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Colour lithograph depicts illustrations of various birds, 1886. Photo: Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images
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Taking Flight: 10 Books for Birders
If you indulge in one of North America's most popular pastimes, get ready to soar with these scientific chronicles, naturalist journeys and memoirs of life with our feathered friends / BY Nathalie Atkinson / June 22nd, 2023
Like many amateur birders, I’ve become smitten with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Merlin Bird ID app. A Shazam-like tool for warbles, cheeps and chirrups, the free app taps into an ever-expanding database of birdsong to identify the avian world that surrounds us. Studies published last year in Scientific Reports suggest seeing or hearing birds is good for mental well-being (with the exception of the house sparrows’ daily 4a.m. serenade). Healing benefits aside, birds connect us with nature. And with many plant, animal and bird species on the brink of extinction, anything connecting humans to the natural world reinforces the urgent need to help protect them. Whether you’re an amateur ornithologist, casual bird enthusiast or into avian science, these titles should be flying onto your shelves.
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1Better Living Through BirdingSo nice, we’re mentioning it twice (it’s on our Pride Month listicle). Noted science writer (and former editor at Marvel Comics) offers up a memoir reflecting on nature and inclusion and being a queer Black birdwatcher on expeditions around the world. He’s also now the host of National Geographic documentary series Extraordinary Birder. (June 13)
So nice, we’re mentioning it twice (it’s on our Pride Month listicle). Noted science writer (and former editor at Marvel Comics) offers up a memoir reflecting on nature and inclusion and being a queer Black birdwatcher on expeditions around the world. He’s also now the host of National Geographic documentary series Extraordinary Birder. (June 13)
2Flight Paths Peabody Award-winning NPR science writer and naturalist, Heisman’s informative book tells the story of the imaginative methods developed to uncover the secrets of avian migration — a knowledge gap that was only bridged in the past few decades. From the early use of leg bands and binocular surveys to analysis of radioactive isotopes contained inside a feather — as well as the elaborate use of radar, the history and evolution of tracking methods helps shed light on creativity in the scientific process.
Peabody Award-winning NPR science writer and naturalist, Heisman’s informative book tells the story of the imaginative methods developed to uncover the secrets of avian migration — a knowledge gap that was only bridged in the past few decades. From the early use of leg bands and binocular surveys to analysis of radioactive isotopes contained inside a feather — as well as the elaborate use of radar, the history and evolution of tracking methods helps shed light on creativity in the scientific process.
3What an Owl KnowsTo wit to wee, tu-whit tu-woo — is a familiar refrain for Canadians who grew up watching Mr. Dressup — with an emphasis on the ‘woo’ part for those of us who continue to be captivated by the continuing adventures and spotting of Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl of Central Park. The New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way shares new scientific discoveries and research into the most majestic yet elusive of birds.
To wit to wee, tu-whit tu-woo — is a familiar refrain for Canadians who grew up watching Mr. Dressup — with an emphasis on the ‘woo’ part for those of us who continue to be captivated by the continuing adventures and spotting of Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl of Central Park. The New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way shares new scientific discoveries and research into the most majestic yet elusive of birds.
4George In her tender memoir, English poet and painter Hughes (the daughter of writers Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes) finds hope and purpose and comes to terms with her traumatic legacy in the five months she spent tending to an injured baby magpie that she happened upon at her property in Wales. If you loved Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk, this read about saving and being saved by a wild bird is for you.
In her tender memoir, English poet and painter Hughes (the daughter of writers Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes) finds hope and purpose and comes to terms with her traumatic legacy in the five months she spent tending to an injured baby magpie that she happened upon at her property in Wales. If you loved Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk, this read about saving and being saved by a wild bird is for you.
5Birding While IndianGannon, a professor of English and ethnic studies at the University of Nebraska and member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, describes the memoir as: “The untoward anti-memoir of a mixed-blood fellow who began birding around age eight, when he discovered that he was a neurotic introvert who preferred to be away from other people.” The essays about his lifelong hobby cover 1965 through 2018 and the racist politics of his South Dakota upbringing, reckoning with cultural identity as well as the bird encounters of his beloved hobby.
Gannon, a professor of English and ethnic studies at the University of Nebraska and member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, describes the memoir as: “The untoward anti-memoir of a mixed-blood fellow who began birding around age eight, when he discovered that he was a neurotic introvert who preferred to be away from other people.” The essays about his lifelong hobby cover 1965 through 2018 and the racist politics of his South Dakota upbringing, reckoning with cultural identity as well as the bird encounters of his beloved hobby.
