“Across North America, you can find them soaring above mountains, diving into lakes, and chittering among humans in backyards and busy cities.”
This beautiful bird guide focuses on fourteen common birds native to North America.
Each bird gets their own two-page spread where we get a section describing general facts along with smaller blurbs about their Range, Birdsong, and Nesting Habits.
“Cardinals have an array of calls and songs. Long songs of purty-purty-purty or sweet-sweet-sweet are easily recognizable.”
To the side of this guide is a little soundboard that you can press on and hear the birds’ songs for yourself (though “song” might be a bit loose of a term for American Crow).
“While not considered to have beautiful voices like songbirds, the American Crow has more than 20 calls.”
Also accompanying each bird are gorgeous watercolor illustrations of the full bird plus a smaller image of their nests.
I really like nature books and I had a lot of fun matching the sounds I have heard in my own backyard to the birds. I liked learning about the various habits and quirks of these birds.
“Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, like all hummingbirds, are able to fly quickly and stop in midair, hovering. It flaps its wings 20 to 80 times per second.”
Mind. Boggling. I cannot even imagine how fast those little birds flap!
Also, I am an absolutely sucker for a beautifully illustrated nature book and the pictures included in this one were so lovely.
Overall, I’m really pleased with this one – it’s so freaking cool!!
With thanks to Familius Publishing for sending a free copy in exchange for an honest review
Miranda Reads 