Innholdsfortegnelse for Winter 2022 i Audubon Magazine

THE PROJECT Christopher Reiger, an artist and writer in California, needed respite from stay-at-home childcare during the pandemic’s taxing early days. He began playing with a half-baked idea he’d long toyed with: What would a bird look like as a stack of paint chips? At night while his kids slept, he explored how to capture a bird’s aes-thetic essence without its wings, beak, or legs. The idea evolved into his Field Guide series, a two-dimensional flock of avian palettes with each species distilled into color-blocked columns. “It’s punchy,” he says. “It’s simple.” To Reiger, a self-described taxonomy nerd, the project represents the fickle endeavor of trying to simplify an un-tamable natural world. He appreciates how hard experts work to make sense of avian diversity: “The way we classify and reclassify—it’s…

VIRGINIA ROSE (below) spent about 20 years trying to observe far-off shore-birds as others stood and chatted at their scopes. Then, with a camera store’s help, she rigged a scope to her wheelchair. Finally she could take part in that communal learning and camara-derie. “That’s one of the main reasons why adaptive equipment is so important,” Rose says, “to be a part of some of these conversations.” As founder of the nonprofit Birdability, which is dedicated to improving birding access and inclusivity, she curates a running list of methods that birders have created to adapt equipment to meet a range of needs. SEWARD PARK AUDUBON CENTER in Seattle is experimenting with wifi binoculars during guided bird outings. Designed for hunting, the tool livestreams hard-to-see animals and forest features to a large…

WHEN THE CONFEDERATED SALISH and Kootenai Tribes’ ancestors ceded more than 20 million acres to the federal government in the Hellgate Treaty of 1855, they believed their people would live in perpetuity on the 1.25-million-acre Flathead Reservation. But the United States changed its mind. During the allotment era from the 1880s to 1930s, Congress turned over parcels of reservation land to non-Indigenous homesteaders and individual tribal members, undercutting tribal government control. By 1934 the tribes held only 30 percent of the original Flathead Reservation in western Montana. These losses upended their ways of life, including a symbiotic relationship with bison for food, shelter, supplies, and customs, says Tom McDonald, tribal council chair of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). He, like many people, calls the animals buffalo. In this…

Winter birding ideas and inspiration, whether you’re looking to lean into the season, liven it up, or leave it behind BEACH VIBES THE BAHAMAS Go Birding: This island nation teems with biodiversity, including more than 300 recorded bird species. Head to Inagua National Park on Great Inagua Island to feast your eyes upon the largest flock of breeding American Flamingos on the planet, alongside gems like the Bahama Parrot and Western Spindalis. In the north, visit the piney habitats of Abaco National Park for standouts like Red-legged Thrush, Loggerhead Kingbird, and Bananaquit. Soak Up the Sun: With more than 2,200 miles of coastline where white sand meets warm turquoise waters, the Bahamas is a beach lover’s dream. Skip the wetsuit and enjoy marine life with just a snorkel and goggles…

My childhood home in rural West Virginia was surrounded by bird feeders and baths that provided hours of entertainment. Occasionally Mom would even flip over a trash lid, add water, and voilà—hey, the birds don’t care. But I always got a special kick from the heated birdbath attached to our side deck. In winter, when other water sources froze over, that steamy oasis was there for the birds. And boy, did they love it. After one heavy snow, a dozen Eastern Bluebirds crammed together, wing to wing, around the rim of the bowl, their azure and orange feathers popping against the whiteness. Watching them bask was a great reminder of the simple joy birds—and a little fresh water—can bring. CHOOSE YOUR SETUP The wide array of products boils down to…

THE ROSEATE SPOONBILLS WERE behaving inexplicably. The birds should have been nesting throughout Florida Bay, recovering from plume hunting, but as Robert Porter Allen noted, only a “pitifully small group” could be found. So in 1939 Audubon sent Allen, its director of sanctuaries, to set up a one-man field station and, as Frank Graham, Jr., put it in The Audubon Ark: “Allen never did anything halfway; he spent most of the next three years living almost like a spoonbill.” Allen’s commitment to swamp life, wading through mangroves as he scrupulously observed the birds and probed their environment, surely feels familiar to Jerry Lorenz and his team of field biologists. More than 80 years later they work from Allen’s Florida Bay base—now called Audubon’s Everglades Science Center—to explore the same question:…

