The November-December 2016 issue of BirdWatching Magazine went on sale at Barnes & Noble and other newsstands across the country on November 8.
Two articles in the issue provide answers to the most-asked questions about Painted Bunting, the southern songbird pictured on the cover and one of America’s best-loved and most sought-after songbirds.
New York designer and photographer Johann Schumacher recounts the excitement caused last year when one showed up in Brooklyn for the first time ever. And accomplished science writer Cheryl Lyn Dybas tells how Painted Bunting’s great beauty not only has enthralled birders since Audubon but also makes it a target of illegal trapping and black-market trading today — even in Florida.
The November-December 2016 issue of BirdWatching also contains two columns on bird identification from the best in the business: Kenn Kaufman, creator of the popular Kaufman field guides, and David Sibley, creator of the Sibley Guide to Birds.
Kaufman tells how to ID two southwestern relatives of the familiar American Robin, while Sibley gives tips guaranteed to help you solve one of winter’s most difficult identification challenges — telling Purple Finch from House Finch.
Also in the issue:
* Columns by well-known birders Pete Dunne, Eldon Greij, and Laura Erickson, and answers from Julie Craves to reader questions about birds.
* Bird lists, tips, maps, and directions for four birding hotspots in California, Texas, California, and Puerto Rico.
* Seven pages of breaking news — about a crow smart enough to use tools, the narrowing difference between Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers, nesting troubles for Atlantic Puffin, and the health of Snowy Owls in winter.
* Beautiful photos by professional photographers Melissa Groo (grand prize winner in the 2015 Audubon photo competition), Alan Murphy, Brian E. Small, and others, as well as eight pages of photos taken by readers. The cover photo, showing a multicolored male Painted Bunting, was taken by Florida nature photographer RJ Wiley.
* And New York birder Kevin Walsh tells how he attracts tiny, secretive Eastern Screech-Owls to a nest box in his yard on Long Island, while Vermont birder and teacher Maeve Kim lists 13 ways that birds can surprise even the most experienced birdwatchers.
You can take a sneak peek inside the November-December issue on the website of BirdWatching Magazine at http://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/the-magazine/current-issue/.
You can also find news and updates from the magazine on Facebook (BirdWatchingMagazine) and Twitter (@BirdWatchDaily).
For more information about the November-December 2016 issue, contact editor Chuck Hagner at (617) 315-9160 or [email protected].
The black-market value of colorful Painted Bunting.
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