It's that time of year again—when your social feeds are suddenlyfilled with "best of" lists and roundups of popular stories from the past year. While we covered our most-read stories in2016, this year we decided to do something a little different. Instead, we asked the staff of APP to choose their favorite storiesthat we published in 2017 and explain why. In no particular order, here's what we came up with.
I’m selfishand also still tickled that we sent our photographerCamilla Cerea60 feet up a tree to get yelled at bybirds, so I have to go withmy story about Scarlet Macaw poaching in thespring 2017 issue of Audubon magazine. Aside from just being an important issue, the assignment was notable in a number of ways. It was the first time that Camilla and I field-reported a story together. We also got to see a jaguar in the wild. And it was in Belize that I lured Camilla to the Dark Side: I remember standing on a trail in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Refuge with her, pointing out a male White-collared Manakin doing its flip-crack-crack-crack-crack-wheeeeooooo! aerial flirt routine, and Camilla started yelling at me, “Martha! I’m turning into a birder!” while she tracked the bird with her binoculars, her camera dangling, ignored, by her hip. She sends me photos of birds from her birding trips now, with proper identification, like any proper bird nerd.—Marth Harbison, network content editor
What's at Stake
Often lost in the morass of proposed budget cuts and regulatory rollbacks are the stories of the people and places that would be most affected by them. That’s why I’m particularly proud of APP’s “What’s at Stake” series. Editors and writers dug deep to find the human faces behind the programs on the administration’s chopping block and to learn from them what science and ecosystems would be sacrificed. Snippets of video only serve to make the series more relatable.—Jenny Bogo, executive editor
Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of ourLaysan Albatross relocation series
No readershould miss Kim Rogers’s Laysan Albatross-relocation series, especially the final story about Nine. The project featured is, in my mind, the best in what bird conservation can be: forward-thinking, science-based, species-tailored, and compassionate. The threats to Laysan Albatross from future sea level rise, paired with the species' rather stubborn natural history traits, are very real, and Kim’s deliciously descriptive language and attention to detail impress both the urgency of the project and the commitments of many different people—USFWS, U.S. Navy, nonprofit scientists, and caretakers. Also,the storyfeaturesthe goofiest adolescent albatross pics to boot!—Hannah Waters, senior associate editor
Listening toeditor Hannah Waterstalk about her upcoming trip to Cooper Island in Alaska and the important work being done by George Divoky was impressive even before the adventure started, butreading the finalstoryalongside the incrediblephotographsand videos capturedbyphotographerPeter Mather transported me thousands of miles. Through thewords and images, I was able tolive their experience, understand the challenges the birds are up against in the face of APP change,and appreciate Divoky's passion for thesecreatures and their home.—Camilla Cerea, photo editor
Bird's Nest Soup Is More Popular Than Ever, Thanks to Swiftlet House Farms
Choosing just one APP storyfrom the wealth of excellent workwe produced this year wasn't easy, but I keep coming back to this piece exploring the booming business ofbird's nest soup anddomestic swiftlet farming in Myanmar. The topic alone—soup made from bird spit!—is fascinating.But to read about the history of the delicacy up through the unexpectedeffects of its modern-day commercialization—demand for "cave-fresh"bird's nest soup is up, whiledomesticated birds appear to be diverging as a species—gives the storyan intriguingsociological and evolutionary depth. The intimatephotographsand videos of Edible-nest Swiftletsdarting about just make it all that much more absorbing. —Andrew Del-Colle, APP.org site director and editor
What We Lose When We Forget the History of Our Public Lands
Sharing Drew Lanham's essay about public lands and slavery lightened my heart, despite the tragic history it embodies. His words cut through the discomfort and reluctance of the conservation community as it fails to accept the inglorious origins of America's wilderness. The story was published in time for Public Lands Day, but it feels even more relevant now with the advancing assault on Utah monuments. The president stole land from us, the opposition groused. But was it ever fully ours to begin with? —Purbita Saha, associate editor
Better Know a Bird:The Wild and Kinky Mating Rituals of the Crested Auklet
There are so many creatures with strangebehaviors in this world that sound too weird to be true. TheCrested Auklet and itscrazy mating rituals is definitely one of them. From the“ruff-sniffing”to theirsex scrums, it's hard to believe everything in this story without the amazing photos to back itup. Once you read itthough, it's soridiculous that you have toimmediately tell everyone you know about these weird little birds.—Lia Bocchiaro, photo editor
Out of sheer photo selfishness, I have to choose our storyon bird blinds from APP'ssummer issue, which featured Tristan Spinski's photo essay shot on black-and-white film—yes, analog. Tristan cris-crossed the country for a year and a halfdocumenting different bird blindswith the eye of a visual historian studying a very particular vernacularof architecture. While we could only fit a limited number of photos into the issue, the presentation online allows the reader to truly appreciate Tristan's work while readingthe story behind each blind. Simply put, it’s a photographictour de force.—Sabine Meyer, photo director
I have to go with editor Purbita Saha's comprehensive response, on behalf of birds, to the list of 38 questions Buzzfeed’s Erin Chack posed to our feathered friends.It’s so wonderfully inspired and opportunistic, really funny in its own right, and tremendously informative—it’s basically a meta-gateway to a seemingly unending trove of fascinating stuff. And I also particularly loved just how surprised and delighted Chack was when she discovered that the queries she’d tossed to the skies had actually, unexpectedly, been answered. —Mark Jannot, vice president of content
Generally speaking, adults did not do agreat job this year of modeling positive behavior for youngsters. So it was especially heartening toread about Matthew and Will Gladstone, the kid brothers who are selling stylish blue socks to raise money for Blue-footed Booby conservation. Plus, the boys are sending a free pair of socks to Puerto Rico for every pair ordered in December, according to their. Role models come in all sizes. —Andy McGlashen, editorial fellow
I was dubious when I read the first sentence of Kenn Kaufman’s story—part of his “NdzٱǴǰ” series—about White-throated Sparrows: “Could this be the world’s most interesting bird?” But his exploration of the truly fascinating sex lives of these LBJs (Little Brown Jobs) gave me a newfound appreciation for birds I’d normally ignore. —Alisa Opar, articles editor