Once you enter the world of the city's birds, life in the great metropolis will never look the same.

A comprehensive guide to New York birdwatching from the American Birding Association The Empire State is one of the best places for birding in North America—from the Adirondack Mountains in the north; the Finger Lakes in the west; the Hudson Valley in the east; and the marshes, bays, and beaches of the south, New York provides habitats for an amazing array of birds. As a flyover state for many migrating species, backyard birders can see hundreds of species per year as they head north in the spring and south for the winter. TheAmerican Birding Association Field Guide to Birds of New York includes more than 300 species birders are most likely to see in the state. Illustrated with hundreds of crisp, color photographs, it includes descriptions of each bird along with tips of when and where to see them, written by an expert New York birder. It is the perfect companion for anyone interested in the amazing diversity and beauty of the birds of New York.

Selected from a two-volume survey by the University of the State of New York, these 106 full-color plates by a renowned ornithological illustrator spotlight over 300 birds.

Identify Birds with New York’s Best-Selling Bird Guide! Make bird-watching in New York even more enjoyable. With Stan Tekiela’s famous bird guide, field identification is simple and informative. There’s no need to look through dozens of photos of birds that don’t live in your area. This handy book features 126 species of New York birds organized by color for ease of use. Full-page photographs present the species as you’ll see them in nature, and a “compare” feature helps you to decide between look-alikes. Inside you’ll find: 126 species: Only New York birds! Simple color guide: See a yellow bird? Go to the yellow section Stan’s Notes: Naturalist tidbits and facts Professional photos: Crisp, stunning images This new edition includes six new species, updated photographs and range maps, expanded information, and even more of Stan’s expert insights. So grab Birds of New York Field Guide for your next birding adventure—to help ensure that you positively identify the birds that you see.

This easy-to-use guide gives seasonal information for both popular birding sites and those off the beaten path. Precise directions to the best viewing locations within the region's diverse habitats enable birdwatchers to efficiently explore urban and wild birding hotspots. Over 500 species of birds can be seen in New York City's five boroughs and on Long Island, one of the most densely populated and urbanized regions in North America, which also happens to be situated directly on the Atlantic Flyway. In this fragmented environment of scarce resources, birds concentrate on what's available. This means that high numbers of birds are found in small spaces. In fact, Central Park alone attracts over 225 species of birds, which birders from around the world flock to see during spring and fall migration. Beyond Central Park, the five boroughs and Long Island have numerous wildlife refuges of extraordinary scenic beauty where resident and migratory birds inhabit forests, wetlands, grasslands, and beaches. These special places present an opportunity to see a wide array of songbirds, endangered nesting shorebirds, raptors, and an unprecedented number and variety of waterfowl. Including the latest information on the seasonal status and distribution of more than 400 species, with 39 maps and over 50 photographs, this full-color guide features information essential to planning a birding visit. It will become the go-to book for both the region's longtime birders and those exploring the area for the first time.

BACKYARD BIRDS IS AN EXCITING SERIES of books that explores the top twenty-five backyard birds most commonly found in each state. It includes a profiled size scale that allows the reader to quickly identify the correct bird, and each bird entry is accompanied by a stunning color photograph and specific description, including identification marks, behavior, habitat, and nesting style-even the song the bird makes! As an added feature, author Bill Fenimore also provides expert tips for building the ultimate backyard bird sanctuary, from creating birdbaths and planting proper foliage to offering a bird's favorite foods.

The New York Times–bestselling author of H is for Hawk explores the human relationship to the natural world in this “dazzling” essay collection (Wall Street Journal). In Vesper Flights, Helen Macdonald brings together a collection of her best loved essays, along with new pieces on topics ranging from nostalgia for a vanishing countryside to the tribulations of farming ostriches to her own private vespers while trying to fall asleep. Meditating on notions of captivity and freedom, immigration and flight, Helen invites us into her most intimate experiences: observing the massive migration of songbirds from the top of the Empire State Building, watching tens of thousands of cranes in Hungary, seeking the last golden orioles in Suffolk’s poplar forests. She writes with heart-tugging clarity about wild boar, swifts, mushroom hunting, migraines, the strangeness of birds’ nests, and the unexpected guidance and comfort we find when watching wildlife.

