BirdWatching Magazine, April 2017. Red-headed Woodpecker by Robert McCaw

The April 2017 issue of BirdWatching is now available at Barnes & Noble and other newsstands!

Our cover story looks at the efforts of citizen scientists in Minnesota who are working to bring back the charismatic Red-headed Woodpecker. The story also offers four ways you can help the species.

Professional bird photographer Robert McCaw took the gorgeous cover photo.

In “ID Tips,” Kenn Kaufman describes how to differentiate Orchard Oriole from Baltimore and Hooded Orioles. And in “ID Toolkit,” David Sibley explains how to determine the age of songbirds.

Also in the issue:

Writer and photographer Jim Burns offers an introduction to the toucans and barbets of Costa Rica.
Marina Richie profiles homeowners in Virginia, Oregon, Maryland, and elsewhere about growing native plants in their yards to attract birds. And she interviews Doug Tallamy, an entomologist whose book Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants has revolutionized gardening for birds across America.
Freelance journalist Nathan Siegel gives us an eyewitness look at the desperate race to save one of the rarest birds on Earth, Kenya’s Taita Apalis.
The American Bird Conservancy, in its column “Eye on Conservation,” describes the journey of a Cerulean Warbler named Elmer, one of 19 Ceruleans outfitted with geolocators in early 2016.
Julie Craves of Michigan’s Rouge River Bird Observatory answers readers’ questions about how birds keep their feathers fresh when water is frozen, whether bird seed can harm your dog, and whether painting a feeder would keep birds away.
We present maps, bird lists, and more for birding hotspots in Ohio, Florida, Nevada, and California.
Contributing Editor Laura Erickson explains why sitting still is often the best way to see birds up close.

You can read the full list of the issue’s contents and see a sneak peek on our Current Issue page.

We hope you enjoy the issue. If you have comments about it, feel free to email Senior Editor Matt Mendenhall.

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