Books for the Beginning Birder
Birds of (insert your state here) by Stan Tekiela
For the last few years Stan Tekiela has been working on a pocket guide for just about every state in the union.
If you have no idea on how to identify birds this is one of the best ways to get acquainted birding. When Tekiela's first book, Birds of Minnesota, came out, it was panned by many hard-core birders, because the book only had 111 species and it's possible to see over 400 different bird species in Minnesota. Another complaint was that the birds are organized by color, not taxonomy (blasphemy in the hard core birding world).
These books are economical, user friendly, and pocket sized. They will help you learn the most common and most likely birds you will see. Many people start with this book and a year or two later graduate to a Peterson Field Guide or Sibley Guide. If there's not a Tekiela bird guide for your state, there will be one soon.
Raptor Almanac: A Comprehensive Guide to Eagles, Hawks, Falcons, and Vultures by Scott Weidensaul
A fantastic introduction to the wonderful world of birds of prey. Weidensaul's Almanac is in textbook format and is incredibly easy to read. The photos are gorgeous and this book inspires you to learn more. He covers a variety of topics including nesting, migration and hunting. We used this as one of the training books at The Raptor Center and everyone who gets a copy just loves the book.
Bird Watching For Dummies by Bill Thompson III
A bird book so good I caught Non Birding Bill reading it. Personally, I have never been a fan of the “For Dummies” series but this book is really good. I’m afraid that many beginning birders will look at this book and think “not a lot of pictures, I don’t think this is for me,” but it has an engaging writing style that makes you feel like you are having a conversation with the author. This book covers a wide range of topics from watching and identifying birds to housing and feeding. A good starter book for anyone about to embark on the fun journey that is bird watching. Also, I checked over his bird feeding information and agreed with it.
Books for the Intermediate Birder
Birds of North America by Kenn Kaufman
Some people like photographic fields guides, some people prefer illustrations. For people who prefer photographs, this is a good starter book. Kaufman took photos, then digitally enhanced them to eliminate shadows and highlight key field marks. He also has fun organization of species--my personal favorite is the section titled "Various Micro Birds." This book is pocket-sized and easy to take in the field.
The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley
For people who prefer illustrations, this book is the end-all, be-all of field guides. Sibley even shows different morphs and color variations. However, since it's big and heavy, I recommend you keep the book in the car and take a notebook with you. When you see a bird you don't recognize, write down everything you see and later use your notes to find it in the Sibley Guide.
A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors by Brian K. Wheeler, William S. Clark
If you want to learn more about hawk identification, this book is excellent. Beautiful photos show you the various color morphs of each species. Some might get bogged down in the red-tailed hawk section, especially by the light morph Harlan's hawk, but don't let that scare you. A must-have for anyone seriously wanting to identify hawks, especially during hawk migration.
The Singing Life of Birds by Donald Kroodsma
This is a fun book. People often chuckle when I mention that birds have different dialects, however it's true; cardinals in my home state of Indiana sound a little different than cardinals in Minnesota. This book discusses just that. What I really like is that Kroodsma discusses bird songs and calls in-depth, but not in a dry-and-boring scientific way one would expect with this type of book. He has written this book about the ins and outs of bird song, and explores questions like: why do some birds have dialects? Are bird songs learned or preprogrammed? You also learn that some female birds sing. The book also comes with a supplemental CD so you can hear some of the calls and songs as you are reading about them. On top of that he includes techniques for recording bird song, which brings studying and listing to a whole new level.
Identify Yourself by Bill Thompson III, Illustrated by Julie Zickefoose
This book tackles the "50 most coming birding identification challenges in North America" and is worth every penny for the illustrations alone. If you've ever wondered if are you looking at a northern shrike or a loggerhead shrike, or if the hawk sitting on your bird feeder was a sharp-shinned or a Cooper’s hawk, then this is the book for you. This book doesn't tackle every identification quandary out there, but it does start you off on the basics. Identify Yourself is a great gift for a person who has several bird books, binoculars, bird feeders, periodically goes birding, but insists that they are not a birder. If someone gives you this book, or you buy it willingly, thinking "oh, this looks interesting," accept the truth: you are a birder.
Books for the Hard Core Maxi Geek Birder
Arena Birds: Sexual Selection and Behavior By Paul A. Johnsgard
One of my favorite Johnsgard books of all time! A book about the mating tactics of birds that create a competitive arena in which to mate with females of their species. If you've been to a prairie chicken lek (and if you have that proves you are a hard core birder) and didn't know exactly what was going on, this book will explain each behavior. Learn about snipe sexual practices (yes, there is such a bird as a snipe) and learn about the master cock and how females choose him.
Parasitic Birds and Their Hosts: Studies in Coevolution edited by Stephen I. Rothstein and Scott K. Robinson
Forget everything you think you know about brown-headed cowbirds! I was given this book for Valentine's Day and it's one of my all-time favorites. This book is not for your garden variety birder (it's on the dry side), but if you can get past that you will learn about nest parasites like cowbirds and old world cuckoos. If you've ever questioned how a cowbird that was raised by a yellow warbler doesn't think itself is a yellow warbler, then read the section titled, "Consequences Of Parasitism For the Mating Systems And Life Histories Of Brood Parasites." If that last sentence made your heart beat faster, this is the book for you.
Fun Books that have to do with Birds
Kingbird Highway by Kenn Kaufman
The early years of field guide author Kenn Kaufman who hitchhiked across North America to see as many birds as possible. A fun but dangerous read as you may have an overwhelming desire to leave your drab day job and see as many birds as you can by living hand to mouth (until you read the part about Kaufman eating cat food when he had no money).
The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik
An irresistable book chronicling three different men who decide to see as many birds as possible in the United States in one year I'm sure you could draw some interesting conclusions as it's three men trying to get the biggest "list" as it were (paging Dr. Freud). If you ever think your birding habit is out of control, reading about these three guys will make you feel much better.
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
This book is a fantasy, but if birds were out to kill a person, the techniques described in this book are most accurate. Anansi Boys is the tale of two brothers, Fat Charlie and Spider, who reconnect after their father’s death. Sibling rivalries ensue and before you know it, the Old Gods are involved and Fat Charlie and Spider are fighting for their lives. You’ll never feel 100% safe around pigeons or flamingos after reading this book. One of the few fiction books out there where the bird references are accurate. Thank you Mr. Gaiman!