Bird Watcher's Digest

Bird Watcher's Digest is a bimonthly birding magazine that has been in publication since 1978.Bird Watcher's Digest was the first consumer bird watching magazine, and is the only family-owned and operated bird watching magazine.

BWD was launched in Marietta, Ohio, by William and Elsa Thompson. Knowing very little about publishing, the Thompsons mailed out 32,000 copies of their first magazine in September 1978.

In 1994, Bill Thompson, Jr., left BWD to become vice president of his alma mater, Marietta College. His wife Elsa and their children still work for the company: Bill Thompson III as editor; Andy Thompson as publisher; and Laura Thompson as circulation director.

Today the business has expanded beyond the magazine. The company publishes a bimonthly newsletter (Backyard Bird Newsletter) and has expanded into other bird-watching products, books and booklets plus the Bird Watcher's Digest Original Birdhouse Book (1979).

Many well-known individuals in the birding community have written for Bird Watcher’s Digest, such as former president Jimmy Carter, Roger Tory Peterson, David Allen Sibley, Kenn Kaufman, Betty White, Eirik A. T. Blom, Julie Zickefoose, David Bird and Scott Shalaway.

Bird Watcher’s Digest occasionally partners with and supports Wild Birds Unlimited and Wild Bird Centers as well as bird-oriented organizations including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Wildlife Refuge Association, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, and other nature and birding festivals.

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