The Birds in the Oaks: Secret Voices of the Western Woods

by Jack Gedney

The first book on the birds of California's oaks, from our most lyrical and observant wanderer of the woods.

With charm and delight, The Birds in the Oaks introduces us to the birds who burrow, forage, and soar among California's keystone trees. The mighty oak hosts a multitude of avian denizens—from canopy hoppers to ground nesters to short-billed surface pluckers—who rely on the trees' well-stocked pantry of acorns, insects, and flowers for sustenance and shelter. Spunky kinglets, crimson-eyed towhees, cuddle-craving bushtits, intrepid nuthatches, and impudent wrens are among the many memorable cast members in this pageant of oak-allied birds.

Jack Gedney lyrically conveys the beautiful, comic, and endearing qualities of over fifteen bird species, each profile paired with an illustration by Angelina Gedney. His bird-filled tales of adaptation, ingenuity, and sheer persistence also bring to light the warp and weft of cross-species interdependence. The Birds in the Oaks reveals to us the utter joy of birds, the superabundant world of the oaks, and the innumerable interconnections these living beings create.

Genres: Birds

232 pages, Hardcover

Published October 15, 2024

Reviews

[Daphyne]

Gedney covers 16/17 birds that are all in some way connected to our local CA oaks from the spotted towhee ground forager digging through leaf litter to tiny bushtits knitting together their wondrous nests to the kestrel moving into a woodpecker cavity. I enjoyed this book so much and learned a lot about how to spot some of the more elusive birds.

[Kevin]

I loved this book! I finished each chapter not only knowing more about each species, but also appreciating them more.

I live in San Francisco and grew up in the East Bay and I consider myself a birder who also loves to read about birds, but I don't think you have to be an enthusiast, or a California resident, to enjoy the book. It's filled with personal anecdotes and little asides like the passage on Emerson and chickadees or the appeal to taking a more joyful and positive approach to bird conservation in the California Quails chapter:

The truth is that I pay attention to birds because they bring me happiness, I encourage paying attention to birds because I think it will bring others happiness, and I think recognition of our broadly shared self-interest will be better for the birds than more abstract moralizing that lacks crucial grounding in personal delight.

p.s. One of my favorite sections might be the ending to the Townsend's Warbler chapter. Now I have the sudden urge to pack my bag with my binoculars and a journal and skip town, or just find an oak nearby, and head out on a birding adventure.

[Scott Callow]

I liked this book so much and became so emotional about it that I wrote a guest review for my friend's blog - FatherSonBirding. I also sent a suggestion to the Morro Bay Winter Birding Fest to ask Gedney to be one of their keynote speakers and bird guides. Full disclosure, I live around the oak woodlands that Gedney talks about; I even volunteer at the Sugarloaf Ridge State Park that he mentions. I know these birds. The book's subjects are personal to me. The new information I learned will forever enrichen my birding and my appreciation for the habitat. I will return to the book over and over. Yes, the author writes from the heart about his personal feelings about each of his special birds. But the book is written for birders, not strict scientists (specifically, the ones who have no sense of humor or warmth like my vertebrate bio prof from college). However, Gedney's book is also thoroughly filled with details about each bird's life (scientific data) that will fill you with wonder.

[Jo]

I loved this book. A depth of knowledge combined with lyrical prose and such beautiful descriptions made this a joy to read.

[Sommer Schafer]

Beautiful writing, beautiful subject. Highly recommend.

[spicejar]

This book is beautifully written. Each chapter eloquently describes an individual species and its relationship to oak trees in the West. Highly recommended.

[Corrie Haffly]

This might seem like a pretty niche book, but I loved the prose, the illustrations, the tips for identifying calls and songs, and the fun facts based on careful observation. I gained an appreciation for our native Californian oaks and the creatures that make their lives in and around them.

[Lauren Petersen]

Filled with such whimsy and wonder, this book was a treat to take as a slow read, chapter by chapter! I love the poetry, astute observations, and interwoven threads of life that are offered through each bird highlighted in this book.