Books We Love: For the Love of Birds

Springtime and summer beckons nature lovers with a wide range of activities including hiking, birdwatching, and horseback riding.  Some combine birdwatching with hiking and horseback riding.  According to a variety of national news outlets, birdwatching has taken flight as America’s number one hobby.  All bird watchers need is an inexpensive pair of binoculars and a field guide to identify the birds.  Author and illustrator Jane Shull Beasley’s book For the Love of Birds is the perfect field guide.  

For the Love of Birds is a solid introduction to ornithology.  In addition to the basic information about the birds, such as where you’re likely to find them, their size, the food they eat, where they nest, Beasley provides more than a hundred beautifully rendered illustrations of the feathered beings.  For the Love of Birds is packed with interesting facts.  For instance, who knew Western Screech Owls nest in cavities created by other birds?  Or that Golden Eagles don’t breed until they’re at least five years old? The birds highlighted in Beasley’s book range from the Black-capped Chickadee to the Pine Siskin.  

For the Love of Birds is one of those books you pick up intending to find a quick answer to a specific question and, before you know it, you’ve become wrapped up in reading several pages.  This book is beautifully done, useful, and pleasant to read.  

Reviewed by Chris Enss, COWGIRL Book Editor, and a New York Times best-selling author who writes about women of the Old West.