YOUR LIBRARY

The newest Princeton University Field Guide is a masterful text for adventurous birders, seasoned travelers and anyone looking for a great book to digest. Considering that all birders have a field guide to the birds of North America, this volume is the next step. Most birders plan a warm-weather birding trip, and some of us travel to favorite destinations in such exotic locations as Panama, Costa Rica and Belize. This book has all those exciting birding locals covered, and the birds you encounter there are phenomenal.

Young birders – or children who might become birders – will be dazzled by the amazing photographs, artwork and bird lore in Fly With Me - A Celebration of Birds through Pictures, Poems and Stories. Written for kids aged 4 to 8 years old, this nearly 200-page hardcover book is a celebration of all things birds.

Birding is like going on a treasure hunt. That’s the pitch from author Jonathan Alderfer in his Bird Guide of North America, and I can’t think of a better way to introduce kids to birding. This National Geographic publication is a fun, engaging way to excite kids about birds, birding and bird identification. A warning to adults: You’ll really like it too!

How do you react to a flock of fall gulls congregated on a beach or searching for food above a wind-blown lake. There are big gulls, little gulls and medium-sized gulls. Some are dark-colored, others white and gray, most are mottled. Even some experienced birders blanch at the sight, happy to identify a few individuals and leave the rest as “gull species.” With this new book from Pete Dunne and Kevin Karlson, beginning birders and seasoned pros will look forward to filtering through flocks of gulls. It will be fun!

Do you dream about being a professional ornithologist? If so, or even if you just want to immerse yourself in the wonder of birds, the Handbook of Bird Biology is for you. It’s loaded with 1,150 photos, illustrations and figures to help concepts come alive. Eighteen ornithologists contributed to the 15 chapters that fill more than 700 pages and address ornithology on a global scale.

The American Birding Association’s series of state field guides are great companion books to your North American field guide that will enhance your statewide birding experiences – both in the field and in your library. If you’re lucky enough to live in the states of Florida, California, Texas, New Jersey, Minnesota, Arizona, Michigan, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Colorado, or the Carolinas, you’re in luck! These ABA state field guides are already published and available for purchase. Likewise, if you’re planning a trip to one of these great birding destination states, you have a new source of information and inspiration to help you follow through with your travel plans.

 

Birds are everywhere. That’s the premise of David Lindo’s guide to and appreciation for the pleasures of urban birding. Lindo is a Londoner and this book focuses on urban birding in Great Britain, but this shouldn’t dissuade Yanks from enjoying this book. In fact, this increased its appeal for me. It was fun to compare my urban birding experiences and techniques with his, noting both the similarities and differences between the two continents. And, it’s always entertaining to read how Brits approach birding.

William Young’s 99 short essays are equally appealing to novice birders and seasoned veterans. Newcomers to birds will be intrigued to see just how prevalent birds and bird appreciation is in our society. Birders will delight to see their passion vividly revealed in Young’s reflections from biology, ecology, literature, music, history, linguistics, politics, sports and entertainment, to name a few.

 

If you suddenly decided to take up golf or tennis, you’d be wise to seek instruction to ensure that your swing was progressing properly to fully develop your game and enjoy the sport. Birding is no different. A little instruction and wisdom can enhance your skills and make the sport more rewarding. Ted Floyd’s free downloadable book, Let’s Go Birding, is just the place to start.

 

I have long been a fan and follower of Brian Wheeler, and this book can be counted as his best, especially when combined with its sister volume Birds of Prey of the East. Not only is this now the definitive field guide for birds of prey, but it provides a great wealth of information about raptors that readers can glean with gusto. At the heart of this new field guide are the beautiful yet functional illustrations by the author – Wow!

 

This book can take you beyond just identifying raptors – it will help you savor them. The 72 plates are packed with original illustrations depicting species in the same positions with side-by-side comparisons. One of my pet peeves is field guides that describe a key field mark in the text, but they fail to offer an appropriate comparison in the illustrations – no issues with that in Birds of Prey of the East.

It’s not every day you encounter a poem about an Archaeopteryx! This is just one surprise in this endearing book from Janet Ruth, a PhD ornithologist whose unique perspective will touch birders’ souls. Who else, aside from a birder, would highlight in a poem the color bands of a Grasshopper Sparrow, the subject of a research project?

 

If you want to attract more birds to your yard and enjoy those birds better yet, this is the book for you. And there is no better authority to teach us than author Jim Carpenter, founder of the wildly successful Wild Birds Unlimited retail stores. Carpenter’s expertise and insight have been honed not only through study, but through interactions with thousands of backyard birding and nature enthusiasts.

 

The relationship twists and turns in The Narrow Edge are almost as complicated and surprising as those in a Harlequin romance novel. Join author Deborah Cramer as she explores the fascinating connection between Hemisphere-trotting shorebirds and the living fossils upon which their survival depends.

Looking forward to a new summer thriller? Give The Feather Thief a try.