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Natural History

Articles are sorted by date with the most recently published first.

Silence Like Scouring Sand

by Kathleen Dean Moore

Defending the pitter-patter, the swish, and other rarely considered natural resources.

A Window

by Hank Lentfer

Connecting to the world

Polar Bear

by Richard Ellis

The anatomy of a symbol

Date with a Lichen

by Richard Fortey

Lichens can be seen as one of the canaries in our mine...

Taking Wildness in Hand: Rescuing Species

by Michelle Nijhuis

Rescuing some species from a warming climate may mean picking them up and moving them.

Sea Stars: A Galaxy at Our Feet

by Barbara Hurd

Sea Stars: beholding a miracle as the world grinds the living into debris.

Gray Thunder: Listening to Elephants

by Cyril Christo
Photographs by Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson

Elephants are speaking to us. Is anyone listening?

The Failure of Names

Art and text by James Prosek

Beyond the limits of Linnaeus lies a world teeming with infinite colors, shapes, and sizes.

Celestial Spheres

by William L. Fox

Lita Albuquerque went to the Antarctic to make art that conjures the sky. With web-exclusive extra images.

Managing the Trees of Arlington Cemetery

by Elizabeth Redden

A fine collection of old trees poses some interesting issues for those managing them.

Magpie Song

by Robert Michael Pyle

Beauty and wonder are always in the eye of the beholder—but the beholder has to choose to behold

The Headbonker’s Ball

by Matt Jenkins

Scores of native bees inhabit California's cities, and one scientist is on a crusade to help them thrive.

Kana

by Chris Dombrowski
Photographs: Randy Beacham

A lyrical exploration of the wonders of nature, and a father's quest to express those to his children

Adopt a Raptor?

by Melissa Hart

The Cascade Raptor Center's adopt-a-bird program

The Fall of a Sparrow

by Sandra Steingraber

Notes on a ubiquitous avian neighbor and sometime friend.

Disappearing Animal Migrations

by David S. Wilcove

The world's greatest migrations are fading before our unseeing eyes.

Weeder

Photos and text by Jon Edwards

A decades-long working relationship with the slippery rocks of the Maine coast.

Serenading Belugas in the White Sea

by David Rothenberg

Photographs by Anna Koivisto

A clarinetist ventures forth to make music with the white whales of the White Sea

Pulling the Plug

by Robert Michael Pyle

Can a successful TV-totaler make the ultimate sacrifice of electrons?

Stalking the Wild Groundnut

by Tamara Dean
Photo by Jason Houston

Once a staple and the subject of much interest, the groundnut, a forgotten food, whets a contemporary curiosity.

Seeing Deer

by Craig Childs

They come down into the valleys in autumn, where chance meetings will seal their fates.

Don Berto’s Garden

by David G. Campbell
Illustrations by Molly Bang

The plants of the ancient Maya whisper their secrets to those who speak a shared language.

When You See a Skimmer

by David Gessner

You can become actually greedy for skimmers...

License to Kill

by Robert Michael Pyle

Killing other creatures, whether direct or by proxy, are an inevitable part of being among the living.

Structural Poetry

Paintings and text by Zsuzsanna Szegedi

Seen from a propitious angle, the bare bones of trees reveal the beauty of aging.

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