Bird Nerd Book Club

Starlings cause a lot of trouble. Labeled one of the world’s worst invasive bird species, they devastate farms, drive out native birds, and interfere with aircraft. Many birdwatchers openly despise starlings, or more politely, look down on them. Yet all the things that lead us to see starlings as pests are also signs of their extraordinary adaptability. Among the most successful birds on the plane...

Penny Harr brings award-winning wildlife ecologist and bestselling author Anne LaBastille to life in the first-ever biography, entitled Anne LaBastille .  She was a trailblazer in every sense of the word. Perhaps best known for her seminal wilderness book Woodswoman , recounting her years spent living in a remote Adirondacks cabin, and which inspired countless women to shun societal dictates and p...

In Marina Richie 's Feathered Forest , birds are our guides to a vertical world of ancient trees that spans both sides of the Cascade Mountains. Within centuries-old groves that are critical refugia in a time of climate crisis, these winged messengers show us a better way to steward our threatened landscapes. Just as a forest transitions upward from understory to midstory to overstory, so too...

Wenfei Tong's Bird Love looks at the extraordinary range of mating systems in the avian world, exploring all the stages from courtship and nest-building to protecting eggs and raising chicks. It delves into the reasons why some species, such as the wattled jacana, rely on males to do all the childcare, while others, such as cuckoos and honeyguides, dump their eggs in the nests of others to ra...

Fans of L. M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle , will enjoy Andrea Ezerins' When the Forest Dreams , a contemporary retelling of the beloved romance that follows a sheltered young woman’s quest for love in New York City—and her search for a rare and elusive bird in the deep Arkansas forest.  What if the life you were meant to live was waiting just outside your door? New York City, 2013. Emma Jabl...

Birdsong is the soundtrack to our world. We have tried to capture its fleeting, ephemeral beauty, and the feelings it inspires, for millennia. Richard Smyth's A Sweet, Wild Note explores science, music, literature, landscape and the thousand different ways in which birdsong has moved us. A bright song on a lonely street can lift our mood, bringing comfort, wonder or joy. But can we learn to l...

Author and longtime volunteer surveyor Maria Mudd Ruth weaves together science, field observation, and community storytelling in this engaging exploration of one bird’s life. Drawing from over a decade of beachside study, she dives deep into the guillemot’s behaviors, quirky traits, and ecological relationships. Along the way, readers meet the passionate citizen scientists who have built a unique...

An epic, fascinating history of the fight to save America's birds featuring heroes, martyrs, villains, and conflicted do-gooders. James H. McCommons', The Feather Wars is an entertaining and expansive work of American history, an incredible story about how disparate characters—progressive politicians, free-thinking society belles, nature writers and artists, bird-loving U.S. presidents,...

Women have been shaping the conservation movement in Texas since the nineteenth century, though their stories are rarely told. Women played an invaluable role in the establishment of parks, protection of wildlife, developing policies that value nature, and defending communities against pollution and destruction of habitat. Their efforts enriched and reinforced the natural heritage of Texas. Jennif...

*I am aware I uploaded the incorrect file initially.  The correct file has been posted, however it can take time for streaming services to update.* How does a bird experience a city? A backyard? A park? As the world has become more urban, noisier from increased traffic, and brighter from streetlights and office buildings, it has also become more dangerous for countless species of birds.   In The B...

While the question 'why do birds sing?' might seem a simple one, the answer is complex! Throughout our history birdsong has influenced art, poetry and music. It can elevate our mood and bring our backyards to life. We often hear birds singing as we go about our lives, but have you ever wondered who they are singing to and what they are singing about? Dr. Grainne Cleary's Why Do Bird...

It is the end of 2025 - so time for a bit of a wrap-up!  Lyzy Lusterman, owner of Buteo Books , joined me to talk about some favorites, some trends, and books to look forward to in 2025. Buteo Books is a family-owned and operated business based on the firm belief that independent booksellers are a vital component of our social and cultural landscape.  Their brick-and-mortar store is in San Rafael,...

Ryan Goldberg came to birding unexpectedly, but as many first-timers do after seeing their “spark” bird, he fell hard. Enamored with the incredible variety of species that pass through his hometown of New York City, and with the other passionate birders he meets, he embarks on a year of reporting on the natural wonders hiding amidst the skyscrapers. He learns that millions of birds migrate through...

