Favourite Book About Birds/Birding? (1 Viewer)

[John Cantelo]

Some of these have been mentioned upthread; I'd class them all as being in the 'twitching autobiography' category; although they are very different in terms of literary style, I have to say all were enjoyable reads, I most recently devoured 'Birding on Borrowed Time':
Neil Hayward: Lost Among the Birds (US year list / mental health issues)
Adrian Riley: Arrivals and Rivals (British Isles year list / other lister issues)
Ruth Miller / Alan Davies: The Biggest Twitch (World year list / warning: contains mild sexual references)
Noah Stryker: Birding without Borders (World year list / great travel writing at cost of being selective about places / birds)
Phoebe Snetsinger: Birding on Borrowed Time (World life list / less novelistic although very candid, more catalogue of birds & places*)

I've not read 'The Big Twitch' yet, but a copy of Ken Kaufman's 'Kingbird Highway' just dropped through my door earlier today. I've only read the first page of the preface, but first impressions are head and shoulders above the rest in terms of the quality of prose - it is compared to Kerouac's 'On the Road' on the cover which is a very high bar to reach, but I can already see why the comparison is made.
To me Neil Hayward and Noah Stryker also pass literary muster, insofar as they are well written and entertaining beyond their birding subject matter - although I'm perhaps not the best person to judge this, as I'd just as happily read a series of species lists.

(* - maybe unfair, as she was killed while birding and the book was compiled from her manuscript, so she didn't have any chance to refine it)

I'm a big fan of Ken Kaufman's 'Kingbird Highway' which I think remains the best of the genre. The books by Noah Stryker and Neil Hayward are also very good but for me, the latter just edges out Stryker in terms of reading enjoyment. I'm not a great fan of 'Birding on Borrowed Time' though and tend to be happier with books that are selective about the birds they mention; dare I admit that I find passing mentions of multiple unfamiliar birds rather boring. I'm currently working through a couple of collections of Pete Dunne's essays ("Tales of a Low-Rent Birder" etc). I'm finding them a little hit-and-miss (probably due to my failings as a reader rather than his as a writer) but the best are very good.

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Sean Dooley, the big twitch, is the second best big year book of all time in my opinion, after only Kingbird Highway; like Kaufman or Pete Dunne, Dooley is a genuine writer as well as an obsessed birder; great humour as well!

 

[cheshirebirder]

Wild America by Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher .
Like many on here I’ve enjoyed contemporary tales of twitching and world listing , but the book above takes you back a couple of decades to before the massive expansion of birding among the population. Such an easy read evocative of a different time with the bonus of the observation of real Ivory-billed woodpeckers.

 

[John Cantelo]

Wild America by Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher .
Like many on here I’ve enjoyed contemporary tales of twitching and world listing , but the book above takes you back a couple of decades to before the massive expansion of birding among the population. Such an easy read evocative of a different time with the bonus of the observation of real Ivory-billed woodpeckers.

I agree 'Wild America', which I've not read for decades, is a great book which I must re-read somewhen (although I need to get a copy first!). I've just finished reading Scott Weidensaul's "Return to Wild America" which, as the name suggests, I revisits many of the areas explored by Peterson & Fisher. I had assumed that it too would be an account of a 'Big Year' but it's a very different book. It's not got the same 'road trip' approach and I often found it a bit depressing as it highlights many of the negative things that have happed to America's wildlife since 'Wild America' was published.

 

[amears]

I really need to read Kingbird Highway. I’d also like to read about those first hand IB Woodpecker sightings. Otherwise, I have read a few big year travelogues - but not all of them - and it seems to me it’s really easy to write a very dull one.

I’ll drop in another plug for Chris G’s Jewel Hunter. Dull it is not, and I think it works really well if you randomly choose a chapter in which to immerse yourself.

 

[Green Sandpiper]

Illustrated Guide To Birds And Birdwatching by Neil Ardley. My grandparents bought me it when I was about 9, and it was my first 'bird book'. Will always have sentimental value for me, and is on my bookshelf, thanks to Amazon. Unusually, it seems, for my generation I didn't have The Observer's Book of Birds.

The Collins guide is the best 'technical' book I have. Tales of a Tribe makes me feel part of a community as well.

The worst book was Bearded Tit by Rory McGrath.

 

[oncebittern86]

Wild America is the best book on birding I've read, an excellent read.

In addition, Stephen Moss's A Bird in the Bush is really good for explaining birding culture.

I referenced ‘A Bird in the Bush’ in my own book ‘Bird Therapy’ and rate it incredibly highly.

 

[nick scarle]

I've just finished Birds in a Cage by Derek Niemann, a surprising and enjoyable book.

 

[JoeGBirder]

You should read "The Bird Way"

 

[John Cantelo]

Lev Parikian's 'Why do birds suddenly disappear?' and his subsequent book 'Into the Tangled Bank' are both excellent - full of quiet self-deprecating humour but also thoughtful, considered and, dare I say, even 'serious' in parts if you look beyond the delightful gentle drollery. I also greatly enjoyed 'Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl' by Jonathan C. Slaght (doubtless helped by having seen the owl in question).

One to look out for this month is Jon Dunn's book on hummingbirds 'The Glitter in the Green' which has had stellar reviews and has been much lauded by very distinguished nature writers like Tim Dee & Stephen Moss. It's surprising that a writer of such remarkable talent only had his first discursive/literary book (as distinct from his guides to sea mammals) published as recently as 2018 ('Orchid Summer'). I'll be surprised if his latest effort doesn't win a clutch of awards & hope that he'll make up for lost time & write more.

​