A Sense of Purpose

First published 125 years ago, Audubon’s predecessor, Bird-Lore, held as its motto: “A bird in the bush is worth two in the hand.” It’s one that a long lineage of editors ever since has carried through this magazine in spirit, if not in letter. Bird-Lore endeavored to rally its readers, the growing ranks of the very first Audubon societies, around the then-novel idea that greater value lies in admiring birds in nature.

From the beginning, visuals have been an essential tool in that effort. Volume 1 featured “pictures actually taken in the field” and assured aspiring photographers they would find “no more delightful and profitable way of spending leisure hours.” In 1904 and for the next 22 years, paintings by the acclaimed artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes ran as Bird-Lore’s frontispiece, and after revolutionizing field guides in 1934, illustrator Roger Tory Peterson became the magazine’s art director. So it seems fitting that on the magazine’s quasquicentennial, it’s also the 15th anniversary of the Audubon Photography Awards, and the 10th anniversary of the Audubon Mural Project, two contemporary initiatives that inspire a greater appreciation of birds through art.

With both the National Audubon Society and Audubon (as we would eventually become known) raising public awareness, the prospects for species like the Whooping Crane, hunted to near-extinction by the mid-1900s, improved dramatically. Other conservation problems remain intractable. “The Excess Deer Problem” ran in our pages in 1943; today, exploding populations of the herbivore still ruin habitat needed by birds and other wildlife, as writer Ashley Stimpson details. 

And while the Audubon movement spurred protections that eventually stemmed the tide of migratory bird poaching in North America, poachers continue to pose a dire threat to species across the world. In her feature story, Rachel Nuwer investigates a lucrative illegal songbird trade in the Mediterranean—and the cultural shift, both in government and among consumers, necessary to stop it.

In this issue, we also raise the alarm on another type of extinction crisis—one that, for our staff, hits close to home. Maddie Burakoff reports on the rapid shuttering of media outlets that has left local news deserts in its wake. One troubling consequence: communities lacking essential information on environmental issues that affect them.

The Audubon of today has much in common with the Bird-Lore of yesterday but also some crucial differences. Over time the magazine shifted its focus from personal essays to robust reporting on issues that, at the dawn of the modern environmental movement, were only sparsely covered by the media—and in the process, built a body of journalism on topics critically important to both birds and people. While we can never replace local newspapers, we still take seriously our role delivering deeply informative stories to Audubon members and readers, wherever they live. That’s also an idea that never gets old.

This piece originally ran in the Summer 2024 issue. To receive our print magazine, become a member by making a donation today.