Time Flies: Celebrating 125 Years of ‘Audubon’ Magazine

In 1899, when the first issue of this magazine hit the presses, hundreds of thousands of birds were being killed for sport and fashion. Gulls were made into muffs, eggs were collected like stamps, and a solid life list could be tallied by surveying women’s hats. Much has changed since then.

Audubon societies, which numbered just 15 at the time, multiplied and banded together with the help of the new publication. Their members pressed for bird protections—and won them: first bans on trading wildlife and importing feathers, then safeguards for species that crossed international boundaries.

New threats to birdlife emerged, and advocates mounted fresh campaigns to address them, turning their attention to protecting habitat. Renowned artists and writers, scientists and politicians, joined the effort; kids did, too, inspired by “Bird Day” at school and the advent of nature centers. Progress was by turns slow and swift; some species were lost, but many rebounded.

In time, wearing warblers became verboten. Technical fabrics became de rigueur. Opera glasses gave way to binoculars, and cameras got better—a lot better. Field guides migrated from paper to apps. Bird houses gained artificial intelligence (yet many retained their DIY charm). Along the way, people learned what it meant to treat wildlife with greater care; they also reckoned with how to better care for one another.

All of this was chronicled in our pages.

This year represents the 125th anniversary of this magazine— an inspiring milestone for any publication, and particularly for one that formed in lockstep with a movement.

One has only to look at our covers to observe how that journey unfolded. From our beginnings as Bird-Lore at the cusp of the 20th century, we grew with the new national association to become Audubon Magazine in 1941 and later simply Audubon. Our cover subjects, too, evolved in telling ways: Black-and-white images that illustrated detailed birding dispatches ceded ground to color photos and even more colorful journalism. For a few decades Audubon, like its parent organization, broadened its focus beyond birds to other wildlife.

Covering our entire history is impossible, so we instead strove to capture key themes—from the evolution of conservation news and the influence of world events to notable contributors and birding advice—which you can explore in our interactive hub above. After this in-depth look back, one thing is certain: We’ve come a long way, as a magazine and a movement, and there are still plenty of milestones ahead.

Research, writing, editing, and design for all anniversary articles by Maddie Burakoff, Kristina Deckert, Andrew Del-Colle, Zoe Grusekin, Jessica Leber, Sabine Meyer, Alisa Opar, Julie Rossman, Alice Sun, and Alex Tomlinson. 

Illustrations: Julie Rossman/Audubon and Alex Tomlinson/Audubon. Adapted from illustrations by Joan Wong in the Summer 2024 issue of Audubon.

Photos from top: Anand Varma; Barrie Rokeach; Brian Henn; Allan D. Cruickshank; Herman Kitchen, Jr.; Courtesy of the Aldo Leopold Foundation (2); Edwin Way Teale; USFWS (2). Illustrations from top: J. G. Irving; Roger Tory Peterson (4); Shutterstock (2).