Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Birds June 20, 2008
This is a wonderful book, of interest even to those who never take a pair of binoculars into the woods in the hope of glimpsing a favorite bird. Scott is a literate, knowledgeable, and entertaining writer who navigates deftly through the history of birding in the United States.
Recently we heard him give a talk based on this book--if you have the chance to read or to hear him, don't miss out!
What a storyteller Scott Weidensaul is June 20, 2008
I found as a lover of American history that this book naturally added context to so much history I already knew. Scott Weidensaul wrote a bird watching book for the rest of us. Most books I read, I give away. This book I not only will keep my own copy but I will buy more to give to others which is my highest prize.
Exposing American Ornithology's Roots, Warts and All May 18, 2008
A great synopsis of the personalities at the roots of ornithology in the New World. The author shows us the development of birding in America, from its roots as an amateur avocation to the snobbery of the early professionals and back to the amateur "citizen scientists" birders of the current era. He includes some of the personality clashes and egos of the greats in American birding. A good read for those interested in birding and its history.
 Nice Birding History April 1, 2008
Very interesting book for experienced birders as well as beginners. Learned a number of interesting facts and where all those bird names, like Wilson's Warbler, came from. It was very helpful in preparing to give a talk on the history of birdwatching!
"New Jersey is a birder's dream" March 4, 2008
Scott Weidensaul opens his book with a Hopi observation that certain nightjars sleep through the winter in a "deathlike trance." "Ridiculous" said the experts; then hibernating Common Poorwills were discovered by modern ornithologists in the 1940s. "Sadly, I don't know the Hopi ... for 'We told you so.'"
Many more stories follow.
Today Weidensaul argues that the battle to protect birds is not yet won. Birders, he says, are preoccupied with lists, and the protection of birds primarily in the hands (and wallets) of hunters eager to continue to shoot birds. He admires "listers," who devote enormous resources and ingenuity to seeing as many species as possible and the sophisticated tools for precise identification.
But he quotes Joseph Hickey: "Bird watching is much more than this. It is the art of discovering how birds live." Weidensaul fears that birders are not sufficiently committed to conservation of the very creatures they feed and study and list. Nevertheless, he sees "a few tentative stirrings" of a more holistic approach, suggesting that "bird study is poised to enter what could be a fresh and, I hope, golden age."
I hope so too. This book encouraged me to watch our feeders with more care, but also to plan even more bird friendly plants for our garden this summer. Best of all, Weidensaul maintains an excellent blog on new developments; Google: Scott Weidensaul .
Robert C. Ross 2008
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