Updates

— The slowdown in human activity—a period scientists are calling the “anthropause”—was a mixed bag for animals.

— The rule gutting bird protections takes effect today—but not for long.

— As the hugely popular franchise continued to grow, the game became a source of solace and inspiration for many players in the past year.

— Through artistic abstraction, Gizem Vural casts the oft-maligned Blue Jay in a sunny light.

— A pair of new studies show how birds improve our wellbeing, adding to a growing body of evidence that avians are an antidote to our despair.

— Last week, Audubon Nebraska submitted a legal objection to a proposal that would transfer water from the Platte River to the Republican River.

— Dixon joins the bird conservation organization from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

— In Audubon’s first foray into climate fiction, or cli-fi, we asked writers of compelling—and sometimes strange—fiction to imagine what climate chaos will bring for birds and people. From there, they created these tales of the somewhat familiar future.

— Every year the contest attracts entries capturing rare and unusual moments in the avian world. Here are this year's highlights.