I've been birding for about 15 years now and have subscribed to 4 of the 5 on one occasion or another. With magazines I'm mainly interested in ID, behavior and finding good birding spots. The more experience I get, the less I find useful or interesting in most mags. Of course, with the advent of this Internet thingie, the volume and accessibility of the info I seek has exploded. Also, I'm more interested in birding outside of NA these days and switched my periodical investments to the NBC and OBC.
Since I'm here I would be interested in suggestions for some Oz and Europe mags.
Back to the OP...
Currently I get Living Bird and Birdwatching (formerly Birder's World). I've considered dropping Birdwatching.
Living Bird is currently by far my favorite. Unfortunately it is only a quarterly. LB is not limited to NA birding. This quote pretty much sums it up:
Living Bird is the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's quarterly magazine. It is a members-only publication, and membership includes a subscription to the Lab's newsletter, BirdScope.
Editor Tim Gallagher explained how Living Bird differs from the other wild bird magazines. "We publish longer, more research-oriented articles," he said. "We target a more educated audience. I've heard some people call us the New Yorker of the bird magazines."
Gallagher explained his editorial philosophy: "Researchers love what they do, and we try to capture that passion. Living Bird doesn't read like a scientific journal, but neither do we dumb things down."
ABA - In a fit of irrational exuberance at escaping potential layoffs, I just rejoined ABA after a 3-4 year absence. Their membership had been dropping and therefore the quality of their publications suffered, which resulted in additional membership flight. An ominous swirl in the toilet bowl. However they are still breathing and a friend of mine says things have improved. We will see. Their website still does not impress me. I believe the internet may have hurt them badly as their bookstore was one of the few places available for birding materials.
Birdwatcher's Digest - is a mag for little old ladies that like to read the same cute little articles over and over and over and over. Subscribe for a year then reread the previous year's issue for that month. Although now that I think of it, it may only be bimonthly. I never really found any good hard info in it. It seems to be more about the "let's all feel good" birding experience.
BirdWatching - It's a bimontly..I'm not sure what to say about it...I used to look forward to getting it, but it seems to have gotten thinner and less interesting. I'm not keen on the recent name change either. I don't have a problem with the name itself, but the change is a definite indication that style takes precedence over substance.
The publishing industry is infested with educated, but unintelligent ADHDers that think magazine titles, layout, fonts and print colors need to be changed on a quarterly basis. I wonder if those folks ever actually read what they put out. I wish the industry would focus on the quality of its content, but I imagine that is more difficult and costly. Since I'm feelin crabbier than most days...off to the gas chambers with the lot and start over!
Wildbird - another mag for little old ladies, but with an emphasis on big bright colorful pictures of big bright colorful birdies. In other words, bird porn for the geriatric set. Wow! See the Oriole at Mrs. Johsnon's backyard feeder! OOOOHHHH!!! Just look at the Bluebird that built a nest on top of my neighbor's dog!!!! Its available at most magazine stands and I believe it has the widest circulation of any NA bird rag (oops, I meant mag). Most birders look down their nose at it, including me. However...I'll take a quick gander at the magazine stand and it seems lately that Wildbird has upped its game. The intellgence quotient seems to have increased a bit and they've included some species from outside the US. It's improved to the point that I may actually buy one someday, or maybe I'm just turning into a little old lady.
I might end up just having to test them all out and see what I like best.
