Must-Read Birding Books and Field Guides
For all the pet and bird enthusiasts out there, these bird books are the perfect reads for you! Find comprehensive field guides and essential books covering bird watching basics. Happy birding!
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Add to BookshelfBetter Living Through Birding
by Christian Cooper
Christian Cooper is a self-described “Blerd” (Black nerd), an avid comics fan and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop to rest in Central Park, just a subway ride away from where he lives in New York City. In Better Living Through Birding, Cooper tells the story of his extraordinary life leading up to the now-infamous incident in Central Park and shows how a life spent looking up at the birds prepared him, in the most uncanny of ways, to be a gay, Black man in America today. Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and primer on the art of birding, this is Cooper’s story of learning to claim and defend space for himself and others like him.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Backyard Bird Chronicles
by Amy Tan
In search of peace, Amy Tan turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds visiting her yard. But what began as an attempt to find solace turned into something far greater—an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired. Tracking the natural beauty that surrounds us, The Backyard Bird Chronicles maps the passage of time through daily entries, thoughtful questions, and beautiful original sketches. With boundless charm and wit, she charts her foray into birding and the natural wonders of the world.
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$36.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Turning to Birds
by Lili Taylor
Eye-opening essays about searching for peace in the cacophony of birds and discovering a world of meaning in small moments — from award-winning actor Lili Taylor. Throughout Turning to Birds, Taylor encourages mindfulness, inviting readers to be present and fully engaged with the world around them. Taylor’s lyrical prose and thoughtful meditations on both the art we make and the art we discover around us create a sense of intimacy and wonder, inviting readers to see the world through new eyes and to find joy in the most unexpected places.
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$30.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Bedside Book of Birds
by Graeme Gibson
Novelist and avid birdwatcher, Graeme Gibson spent years collecting this gorgeously illustrated celebration of centuries of human response to the delights of the feathered tribes. This stunning assemblage of words and images is an extraordinary tribute to the venerable relationship between humans and bird.
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$40.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Sibley Guide to Birds, Second Edition
by David Allen Sibley
The publication of The Sibley Guide to Birds, First Edition quickly established David Allen Sibley as the author and illustrator of the nation’s supreme and most comprehensive guide to birds. Used by millions of birders from novices to the most expert, The Sibley Guide became the standard by which natural history guides are measured.
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$45.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Genius of Birds
by Jennifer Ackerman
Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. According to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores their newly discovered brilliance and how it came about.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Thing with Feathers
by Noah Strycker
The Thing with Feathers explores the astonishing homing abilities of pigeons, the good deeds of fairy-wrens, the influential flocking abilities of starlings, the deft artistry of bowerbirds, the extraordinary memories of nutcrackers, the lifelong loves of albatrosses, and other mysteries—revealing why birds do what they do, and offering a glimpse into our own nature.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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What It’s Like to Be a Bird
by David Allen Sibley
In What It’s Like to Be a Bird, David Sibley answers the most frequently asked questions about the birds we see most often. This special, large-format volume is geared as much to nonbirders as it is to the out-and-out obsessed, covering more than two hundred species and including more than 330 new illustrations by the author. While its focus is on familiar backyard birds—blue jays, nuthatches, chickadees — it also examines certain species that can be fairly easily observed, such as the seashore-dwelling Atlantic puffin.
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$35.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Slow Birding
by Joan E. Strassmann
In this inspiring guide to the art of slow birding, Strassmann tells colorful stories of the most common birds to be found in the United States — birds we often see but might not have considered deeply before. For example, northern cardinals thrive in the city, where they are free from predators. White brows on a male white-throated sparrow indicate that he is likely to be a philanderer. Slow Birding is the perfect guide for the birder looking to appreciate the beauty of the birds right in their own backyard, observing keenly how their behaviors change from day to day and season to season.
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$28.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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National Audubon Society Birds of North America
by National Audubon Society
Updated for the first time in decades, this unparalleled reference work is the most comprehensive and authoritative guide to the birds of North America and now includes the latest information on conservation status and the effects of climate change–from the world’s most trusted name in birding, beloved by millions of backyard enthusiasts and experts alike.
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$49.95Buy from Other Retailers:
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National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds-Eastern Region
by National Audubon Society
Virtually every bird found in eastern North America is brought to life in this portable guide, an essential companion in the field and a staple in any birdwatcher’s library. It features a durable vinyl binding and brilliant full-color photographic identification pictures arranged for quick access and definitive text, including information on the bird’s voice, nesting habits, habitat, range, and interesting behaviors.
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$26.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds–Western Region
by National Audubon Society
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$26.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Mincing Mockingbird Guide to Troubled Birds
by Mockingbird The Mincing
A humorous, illustrated, pocket field guide describing where to find—or where to avoid—the most disturbed North American birds. The Mincing Mockingbird Guide to Troubled Birds allows anyone to quickly identify psychotic, violent or mentally unstable bird species—and provides the perfect gag gift for your bird loving (or fearing) friends and family.
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$20.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Bird Way
by Jennifer Ackerman
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Birds, a radical investigation into the bird way of being, and the recent scientific research that is dramatically shifting our understanding of birds — how they live and how they think.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Beak of the Finch
by Jonathan Weiner
On a desert island in the heart of the Galapagos archipelago, where Darwin received his first inklings of the theory of evolution, two scientists, Peter and Rosemary Grant, have spent twenty years proving that Darwin did not know the strength of his own theory. For among the finches of Daphne Major, natural selection is neither rare nor slow: it is taking place by the hour, and we can watch. In this dramatic story of groundbreaking scientific research, Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin’s finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Sibley Birder’s Life List and Field Diary
by David Allen Sibley
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$22.00Buy from Other Retailers:
