worth of knowledge about birds.”
Posted inFeatured, Highlight, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes, Science & Nature
Seagulls Who Eat People Food Poop People Food on Protected Lands
Fast food is killing the human world. Now it could be killing California gulls’ protected island habitat.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Crane Wife
Days after calling off her wedding, a writer travels to Texas to study the endangered whooping crane, and learns about the nature of need.