MILES FROM SHORE, DEEPER IN EVERGLADES National Park than the public is allowed, I slowly sank to my ankles in mangrove muck under a low dome of twisted branches. Fish heads, feathers, and eggshells littered the ground. Pungent guano painted every leaf and branch; flakes of it sloughed off and hung in the air. Shadows passed overhead, and when I peered up through the canopy, I could glimpse herons and egrets rafting above like white pterodactyls—and then, a flash of spoonbill pink. Other birds squatted among the branches, croaking and chattering. Amid the disorienting avian conversation rang more familiar voices—those of the field biologists who let me tag along to this quarter-acre mangrove island called Diamond Key. Casey King hovered above me, braced between a branch and a tree trunk,…

ANNE RICHARDSON STILL RECALLS her father, then the Rappahannock Tribe’s chief, shedding tears 25 years ago when he entered the tribe’s new cultural center. “He said, ‘I never dreamed that I would live to see the day that we would have this back in our community—a place where we can gather and be together and be protected,’” she says. Soon after, Richardson succeeded him as the fourth elected chief in her family of the Rappahannock in Virginia. Her ancestors were among the first Indigenous peoples of the United States to encounter Europeans. In 1608 when John Smith famously traveled the Rappahannock River, he documented Native villages as they volleyed arrows at him from the cliffs. By the 1640s illegal settlers encroached, and in the 1660s, forced removals began. More than…

NOV. 15, 2021 President Biden signs the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; it aims, in part, to make U.S. infrastructure resilient against climate impacts. DEC. 21, 2021 The EPA announces federal standards that require new passenger vehicles to average 55 mpg starting in 2026. JAN. 11, 2022 Scientists report that ocean temperatures in 2021 were the warmest on record. FEB. 14, 2022 A megadrought has led to the Southwest’s driest two decades in at least 1,200 years, scientists report in Nature Climate Change. FEB. 28, 2022 The world has a “brief and rapidly closing window” to avoid a deadly future; doing so will require overhauling energy systems, redesigning cities, and revolutionizing food production, the IPCC concludes. APRIL 11, 2022 Severe rainfall hits South Africa, killing at least 448 people. An earlier analysis…

The IRA is full of incentives for individuals to collectively invest in a healthier future—and save money while doing it. Drivers: At an average price tag of $67,000, a new electric vehicle (EV) costs one-third more than a conventional car. Tax breaks, worth up to $7,500 for new EVs and $4,000 for used ones, will help close the gap. Consumers who buy EVs in 2022 or 2023 will see a dollar-for-dollar reduction on their tax bill. Wait until 2024 and drivers can transfer the credit to dealers and get the full discount at the point of sale. Homeowners: A bevy of rebates, taken directly off the bill from the manufacturer or contractor, and federal tax credits are available. Put in solar panels or energy-efficient windows, for example, and claim a…

READ Lean enough to finish at cruising altitude but meaty enough to chew on long after, Rien Fertel’s Brown Pelican (LSU Press, $22, 120 pages) is a witty, engrossing history of humankind’s complicated relationship with a remarkable species. WATCH Dinosaurs get the David Attenborough treatment in Prehistoric Planet, a five-part miniseries whose crisp CGI convincingly renders these avian ancestors as living, breathing—and very birdy—animals. Stream on Apple TV+. LISTEN Packed with tracks from major acts like Elvis Costello and Yo-Yo Ma and poetry read by stars like Regina King and Matthew McConaughey, For the Birds: The Birdsong Project is a musical feat with a broader mission. More at audubon.org/birdsong-project.…

