Thursday, January 31, 2019

Best Bird Books of 2018






January always signals the start of the awards season so once again I am sharing Forbes' list of the top bird books of the past year. I've only reviewed one, The Feather Thief, but will be posting about a second, Warblers and Woodpeckers by my friend Sneed B. Collard III, soon. Although I have reviewed several of his books, my review of that book has been delayed by a move from Rockport back to the Austin area. I'll also note that Forbes does not appear to consider books for young people in their review of birding books. Read some of the past year's blog posts for some great books for young people, although I would not dare try to suggest that my reviews make up a "best" list for the year. And keep reading Bird Brainz for some exciting books coming up in 2019. Click here to see the full list and the annotations about the books but the titles are:

  • The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife
  • The Ascent of Birds: How Modern Science Is Revealing Their Story by John Reilly
  • Belonging on an Island: Birds, Extinction, and Evolution in Hawaii by Daniel Lewis
  • The Seabird’s Cry: The Lives and Loves of the Planet’s Great Ocean Voyagers by Adam Nicolson
  • The Wonderful Mr Willughby: The First True Ornithologist by Tim Birkhead
  • Mrs Moreau’s Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names by Stephen Moss 
  • The Delightful Horror of Family Birding: Sharing Nature with the Next Generation by Eli J. Knapp
  • Warblers & Woodpeckers: A Father-Son Big Year of Birding by Sneed B. Collard III
  • BirdNote: Chirps, Quirks, and Stories of 100 Birds from the Popular Public Radio Show by BirdNote; edited by Ellen Blackstone
  • Hentopia: Create a Hassle-Free Habitat for Happy Chickens; 21 Innovative Projects by Frank Hyman
  • The Wall of Birds: One Planet, 243 Families, 375 Million Years by Jane Kim