Customer Reviews

The Bluebird Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds (Stokes Backyard Nature Books)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a teacher, I was especially thrilled to share the collection of famous bluebird songs, poems and quotes in one of this book's chapters with my students. The photographs are outstanding. Most of all, this book is a wonderful comprehensive collection of bluebird information: from learning more about this gentle creature to building boxes and monitoring them. There is also a helpful Bluebird Nest Recording Chart for nest-monitoring enthusiasts. The authors not only share their knowledge but also their love for the "bird that carries the sky on his back."

Once you have a bluebird visit your backyard, you WILL be hooked...and you'll start looking for anything and everything to lure them back--it sounds crazy, but I think every bluebirder started this way! I read just about everything I could find about them on the internet, and you can find tons of information there, but sometimes I'd rather consult a book or two--The Bluebird Book is one of my two.

Actually it is pretty basic, and I thought it was too basic at times, but the further I read there was still a lot of good information about bluebird behavior, feeding habits, preferred habitat, nesting, nest boxes, predators of the bluebird, predator prevention, and what I didn't see anyplace else...bluebird language! But I think what kept me reading was the fantastic photographs--the photos will draw you in, and if you weren't too serious about doing the 'bluebirding thing', you will be after starting with this book. What it lacks in "complete reference" will certainly prompt you to take the next step of getting another more advanced book, pouring thru bluebird internet sites, or setting up a nest box or two in your yard. Just a note--depending on where you live in the US, parts of this book may not apply--but that is the same for other bluebird books also; don't get discouraged over it. Most bluebird books cover Eastern, Western, and Mountain bluebirds all at once, and what works in the east, may not work in the west, or south, for example.

The other book that goes into great detail on just about everything bluebird related is the Bluebird Monitor's Guide. This should be your next book if you can find it. Excellent stuff, expands on what you learned in the Bluebird Book, and lists many lessons and lessons-learned, easy and hard, from average folks who became very passionate about bluebirds.

After starting with the Bluebird Monitor's Guide, The Bluebird Book filled in a few areas and had some good detailed photos. And all the photos will have you wishing to have these beauties grace your neighborhood. Another note--there's also a Stokes video about bluebirding...I haven't seen it, but much of what I've read about it online is not very positive. Stick with this book and the Monitor's Guide and you will have plenty of solid information about bluebirds, setting up PROPER nest box(es), and providing a safe environment for a bluebird family, or any native wildbird family for that matter. Please be a responsible bird landlord!

This is just one of the many popular bird books written by Donald & Lillian Stokes. The "Stokes Bluebird Book The Complete Guide To Attracting Bluebirds," in my opinion is one of the top Bluebird books now available. This page size glossy book, of 96 pages, has a as many color photos as it does pages.

The written material is both easy to read and understand. And will be as interesting, and as educating for the beginner as it will be to the expert. The photos not only are exceptionally beautiful, but help to visually explain what has been written.

The book is broken down into three sections. The Stokes write about the three types of Bluebirds. Then how you can attract the Bluebird by improving their habitat. And of course the best basic materials used with the Bluebirds in mind. Learn also about those birds who compete with the Bluebird, and also their predators. Then learn of the many areas of a Bluebird's behavior, like the how and the when of their breeding.

If you want an easy to read book with all the Bluebird basics, plus the beauty of large, clear, up close Bluebird and other photos. This is a book you will want to add to your library.

Great reference - gives information on everything from migration to nest site selection to nest building (and differentiating between BB and other bird nests), courtship behavior, what they do if one parent dies, raising the young etc. There's a new book out by Cornell's Lab of Ornithology (Bluebird Monitors Guide I think its called) and it takes all of the info here to the next level but I still come back to this one for the ease of use, straightforward info. Excellent!

This is certainly one you will want to add to your collection. Having been a birder for well over fifty years now, and a collector of books on the subject, I found this one to be well worth the cost. As pointed out by another reviewer here, some of the information in this book is quite basic. But that is okay! Everyone has to start somewhere and this is one of the best books I know to get that start. This is not to say that an "expert" will not be able to get anyting out of this work...that is silly. But, like any work on the subject of birds, this one needs to be supplemented by other books on the subject and field guides.

The photographs in this work are wonderful, some of the best I have seen and the text is clear and concise, which is sort of a trade mark for this writing team. There is a great amount of useful information in this relatively small volume, and with it, and a couple of the other recommended works here, you should be able to become quite an authority on the subject. This particular bird is a favorite of mine and I find any work that promotes it's well being a good thing. Recommend this one highly.

Four bluebird houses and several bluebird feeders stand on our property, and I already own four bluebird books. Yet this bluebird book by Donald and Lillian Stokes looked like something I'd want to add to the collection.
After buying and reading this classic bluebird "bible", I've moved this volume to the head of the class.

The reader is treated to a myriad of glorious bluebird photographs and insightful information about eastern, western, and mountain bluebirds. Just about everything one would want to know about the bluebird lifestyle, diet, and interactions is in this book. I like that the authors include a suggested list of bluebird favorable plants, bluebird feeding habits, and even a plan for a simple bluebird house made with a single 1" x 6" plank of wood.

Don't be put off by the copyright date of this book. The information within is just as pertinent now as it was the day the book was published. The magnificent bluebird photographs alone are worth the price of admission. I highly recommend this wonderful book.

The Stokes bird books major in the sheer delight of discovering the bird in question. The 1991 STOKES BLUEBIRD BOOK carries this tradition forward without missing a step.

The book's three sections explore 'The Birds', 'Attracting Bluebirds', an 'Bluebird Behavior'. The first section introduces this captivating bird by way of poetry and observations made about it, mostly when the species was more plentiful than it is today. The Stokes then present the 'Eastern', 'Mountain', and 'Western Bluebird' varieties.

The second section details what we've learned about compensating for the habit destruction that has made Bluebird numbers drop precipitously in recent times. I bought my copy after undertaking the Quijote's quest of adding a bluebird house to my Indiana front yard. It was immediately fitted out by a male house wren whose spouse chose other digs.

A final section, comprising nearly half the book's pages, follows these birds through their life stages.

Through 96 pages, the authors' prose cannot veil their admiration for these birds and their sheer delight in sympathetic proximity to them.

It all adds up to a winner.

This book has great pictures and answered all of my questions re bluebirds. I love the pictures of the different nest types...it has enabled me to know what kind of bird is nesting in the bluebird box. Very helpful.

This is a good book for those who are interested in learning more about bluebirds and perhaps getting started with their own trail. It is mostly focused on the eastern bluebird but also discusses the mountain and western bluebirds, with plenty of photos. It also shows how to distinguish different types of nests so you can tell whether a house wren or house sparrow has taken over your bluebird box.

I love this book. I put up 2 houses in late April; the next day I had a pair of bluebirds checking it out. They successfully raised a brood of 5, in my large back yard. They like large flat fields to find bugs in. Try it!! Fun!!