Native plants provide a buffet for birds, and growing them from seed can be simple, inexpensive, and rewarding. Perhaps surprisingly, the best time to start is not the spring, but late fall and early winter. Emily Baisden of the Wild Seed Project shares how. PLAN Assess your planting site: Is it wet or dry? Sunny or shaded? Rocky or loamy? Use Audubon’s native plants database (audubon.org/native-plants) to find optimal species for your location and nearby retailers of native seed grown without pesticides. POT Pack organic potting soil into labeled pots four to eight inches wide, leaving half an inch at the top. Arrange the seeds densely; they need very little space. Cover them with all-purpose sand as deep as the seed is thick and water carefully. PAUSE Place the pots…

WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN LOOMS over the Village of Lake Placid, snow dusting the titanic peak by early October. The smooth surface of Mirror Lake reflects the tranquil scene, but beneath is a problem that has weighed heavily in this forested upstate New York region. Come winter, crews cover streets with road salt that, sooner or later, washes into the lake. In 2014 scientists learned the lake’s chloride concentration—an indicator of salt pollution—was almost 160 times higher than Adirondack lakes without paved roads nearby. Heavier than fresh water, a briny layer accumulated at the bottom, says Brendan Wiltse, senior research scientist at the Adirondack Watershed Institute. This impeded the regular mixing of oxygen, he says, stifling fish such as lake trout and other aquatic life. Around the nation scientists are worried about…

SINCE SETTLERS ARRIVED IN THE UNITED STATES, tribal nations have lost nearly 99 percent of their lands through treaty cessions, forced migration, theft, and devastating government policies designed to erode Native sovereignty and culture. These wrongs coincided with the destruction of habitat and wildlife populations that tribes had long lived alongside and actively shaped in beneficial ways. By the late 19th century, an emerging conservation movement began efforts to stem damage to the environment but didn’t concern itself with past and ongoing atrocities toward Native Americans. Like the government, it, too, perpetuated and embraced policies to take land and restrict Indigenous practices. Today some land and wildlife managers, officials, and conservationists are beginning to recognize these injustices and appreciate the power of Indigenous methods, such as prescribed burns, to maintain resilient…

AT MORE THAN TWICE THE HEIGHT of Niagara Falls, Snoqualmie Falls is a breathtaking sight to some two million yearly visitors who come to relax, canoe, and hike 30 miles east of Seattle. But for the Snoqualmie people, one of Washington’s most popular attractions has a deeper meaning. It’s the site of their creation story, a place where tribal members pray, and a part of the ancestral lands where they’ve gathered plants, fished for salmon, and hunted deer and elk since time immemorial. Since the late 1980s the tribe has fought to protect the land immediately around the falls from myriad threats, including development and desecration by visitors who may be unaware of its importance, says Jaime Martin, the tribe’s executive director of governmental affairs and special projects. As part…

Cleaner energy alone won’t get us to the goal President Biden set last year: 50 percent below 2005 emissions by 2030. We need innovation in four other key areas—all of which could get a boost from IRA funds. Transportation (27% of U.S. emissions): The IRA contains new tax credits for electric vehicles, but the lack of plug-in sites remains a big barrier to wide-scale adoption. That could soon change, thanks to $5 billion allotted to build highway charging stations in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Industry (24%): Making steel, cement, glass, and plastics is hugely polluting and in need of breakthroughs, says Jonathan Foley, executive director of the nonprofit Project Drawdown. The IRA includes $5.8 billion to make these processes more efficient. Buildings (13%): The IRA’s $1 billion for states…

BIG YEARS GET A BAD RAP. These attempts to see or hear as many species as possible in a calendar year tend to make birders ultracompetitive, and such a single-minded pursuit can put off more casual birdwatchers. So, in the early days of 2022, Audubon staff members launched a different sort of Big Year, one designed to include both experienced and beginning birders. “We decided to do something that was a little more collaborative,” says Chad Witko, senior coordinator for avian biology. In a strategy suited to the remote-work era, Audubon’s team used eBird to combine lists. Rather than hopping planes to pick up regional specialties as in some Big Years, they relied on colleagues to add birds from their own neighbor-hoods and vacations. The shared effort forged stronger bonds among…