BirdNote: Chirps, Quirks, and Stories of 100 Birds from the Popular Public Radio Show

by BirdNote, Ellen Blackstone (Editor), Emily Poole (Illustrator)

One hundred entertaining and informative essays from the popular public radio feature program, BirdNote, accompanied by original illustrations throughout—an illuminating volume for bird and nature lovers across North America.

Here are the best stories about our avian friends from the public radio show BirdNote, each brief essay illuminating the life, habits, or songs of a particular bird. Why do geese fly in a V-formation? Why are worms so good for you—if you're a robin? Which bird calls, "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?" From wrens that nest in cactuses to gulls that have a strange red dot on their bills—these digestible and fascinating bird stories are a delightful window to the winged world. A foreword by John W. Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and an introduction by Gordon Orians, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Washington, are also included.

Genres: Birds, Nature, Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Art, Biology

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2018

Reviews

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin]

The illustrations are beautiful and the tidbits of information are fantastic.



Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Patrick]

As a fan of the BirdNote show I found this to be a good supplement to the program, and I would consider it to be more of a gift/coffee table book than a practical reference or field guide. "Charming," as other reviewers have put it, is a spot-on descriptor: it's a small volume with sturdy cover/spine, heavy pages, and bold illustrations. The stories are pulled from the radio show and are short and varying in subject. I zipped through the whole thing in one sitting, but I see this book being a worthwhile re-read in parts given the different seasons and regions that bring each bird.

[Mintaka]

This is not a field guide. What it is; however, is chock full of the quaint and charming content you would expect if you are a fan of the Birdnote program. This book contains the ‘best of’ the show’s avian vignettes, each accompanied by delightfully whimsical traditional art illustrations reminiscent of natural history illustrations of yore. I had the book preordered for ages and it exceeded all expectations. Not only that, but it’s such lovely quality that it made a lovely gift for several bird-loving friends as well.

The book also contains a link to the website where you can listen to the show.

A complete treat, I recommend this to any bird fanciers.

[Lorraine]

A beautifully illustrated coffee table book. Unfortunately I was disappointed with the lack of information written about each bird.

[Desiree Reads]

Absolutely fabulous! Superb illustrations. Neat bird facts.

[Mary Keen]

The same wonderful information about various birds as on the radio show and online emails is included in a handily-sized book with high quality paper.

Each bird or group has an illustration, but unfortunately they are not well done (imo) bc of the very thick dark lines used in the drawings.
In fact, some birds i'm very familiar with seeing would not be recognizable at a glance (eg. the VAried Thrush, Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Nuthatch, loon).

Where drawings are necessary (to show how the Piliated Woodpecker thrusts its tongue into a tree), a small drawing could be in the corner.

I don't understand why the many fabulous, clear photos available weren't used instead.

[Tilly]

5 stars
A glorious book filled with information and stories of American birds.
The information is spot on and really interesting and the illustrations are stunning. A great coffee table book for bird lovers.

[Thomas Ray]

Audios online at https://www.birdnote.org

[Bue_digre]

Great little notes about our birds.

[Loni]

Delightful

[John Yunker]

Here in Ashland, Oregon, I listen to our local radio station KSKQ. And for the past several years I’ve enjoyed the weekly, two-minute BirdNote programs.

So I was excited to find that there is now a BirdNote book. What the book lacks in audio, it makes up for in very high print production values; it is beautifully designed, with full-color illustrations and a handy bookmark tassel.

This will make an excellent gift for the would-be birder in your family. And even veteran birders will enjoy it. While I’d like to think I’ve learned a fair amount about birds over the years spent gazing upwards, I still learned plenty, such as:

The Northern Flicker and Pileated Woodpecker rely heavily on ants that bore through the trees. A Norther Flicker was known to consume 5,000 ants in one sitting (or perching).
The Green Heron may use a “bait” of twigs, feathers or insects to attract fish within reach of their bills.
A barn swallow eats up to 850 insects a day — making this a wonderful bird to have around not just a barn, but any yard.
There is a crow roost in Illinois that is home to 100,000 crows. I would love to hear that.
The cardinal (who I sorely miss out here in the Oregon) was named after the red hats and robes of the Roman cardinals.
And speaking of red, cars this color are most often targeted by birds doing their business, according to a study. Green cars are least likely to be targeted.
And the much-maligned starling gets some deserved love. I find their symphony of sounds to be truly remarkable. And I was not alone; turns out Mozart had a pet starling that he wrote a poem about after it passed on.
My only complaint is that it would have been nice to see longer, more informative notes. A number of notes come in at just a few paragraphs.

Also, while some chapters do explain why certain species are threatened, such as the California Condor, I would have liked to see more of this, such as regarding the many species of albatross now under threat.

Quibbles aside, I recommend this book to anyone who loves birds (or anyone you think should love birds).

PS: All BirdNotes can be listened to online here

NOTE: This review first appeared on EcoLit Books:
https://ecolitbooks.com/2018/05/birdn...

[Carrie]

I picked this up at the library because of the beautiful illustrations. It's been sitting around my house for quite awhile and I finally read it today so that I could return it.

