Feed the Birds: Attract and Identify 196 Common North American Birds

"Informative and practical... This guide, filled with richly colorful photos, is enthusiastically recommended for birders, bird watchers, and anyone else who cares about birds' role in our precariously fragile environment." --Booklist

Feeding birds is growing in popularity and is enjoyed by over 50 million North Americans each year.

Feed the Birds is designed as a resource for beginners and experienced birdwatchers alike. Covering 196 bird species that are attracted to backyard bird feeders, this book helps the reader not only attract and identify birds but also understand their behavior and adaptations to the environment. A wide variety of feeders and seed types are presented with helpful tips on how to attract the largest variety of birds.

Each profile for the 196 featured species includes a variety of photographs, an identification guide, a range map, information on bird seed and natural food preferences, and behavior. Other topics include:

• Why feeding birds is important
• Building do-it-yourself feeders
• Foiling squirrels
• Attracting birds with natural foods and water
• Building shelters and nest boxes
• Involving children
• Photographing birds
• Hand feeding
• Recognizing individual birds and identifying similar-looking species
• Growing plant varieties that make a garden attractive to birds.

The book also contains information on how to choose the right seeds; the importance of ensuring all windows are bird-safe (with links to organizations that work to reduce bird-window collision); cat-friendly deterrents; and citizen science activities like the annual Christmas Bird Count and Project Feederwatch. Feed the Birds is a complete guide that should be near every bird enthusiast's window.

Endorsed by the Canadian Wildlife Federation, a conservation-oriented organization with more than 250,000 members. CWF has a long history of fostering bird habitat, conservation and recognition.

Chris Earley is a zoologist and environmental biologist. He is the Interpretive Biologist and Education Coordinator at The Arboretum, University of Guelph. His previous books include Falcons in the City, Warblers of the Great Lakes Region and Eastern North America, and Birds A to Z. He lives in Guelph, Ontario.