Subject: Field Notes Crisis
Date: Nov 22 22:42:55 1998
From: "Gene Revelas" - grevelas at striplin.com


Greetings members of Tweeters-
A nationwide birding crisis of sorts is impending. Field Notes is in
trouble and may go under. Field Notes is a journal that was recently taken
over by
the American Birding Association from National Audubon Society. It was
initially known as Audubon Field Notes, but many years ago the name was
changed to
American Birds. Under this title national subscription reached 22000. Then
Audubon started to alter the magazine and subscription fell to abut 2500.
The ABA took over the magazine about 1 year ago and sales have increased to
7500 or so, but 11000 are needed for the ABA to break even. At current
levels,
the ABA might not be able to keep the magazine afloat.
Why should you care? Because Field Notes is the premier forum in North
America for bird status and distribution information. Its loss would
devastate our ability to track and understand changes in bird status and
distribution
on a continental basis.
What would you get from a Field Notes subscription? An incredibly valuable
look at what is going on in Washington and the rest of the country. In
Field Notes, North America is broken into 27 regions. Each provides a
quarterly
synopsis of what has been seen.This is not that different from what you
might see in WOSNews or Oregon Birds, excepting that information on the
significance of individual sightings is usually provided. Additionally,
you get a
continent wide look at what is happening. These regional reports are just
part of the
package, however. There are also cutting edge articles discussing exciting
information on bird distribution. Recent and upcoming articles include
Tropical Kingbirds North of Mexico, The Nazca Booby in North America (a
likely future split from Masked Booby) featuring both ID and previous
records,
Frigatebirds in Western North America, and an article by Michael Patterson
on this spring's Bristle-thighed Curlew invasion. These are all accompanied
by
stunning photos. As Field Notes continues to return to its previous form
(when it was American Birds) a greater number and variety of such articles
are to
be expected.
Another nice feature is a photo gallery of each seasons highlights from
around the country. An opportunity to see some nice photos of nice birds
and ponder the excitement of having been there. Other improvements and
enticements are under consideration. They will never happen if the magazine
folds.

To subscribe or for further information, please contact the ABA at
800-634-7736 between 8 am and 5 pm mountain time. Subscription price is
$20/year. I would also be happy to provide any info I can. Also, please
note that I am doing this out of my own volition, not on the behest of the
ABA.

Steven Mlodinow
SGMlod at aol.com