Bauer Media’s Bird Watching magazine celebrates its 40th Anniversary with the March issue, on sale Thursday 19 February. As one of the UK’s best-selling consumer birding magazines, the publisher says the special milestone issue includes:
- Flying high – the once-scarce species that have thrived since 1986.
- Britain’s 100 Best Birding Sites – the places that have shaped UK birdwatching.
- How digital photography altered birdwatching forever.
- Changing gear – optical technology then and now.
- Key birding figures on the impact Bird Watching has made.
Bird Watching is the official magazine for #My200BirdYear, the publisher continued. For its big anniversary year, the title offers the opportunity to sign up for its challenge – encouraging birders to see more birds than ever! There’s a target of 200 species, and birders don’t need any fancy equipment, though some binoculars may help. You can do it in the UK, deep in the Amazon Rainforest, or anywhere else you go. Help and advice appears in every issue of the magazine and there’ll be regular Readers’ Days to meet the Bird Watching team, get tips from them and reserve wardens, and add new species to your list at some of the UK’s best birding spots. Readers can join today here.
Bird Watching magazine Editor, Matt Merritt, said: “Looking back into the archives in preparation for our 40th anniversary issue has been a great pleasure, but I’ve also been struck by how closely Bird Watching has stuck to the aims laid out in the March 1986 issue. It wanted to inform and to further the cause of conservation, but above all to speak for the ordinary birdwatcher and help them enjoy their birding to the maximum. We’re still doing that, I hope, and it’s a challenge but a privilege to be taking our loyal readers forward into a new era.”
Bird Watching, priced £6.25, is available on newsstands nationwide or to purchase online at Great Magazines.
The magazine recorded an average combined circulation of 19,271 (up 7.9%) in the latest round of ABC results for 2025.
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