Did you know bird watching is North America's most popular outdoor activity? A fascination with birds often begins in one's own backyard. Eventually, local parks become the place to get out and observe even more species.
Whether you're just starting to learn about birds or you have enjoyed bird watching for many years, there are many interesting birding books available at your local library.
Birds of Vancouver and Lower Mainland by R. Wayne Campbell is a useful book for those wanting to learn the basics of bird identification while observing birds in our local communities. The species included are some of the familiar birds that we often see locally and there is even a handy map of bird watching locations in the Vancouver area. The abundance chart accompanying each bird description indicates the relative occurrence of a species throughout the year. Monthly sections indicate the time of year when a species is most likely to be seen.
Wildlife photographer Marie Read captures the behaviour of birds with her beautiful photographs and the accompanying detailed descriptions. Her book Secret Lives of Common Birds: Enjoying Bird Behavior Through the Seasons is great for those bird watchers who are interested in discovering the complex ways in which birds relate to one another. The book is divided into seasons to show the wide range of bird behaviours we can see throughout the year and there is a good list of sources included for further reading.
Biologist Richard Cannings shares his experiences gathered over a lifetime of studying birds in his book An Enchantment of Birds: Memories from a Birder's Life. Cannings was born into a nature-loving family and both his father and grandfather kept diaries filled with their observations of flora and fauna. It was only natural for Cannings to keep a journal for jotting down notes about the birds he saw each day. His witty observations about bird behaviours combined with his love of birds makes for an entertaining read.
The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong by Donald Kroodsma provides the most in-depth discussion of bird songs you could imagine. Learn how each species acquires its songs and how songs vary from place to place, and explore the complexities of bird song. This can be helpful when birders begin to notice individual bird songs as they strive to spot each elusive bird during their daily hikes.
Laura Erickson's 101 Ways to Help Birds explains how people can help birds around their yard and in the wild. It may not seem that birds are in trouble - after all, we still see crows, pigeons and geese everywhere. Still, declining bird populations have long been a concern. A great many birds, including songbirds, are losing their natural habitats as we continue to develop our cities. These species are in trouble and this book offers many ways that can protect them.
National Geographic Birding Essentials by Jonathan Alderfer and Jon L. Dunn is user-friendly and provides practical information about bird identification. Birding would be much easier if every individual species looked like the images in your field guide. The challenge of bird identification lies in learning the negligible differences between sexes and among age groups and geographical populations. This book will help you improve your identification skills. There are full colour photographs with labels highlighting the key features. There is also information on birding optics and additional gear you may need.
Bernd Heinrich's passion and dedication to studying animal behaviour are evident in his book, Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds. Heinrich becomes a "raven father" when he adopts fledgling ravens in order to study their daily routines. Enjoy his fascinating observations of ravens as well as his sketches, photographs and vivid descriptions of each new discovery.
Drop by your local library and chat with the friendly staff to find more books about birds and some great online resources on this topic.
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published on Wednesdays. Susan Clark works at Terry Fox Library in Port Coquitlam.
