Book Reviews

These are personal book reviews of a variety of bird- and birding-related titles.

Book Review: Wesley the Owl

Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl by Stacey O'Brien. First published 2008. As reviewed and pictured: Softcover, 237 pages. A few months ago, I was holding Pip, FCWR's education Barn Owl (pictured below), at a public program. A woman came up to...

Book Review: Tales of a Low-Rent Birder

Tales of a Low-Rent Birder by Pete Dunne. First published 1986. As reviewed and pictured: softcover, 157 pages. Pete Dunne's Tales of a Low-Rent Birder is subtitled 19 Flight of Fancy by America's Second-Best-Known Bird-watcher. The book's forward comes from the best-known birder of the time, Roger Tory...

Book Review: A Supremely Bad Idea

A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All by Luke Dempsey. First published 2008. As reviewed and pictured: softcover, 264 pages. I've been blogging about my birding "adventures" for a few years now. I started this blog way back in late 2005, but...

Book Review: How to Be a Better Birder

How to Be a Better Birder by Derek Lovitch. Published 2012. As reviewed and pictured: softcover, 192 pages. I haven't been out birding as much as I would like lately. That means it has been very good time to catch up on my bird reading. What better place to...

Book Review: The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds

The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds by Richard Crossley. First published 2011. As reviewed and pictured: Softcover flexibound, 530 pages. I have to admit, I've been looking forward to this book for well over a year (some sample pages have been available online since at least late 2009). Now...

Book Review: The Curse of the Labrador Duck

The Curse of the Labrador Duck: My Obsessive Quest to the Edge of Extinction by Glen Chilton. First published September 2009. The Labrador Duck, Camptorhynchus labradorius, was a striking black and white eider-like sea duck that was never known to be common, and is believed to be the first...