Books about Birds

 

The above three books were authored by the  ornithologist at Ornithology.net and are available from various sellers on the web and your local bookstore. 

Latin for Bird Lovers contains the meanings of over 3000 Latin/scientific names used in the bird world. While Latin is officially an "ancient" language, it's useful in so many areas of modern life, including bird watching. Birdwatchers need a universal language when they're speaking about birds, since common names vary by region. Latin for Bird Lovers answers this call, introducing more than 3,000 words to describe birds. Packed with tips on using Latin to identify birds by color, size, and behavior, this gorgeously illustrated, informative guide is perfect for birdwatchers, nature lovers, and both experts and beginners in ornithology and etymology.

The Art of the Bird touches on a few centuries of bird art, much of it breathtakingly beautiful. The human history of depicting birds dates to as many as 40,000 years ago, when Paleolithic artists took to cave walls to capture winged and other beasts. But the art form has reached its peak in the last four hundred years. In The Art of the Bird, devout birder and ornithologist Roger J. Lederer celebrates this heyday of avian illustration in forty artists’ profiles, beginning with the work of Flemish painter Frans Snyders in the early 1600s and continuing through to contemporary artists like Elizabeth Butterworth, famed for her portraits of macaws. Stretching its wings across time, taxa, geography, and artistic style—from the celebrated realism of American conservation icon John James Audubon, to Elizabeth Gould’s nineteenth-century renderings of museum specimens from the Himalayas, to Swedish artist and ornithologist Lars Jonsson’s ethereal watercolors—this book is feathered with art and artists as diverse and beautiful as their subjects. A soaring exploration of our fascination with the avian form, The Art of the Bird is a testament to the ways in which the intense observation inherent in both art and science reveals the mysteries of the natural world.

Beaks, Bones, and Bird Songs is all about birds' adaptation for survival. When we see a bird flying from branch to branch happily chirping, it is easy to imagine they lead a simple life of freedom, flight, and feathers. What we don’t see is the arduous, life-threatening challenges they face at every moment. Beaks, Bones, and Bird Songs guides the reader through the myriad, and often almost miraculous, things that birds do every day to merely stay alive. Like the goldfinch, which manages extreme weather changes by doubling the density of its plumage in winter. Or urban birds, which navigate traffic through a keen understanding of posted speed limits. In engaging and accessible prose, Roger Lederer shares how and why birds use their sensory abilities to see ultraviolet, find food without seeing it, fly thousands of miles without stopping, change their songs in noisy cities, navigate by smell, and much more.

 

From soaring eagles to colorful parrots, Discoveriing Birds explores the diverse array of birds that inhabit our world. Learn about each species' life cycle, nesting habits, migration patterns, behaviors, physical characteristics, and distinct songs.

Inside you'll find:

Profiles of 100+ amazing birds across a range of habitats
Fun facts highlighting the fascinating features of each species
Incredible full-page illustrations
Designed to inspire curiosity and a love of nature, Discovering Birds promises to encourage a lifelong appreciation of learning and the great outdoors.

A beautiful guidebook and fifty-card matching game for the whole family, Vintage Birds features twenty-five of the world's most striking and notable birds from around the world.

The accompanying eighty-page illustrated guidebook is full of vintage full-color illustrations by John and Elizabeth Gould, two of the most famous ornithological illustrators in history, as well as descriptions of each of the birds and its most distinguishing and interesting characteristics. Memorize and learn about Fairy Bluebird from the Philippines, Major Mitchell's Cockatoo from Australia, the European Goldfinch, Eurasian Blue Tit, and many more.

Vintage Birds is an ideal gift for birders, art enthusiasts, or anyone looking for a fun, educational game to play with their friends and family.