6A Wing and a Prayer Birds are disappearing from our skies at an unprecedented pace (three billion — or almost a third of all adult birds in North America — have disappeared in the last few decades). In this chronicle, which feels more like an ecological travel journal, the veteran North Carolina-based journalists logged more than 25,000 miles over two years travelling the Americas in their vintage Airstream to report on some of the new technologies, breakthroughs and eclectic experiments being carried out by scientists and non-profits on the front lines who are trying to reverse this alarming trend. It’s a wake-up call.
Birds are disappearing from our skies at an unprecedented pace (three billion — or almost a third of all adult birds in North America — have disappeared in the last few decades). In this chronicle, which feels more like an ecological travel journal, the veteran North Carolina-based journalists logged more than 25,000 miles over two years travelling the Americas in their vintage Airstream to report on some of the new technologies, breakthroughs and eclectic experiments being carried out by scientists and non-profits on the front lines who are trying to reverse this alarming trend. It’s a wake-up call.
7The (Big) Year That Flew By Like the documentary Arjan’s Big Year, personality and personal history enliven the story of the Dutch birdwatcher, professional bird guide and conservationist’s world record-setting 2016 expedition, where he spotted 6,852 bird species in more than 40 countries on six continents in a single year.
Like the documentary Arjan’s Big Year, personality and personal history enliven the story of the Dutch birdwatcher, professional bird guide and conservationist’s world record-setting 2016 expedition, where he spotted 6,852 bird species in more than 40 countries on six continents in a single year.
8The Wise Hours This memoir commingles accounts of her son’s mysterious illness with outstanding observations about owls, in the prize-winning, Devon-based poet’s journey into the hushed, secret world of these elusive creatures. Darlington lyrically recounts field research not only in her native England but also in Finland, France, Spain and Serbia in search of other alluring species.
This memoir commingles accounts of her son’s mysterious illness with outstanding observations about owls, in the prize-winning, Devon-based poet’s journey into the hushed, secret world of these elusive creatures. Darlington lyrically recounts field research not only in her native England but also in Finland, France, Spain and Serbia in search of other alluring species.
9Find More Birds If seeing a bald eagle in the wild is on your bucket list, let the simple tips and tricks (from listening for certain sounds to seeking out and observing the right flowers that attract them) compiled by Brooklyn birder Heather Wolf — a software developer for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology — be your trusty handbook.
If seeing a bald eagle in the wild is on your bucket list, let the simple tips and tricks (from listening for certain sounds to seeking out and observing the right flowers that attract them) compiled by Brooklyn birder Heather Wolf — a software developer for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology — be your trusty handbook.
10Birdgirl “Birdwatching has never felt like a hobby, or a pastime I can pick up and put down,” the British Bangladeshi ornithology prodigy behind the popular Birdgirl blog created at age 11, now 21 and with a PhD, writes; “but a thread running through the pattern of my life, so tightly woven in that there’s no way of pulling it free and leaving the rest of my life intact.” As she charts her family’s sojourns around the world (and her mother’s deepening mental health crisis), the natural world offers her solace and she becomes a passionate advocate for environmental preservation.
“Birdwatching has never felt like a hobby, or a pastime I can pick up and put down,” the British Bangladeshi ornithology prodigy behind the popular Birdgirl blog created at age 11, now 21 and with a PhD, writes; “but a thread running through the pattern of my life, so tightly woven in that there’s no way of pulling it free and leaving the rest of my life intact.” As she charts her family’s sojourns around the world (and her mother’s deepening mental health crisis), the natural world offers her solace and she becomes a passionate advocate for environmental preservation.
11Tits, Boobies and Loons Bonus title: published last year but still irresistible. From the wigeon, little bustard and intermediate egret to the fluffy-backed tit-babbler and monotonous lark, this is the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader of bird identification guides. The explanatory wit that accompanies each understated illustration of ornithology’s weirdly monikered feathered creatures means you’re more likely to never forget them.
Bonus title: published last year but still irresistible. From the wigeon, little bustard and intermediate egret to the fluffy-backed tit-babbler and monotonous lark, this is the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader of bird identification guides. The explanatory wit that accompanies each understated illustration of ornithology’s weirdly monikered feathered creatures means you’re more likely to never forget them.