The British Isles are remarkable for their extraordinary seabird life: spectacular gatherings of charismatic Arctic terns, elegant fulmars and stoic eiders, to name just a few. Often found in the most remote and dramatic reaches of our shores, these colonies are landscapes shaped not by us but by the birds. In 2015, Stephen Rutt escaped his hectic, anxiety-inducing life in London for the bird obse...

Throughout a lifetime of biological and seabird research, Michael Brooke has been blessed with the opportunity to visit a huge array of islands dotted across all the oceans of the world. His is an island list fit to make the armchair traveller green with envy – and potentially seasick. Truly no island has been too far: from St Kilda to Spitsbergen, from Hawaii to the furthest reaches of the Southe...

Spanning much of the western part of South America, the Andes are home to some of the world’s most magnificent birds, from exquisite hummingbirds to fabulous flamingos. This beautifully illustrated large-format book celebrates the splendor and extraordinary diversity of Andean birds and the habitats they depend on. It draws on the latest findings from the field and sheds light on the lush alpine a...

In The Feather Detective , award-winning journalist Chris Sweeney charts the astonishing life and work of this overlooked pioneer. Once divorced, once widowed, and sometimes surly, Roxie shattered stereotypes and pushed boundaries. Her story is one of persistence and grit, obsession and ingenuity. Drawing on reams of archival material, court documents, and exclusive interviews, Sweeney delivers a...

Have you ever gone for a walk in the woods and wondered what bird was making a sound like a siren going off, or somebody revving a chainsaw engine—or sneezing? Do you hear birds every day, in the park or your neighborhood, but never know quite what you are listening to? Birds are singing all around us, and author and illustrator Becca Rowland , aka Girl in White Glasses, connects the dots between...

Bird flight is a mesmerizing spectacle, yet its intricacies remain largely shrouded in mystery for most. Even after over a century of study, certain aspects of bird flight continue to baffle the public and ornithologists alike. Peter Cavanagh , a dedicated bird photographer, pilot, and expert in the fields of biomechanics and anatomy, has dedicated a decade to crafting this remarkable book, How Bi...

Danielle Whittaker's The Secret Perfume of Birds is the untold story of a stunning discovery: not only can birds smell, but their scents may be the secret to understanding their world. The puzzling lack of evidence for the peculiar but widespread belief that birds have no sense of smell irked evolutionary biologist Danielle Whittaker. Exploring the science behind the myth led her on an unexpe...

Mike Stark’s Starlings: The Curious Odyssey of a Most Hated Bird is a first-of-its-kind history of starlings in America, an oddball, love-hate story at the intersection of human folly, ornithology, and one bird’s tenacious will to endure. Has there ever been a more hated bird than the European starling? Let loose in New York City’s Central Park by a misguided aristocrat, the starlings were suppose...

Professional birding amateur and national bestselling author Matt Kracht has had it with these goddamn birds.  His new book, A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever , is a warning, a field guide to help you identify and stay away from the absolute worst birds ever to plague planet Earth. Featuring an all-new scientific scale devised by the author that proves how awful birds really are.  C...

Roger Pasquier's Birds at Rest is the first book to give a full picture of how birds rest, roost, and sleep, a vital part of their lives. It features new science that can measure what is happening in a bird’s brain over the course of a night or when it has flown to another hemisphere, as well as still-valuable observations by legendary naturalists such as John James Audubon, Alfred Russel Wal...

Ian Parsons', Of the Trees and the Birds , tells the story of how trees and birds go together, as they have done for millions of years, evolving long before we did. Over their long and shared history, they have formed numerous relationships, some of which are basic and obvious to us, like a bird using a tree to perch in whilst searching for food. Others are more intricate, but still noticeabl...

It is the end of 2024 - so time for a bit of a wrap-up!  Lyzy Lusterman, owner of Buteo Books , joined me to talk about some favorites, some trends, and books to look forward to in 2025.  Buteo Books is a family-owned and operated business based on the firm belief that independent booksellers are a vital component of our social and cultural landscape.  Their brick-and-mortar store is in San Rafael...