It's beautifully illustrated throughout and had some fun and interesting facts about birds. There would certainly be better resources out there I imagine for bird guides or even for more comprehensive nature writing, but this is a nice, fun, easy coffee table type book that was worth the two hours it took me to read it. Would be a nice gift for bird lovers.

[Max Murphy]

It was good in terms of how it functioned as advertised. It's a coffee-table read, a book more designed to be perused through than sat down with and absorbed. It has some truly interesting stories about birds, and while the entertainment I got varied greatly from page to page, it was worth the read and the time put into it.

[Carissa]

Short, whimsical, and full of interesting facts. It's a simple read, with little stories about a variety of birds (most North America, some Eurasian). No matter how much you think you know about birds, you'll learn something new.

[Mike Kane]

The idea behind this book works much better as a short radio show than it does in text. Maybe worth reading for casual birders, but provides little insight for more seasoned birders.

[Nancie Lafferty]

What a lovely little book, filled with vignettes and sketches of 100 different birds. Fascinating.

[Cassey]

OBSESSED! Absolutely love the concept and now listening to the podcast regularly. My pet dove passed away in April 2021 and I was so distraught over it. I found myself in Barnes and Noble looking at world maps for something specific when I turned around and found a mini bird section and somehow I was led directly to this book.

Between this and a Season on the Wind by Kenn Kaufman I was enveloped by an entire community of bird lover's and didn't realize existed and it felt like a very wholesome way to celebrate the life of Nix. I also let my nephew choose a page in the book and then I play the podcast for that page so he can listen to it with me while he looks at the drawing. I absolutely love learning about birds and all of their different features. I also love the artwork.

[Barbara]

Birds. This book has fascinating facts about 100 different birds, some you know and also those you don't know so well, but all of it is like I said very interesting. The illustrations by Emily Poole were so good. It's a book I would like to refer to when I need to and maybe even listen to the radio show that the book is based on. The titles introducing each bird seemed so pertinent, such as "Everybody knows a mallard", "Earthworm a superfood in cold storage", "Pigeon babies do exist", "Beak meets sunflower seed", "The Eyes of an Owl", "Why geese fly in v-formation" and "Chasing the roadrunner". I think I will buy it for a gift.

[Katie Bliss]

I got this great book for Christmas and have been reading it here and there - Jason listened to BirdNote on the way to work for a long time, and this is a wonderful little compilation of some of those stories. Birds are fascinating and, like so many other things, a wonderful representation of God's creativity and genius in their abilities, rituals, coloring - just everything about them. I'd like to go through the book again, this time with the kids, and listening to the actual program related to each bird so we can hear their tweets and other noises they make!

[Becky]

I loved this little book! Each story is very short and pretty basic (this is not a birder's field guide!) but I learned a lot of tiny little factoids about many of the birds. I chose to dole out the stories and read 4 each morning. However, I thought the stars of the book were the lovely illustrations by artist Emily Poole! Oddly enough, there is not a word about her anywhere in the book, so I had to look her up online to learn a little about her. Anyway, this little coffee table book would make a great gift for anyone who appreciates beautiful art and beautiful birds.

[Kam Yung Soh]

An interesting book about one hundred birds, mainly North American ones. Each bird is featured with a short note on its features and some interesting facts about the bird: its biology and/or its behaviour. Most of the birds also feature an illustration.

The book is not organised to be a nature guide book, but more towards those who know a bit about the various birds featured and would like to know a few more interesting facts about the birds themselves.

[Joe]

I thought the illustrations were wonderfully done and that each story was well written and fun. The only downside was that I was left a little disappointed with the lack of detail and elaboration about each bird.

Each of the sections usually left me with more questions than answers and some parts were vague.

That being said, this isn’t meant to be a reference book and I think it serves as more of an introduction into birds.

[Carol Taylor]

Wonderful book for birders or anyone else. The cover describes it all: “Chirps, Quirks and Stories of 100 Birds from the Popular Public Radio Show”. However, that description doesn’t mention the gorgeous illustrations by Emily Poole. It was so much fun reading each one-page story while absorbed with the corresponding amazing illustration. Highly recommended!

[Roniq]

Beautiful illustrations and interesting one paragraph facts and fun info on some of your favorite bird species enable you to add this to your rolodex of bird knowledge. Not a field guide by any means but a beautiful hardback bound book to gaze at longingly on your shelf. Thoroughly enjoyable!

[Oxalis]

A pleasant, quick read for both bird and animal lovers as well as those with an appreciation for nature. It's obviously the perfect supplement to the radio show, but I think, as a gift, it could also be a good way to introduce someone to the show.

[Jillian]

Obviously the original audio elements aren't going to come across the same in a book, but it's a quick read that could be a charming entry point to the topic, with brief but interesting entries and lovely full page illustrations. 3.5 stars.

[Jada]

Book extension of the excellent radio show with totally gorgeous illustrations by Emily Poole.

[Donna]

Absolutely charming for any bird lover. Ordering some for my favorite birding friends

[Carol]

Please see my review on Amazon.com under C. Wong. Thank you.

[M]

What a great read! Interesting and entertaining.