The Armchair Birder: Discovering the Secret Lives of Familiar Birds

by John Yow

Overview

While birding literature is filled with tales of expert observers spotting rare species in exotic locales, John Yow reminds us that the most fascinating birds can be the ones perched right outside our windows. In thirty-five engaging and sometimes irreverent vignettes, Yow reveals the fascinating lives of the birds we see nearly every day. Following the seasons, he covers forty-two species, discussing the improbable, unusual, and comical aspects of his subjects' lives. Yow offers his own observations, anecdotes, and stories as well as those of America's classic bird writers, such as John James Audubon, Arthur Bent, and Edward Forbush. This unique addition to bird literature combines the fascination of bird life with the pleasure of good reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807888780
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	04/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

John Yow is a freelance writer based in Acworth, Georgia, and former senior editor at Longstreet Press in Atlanta. He is author of The Armchair Birder Goes Coastal.
John Yow is a freelance writer based in Acworth, Georgia, and former senior editor at Longstreet Press in Atlanta. He is the author of The Armchair Birder Goes Coastal.

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction A Note on the Sources Spring
Carolina Wren
Eastern Phoebe
Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
Eastern Bluebird
Belted Kingfisher
Scarlet Tanager and Summer Tanager
Brown-Headed Cowbird
Redheads
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Red-Headed Woodpecker
Mourning Dove Summer
Cedar Waxwing
American Goldfinch
Wood Thrush
Yellow-Billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Northern Mockingbird
Goatsuckers
Whip-Poor-Will
Chuck-Will's-Widow
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Northern Cardinal Autumn
Wild Turkey
Canada Goose
American Crow
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Bald Eagle
Loud Owls
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
"Confusing Fall Warblers"
Winter
Sandhill Crane
Blue Jay
Bobwhite
Pileated Woodpecker
American Robin
The Titmouse Family
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Osprey
Chicken Hawks?
Red-Tailed Hawk
Cooper's Hawk Afterword Sources Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Who says you have to travel to faraway places to watch birds? The delightful essays in John Yow's The Armchair Birder take readers on a fascinating voyage of discovery in their own backyards.—Tim Gallagher, author of Falcon Fever and The Grail Bird

Editorial Reviews

Organized by season and illustrated with black-and-white images from John J. Audubon's Birds of America, this volume chronicles freelance writer Yow's observations of birds at his feeders or in nearby Georgia woods. He adds facts, descriptive quotes, and amusing anecdotes from Audubon's writings, natural history accounts, and contemporary ornithological research. Stories about turkeys feeding their chicks spicebush buds to prevent illness or newly hatched bobwhite chicks running with shells still attached mix with observations of more familiar birds. Similar to Mike O'Connor's Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches: And Other Answers to Bird Questions You Know You Want To Ask, this work ably illustrates facets of bird behavior and instinct, acknowledging their unique and often odd adaptations to the natural and human worlds. Written in a humorous, conversational tone, this enjoyable read is a good choice for developing birders.
—Sally Bickley

Library Journal

Yow lets his gentle ruminations and finely observed truths lull the reader toward a quiet adventure into the 'ordinary' birds around them. . . . Yow is the ultimate gentleman birder, highlighting the omnipresent glory and understated miracle of these feathered friends.—BookPage

Yow discusses 40 species of birds. . . . [and] whets your appetite for knowing what they are up to. . . . [With] stunning black-and-white drawings of each bird by John James Audubon.—Booklist

Ably illustrates facets of bird behavior and instinct, acknowledging their unique adaptations to the natural and human worlds. Written in a humorous, conversational tone, this enjoyable read is a good choice for developing birders.—Library Journal

Among a list of favorite things in life must be an armchair. If yours is near a window, you can observe the most active creatures this spring—birds—while dipping into John Yow's generous new offering.—Asheville Citizen Times

Finally, a bird book for the rest of us! John Yow has empowered . . . us to sit back, to let the birds come to us and to enjoy the sights and sounds. . . . Secrets of birds and birding are out at last!—Anniston Star

An excellent literary introduction to forty-two of the most common North American birds. . . . Colorful and engaging.—Englewood Review of Books

Fun to read, and anyone, regardless of experience level, will learn something from this book (probably many somethings).—www.birderslibrary.com

Whether you favor random dips into the book, or prefer to follow Yow systematically through the seasons, you will be sure to learn something new about the 42 species of birds that can be seen right outside your own window.—Virginia Wildlife Magazine

More than bare facts and field marks, the book offers observations, anecdotes, and stories.—Abstracts of Public Administration, Development, and Environment

From the Publisher