Raptors are an unusual success story of wildness thriving in the heart of our cities—they have developed substantial populations around the world in recent decades. But there are deeper issues around how these birds make their urban homes. New research provides insight into the role of raptors as vital members of the urban ecosystem and future opportunities for protection, management, and environmental education. A cutting-edge synthesis of over two decades of scientific research, Urban Raptors is the first book to offer a complete overview of urban ecosystems in the context of bird-of-prey ecology and conservation. This comprehensive volume examines urban environments, explains why some species adapt to urban areas but others do not, and introduces modern research tools to help in the study of urban raptors. It also delves into climate change adaptation, human-wildlife conflict, and the unique risks birds of prey face in urban areas before concluding with real-world wildlife management case studies and suggestions for future research and conservation efforts. Boal and Dykstra have compiled the go-to single source of information on urban birds of prey. Among researchers, urban green space planners, wildlife management agencies, birders, and informed citizens alike, Urban Raptors will foster a greater understanding of birds of prey and an increased willingness to accommodate them as important members, not intruders, of our cities.

Humans have always bred, farmed, raced, and lived alongside pigeons. Some of us shoo them away and others care for them as the city’s most famous wildlife. The New York Pigeon, now in its second edition with spectacular new images, is a one-of-a-kind, intimate study of this worldwide neighbor. The New York Pigeon reveals the unexpected beauty of the omnipresent pigeon as if Vogue devoted its pages to birds, not fashion models. In spite of pigeons’ ubiquity in New York and other cities, we never really see them closely and know very little about their function in the urban ecosystem. This book brings to light the intriguing history, behavior, and splendor of a bird so often overlooked. While The New York Pigeon is primarily a photography book, it also tells the five-thousand-year story of the feral pigeon. Why are pigeons so successful in cities and not in the countryside? Why do they have such diverse plumage? How have pigeons adapted to survive on almost any food? Why are pigeons able to fly up to 500 miles per day but rarely do? How did Harvard psychologist B.F. Skinner teach pigeons to do complicated tasks, from tracking missile targets to recognizing individual human faces? Why can pigeons see in the ultraviolet light spectrum, and why is half of their brain used for visual perception? The second edition of The New York Pigeon, with its fresh portraiture and new essay from Catherine Quayle of the Wild Bird Fund, presents dramatic, hyper-real studio portraits capturing the personalities, expressiveness, glorious feather iridescence, and deeply hued eyes of the New York pigeon.

New York Times Bestseller Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize A Library Journal Best Science and Technology Book of the Year An exhilarating exploration of the science and wonder of global bird migration. In the past two decades, our understanding of the navigational and physiological feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans, fly above the highest mountains, or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch has exploded. What we’ve learned of these key migrations—how billions of birds circumnavigate the globe, flying tens of thousands of miles between hemispheres on an annual basis—is nothing short of extraordinary. Bird migration entails almost unfathomable endurance, like a sparrow-sized sandpiper that will fly nonstop from Canada to Venezuela—the equivalent of running 126 consecutive marathons without food, water, or rest—avoiding dehydration by "drinking" moisture from its own muscles and organs, while orienting itself using the earth’s magnetic field through a form of quantum entanglement that made Einstein queasy. Crossing the Pacific Ocean in nine days of nonstop flight, as some birds do, leaves little time for sleep, but migrants can put half their brains to sleep for a few seconds at a time, alternating sides—and their reaction time actually improves. These and other revelations convey both the wonder of bird migration and its global sweep, from the mudflats of the Yellow Sea in China to the remote mountains of northeastern India to the dusty hills of southern Cyprus. This breathtaking work of nature writing from Pulitzer Prize finalist Scott Weidensaul also introduces readers to those scientists, researchers, and bird lovers trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges. Drawing on his own extensive fieldwork, in A World on the Wing Weidensaul unveils with dazzling prose the miracle of nature taking place over our heads.