(Image from Flickr user Dia under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.)
Bird-Watching Apps
Audubon Society
The Audubon Bird Guide App (for Android and iPhone)
“The Audubon Bird Guide is a free and complete field guide to over 800 species of North American birds, right in your pocket. Built for all experience levels, it will help you identify the birds around you, keep track of the birds you’ve seen, and get outside to find new birds near you.”
Cornell University Lab of Ornithology
eBird (for Android and iPhone)
You can “find more birds; keep track of your bird lists, photos, and sounds; explore latest sightings from around the world; join the world’s largest birding community; and contribute to science and conservation.”
Merlin Bird ID (for Android and iPhone)
Identify birds by physical characteristics or using a picture.
BirdNET (for Android)
Identify birds by sound. “Our research is mainly focused on the detection and classification of avian sounds using machine learning – we want to assist experts and citizen scientist in their work of monitoring and protecting our birds.”
WCC Library Books
When you’re ready to come back inside, here are some fun library resources you can explore.
History of Ornithology
Ten thousand birds (eBook, 2014) by Tim Birkhead, Jo Wimpenny, and Bob Montgomerie
An illustrated “engaging and authoritative history of modern ornithology, tracing how the study of birds has been shaped by a succession of visionary and often-controversial personalities, and by the unique social and scientific contexts in which these extraordinary individuals worked.”
About Birds and Bird-Watching
Birds of the Pacific Northwest: a photographic guide (print book, 2020) by Tom Aversa, Richard J. Cannings, and Hal Opperman
“In this updated edition of their best-selling field guide, renowned bird experts … illuminate the key identification traits, vocalizations, seasonal statuses, habitat preferences, and feeding behaviors of bird species from British Columbia to southern Oregon.”
The bird way: a new look at how birds talk, work, play, parent, and think (print book, 2020) by Jennifer Ackerman
“Drawing on personal observations, the latest science, and her bird-related travel around the world … Ackerman shows there is clearly no single bird way of being. In every respect, in plumage, form, song, flight, lifestyle, niche, and behavior, birds vary.”
Wounded warriors: a soldier’s story of healing through birds (eBook, 2014) by Robert C. Vallieres
Vallieres’ “story of self-healing from crippling invisible wounds through the help of birds. The problems of TBI and post-traumatic stress disorder do not have definitive solutions. His story of recovery offers a winged hope to thousands of military personnel who suffer these physical and mental battles.”
Extreme birder: one woman’s big year (eBook, 2011) by Lynn E. Barber
“Barber’s journal … covers the highlights of her treks to forests, canyons, mountain ranges, deserts, oceans, lakes, and numerous spots in between. Written in the informal style of a diary, it captures the detail, humor, challenges, and fun of a good adventure travelogue and also conveys the remarkable diversity of North American birds and habitat.”
Bird Conservation
Feeding wild birds in America: culture, commerce, and conservation (eBook, 2015) by Paul J. Baicich, Margaret A. Barker, and Carrol L. Henderson
“Today, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, more than fifty million Americans feed birds around their homes … ‘Feeding Wild Birds in America’ tells why and how a modest act of provision has become such a pervasive, popular, and often passionate aspect of people’s lives.”
The American Bird Conservancy guide to bird conservation (eBook, 2010) by Daniel J. Lebbin, Mike Parr, and George H. Fenwick
“…the most thorough and scientifically credible assessment of threats to birds published to date, as well as a new list of birds of conservation concern. Filled with beautiful color illustrations and original range maps, the Guide is a timely, important, and inspiring reference for birders and anyone else interested in conserving North America’s avian fauna.”
Seeking refuge: birds and landscapes of the Pacific Flyway (eBook, 2010) by Robert M. Wilson
“…examines the development and management of refuges in the wintering range of migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway. … Many of the key places migratory birds use … are sites of recent contentious debates over water use. … In a time when global warming promises to compound the stresses on water and migratory species, Seeking Refuge demonstrates the need to foster landscapes where both wildlife and people can thrive.”