Customer Reviews

Hand-Feeding Backyard Birds: A Step-By-Step Guide

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book this winter and what a great time I have had with my kids. And then, to my surprise I saw the author on Martha Stewart Living this morning. He was shown hand feeding birds with his grandchildren and I do have to say it is as easy as it looks.

Handfeeding backyard birds is a great way to spend quality time with the family and increase your kids' appreciation of nature.

Let's face it, few people have written about this subject and it's not the most popular hobby in the world. I really don't know whey I'm fascinated by this, but I am. My introduction to this hobby started in the parking lot where I work, here in the Portland Oregon area. Scrub jays were in the area and after several months I was hand feeding a scrub jay from my car. Scrub jays in particular are very easy to tame and the one at work will easily swoop down and take a peanut off my shoulder. This jay would even jump onto the passenger seat of my car to get a peanut, although I have since stopped this, since birds become disoriented after entering an enclosed area. After reading Mr. Wiberg's book, I realized I had already intuitively learned most of what's necessary to hand feed wild birds. Nonetheless, this book is an excellent place to start if you have an interest in this hobby. The book contains several methodical techniques for gaining the trust of wild birds. The book will explain that certain birds are very adaptable to hand feeding while other birds are extremely difficult to hand feed, if not impossible. Tops on the list (for easy) are the black-capped chickadee and certain nuthatches. I would add scrub jays to that list.

I've taken what I learned at work (and this book) and have now attracted scrub jays to the back yard of my home. I was amazed how easy it was. Within two weeks and only minutes a day, they were eating peanuts within inches of me. Included in the book are several color photos and photography tips.

It is my pleasure to be the first to write a customer review for this book. It has the literary weight and feel of a guide more than a book. At 129 pages, it is also decidedly short, especially when much of the space is filled with the photos. On the other hand (sic), it would be curmudgeonly to withhold a strong recommendation. The bird photography is absolutely exquisite, and would merit six stars for admiration if the rating system permitted it. This charming little book is also fairly priced. The author's style of writing is witty and engaging. I personally cannot think of another book with such a handsome cover as this one. The overall presentation is elegant and tasteful, and the judicious use of sunlight and shadow adds to the distinction of the photos. For a casual or serious bird-lover, this book would make an outstanding gift. Most strongly recommended.

If you are looking for a book that will teach you how to hand-feed back yard birds and if you would enjoy poignant anecdotes about birds that have come to the author's hand to feed year after year, you will love this book!
The photographs are gorgeous, the text is clear, organized and interesting, and you can't help love the gentle, friendly, kind man who writes about his love of birds and hand-feeding them.
Another good point about this book is ...it works! I followed Hugh Wiberg's suggestions and with patience and practise, won the trust of a dear little nuthatch. He comes to my hand every time I go the park.
The book, Hand-feeding Backyard Birds, started me on this hobby and taught me how to be successful. It is a wonderful book!

This book is a lot of fun - while also being realistic. The author tells you up front that you need to be patient, because it takes time to build the trust of birds. But once they do its such a joy! Reading through the book was inspiring and then in the winter I just bundled up and got out there. It was calming while at the same time exciting as the birds came closer and closer. Bundle up though - the best time to do this with the birds is winter since they're a bit short on food and it gets chilly out there.

I recently ordered this book and was inspired to try it for myself. I enjoyed the photography and the author's anecdotes about his own experiences feeding birds. The book offers practical information and put together with a little patience on my part, I was able to get some chickadees into my hand within 2 1/2 weeks.

This is a necessary book if you desire to handfeed wild birds.It is extremely hard to find this book,anywhere.Inside is a step by step guide to handfeeding your backyard birds,it is very useful and in a way, somewhat easy to do by following this book.This was one of the books I have looked most forward too in a long time,and I'm glad I now have it.If handfeeding your wild backyard birds is one of your things to do, I highly recommend this book as almost a necessity.

This is certainly going to make for an interesting additional hobby and activity for me during the coming winter months! I am so grateful that I found this wonderful, and in ways, strange little book. I say strange because to my knowledge, it is the only one dealing exclusively with hand feeding birds, an activity not practiced by all that many people at this time. (Although I predict that this is something that could quite well catch on).

The author has taken us through a step by step process which takes the reader through the process of gaining the trust of wild birds to the extent they will eat right out of your hand. He discusses methods that have been successful for him and methods which have been successful for others. The different species of birds which are most apt to be trusting enough to do this are discussed in detail. I was gratified to find that chickadees and white-breasted nut hatches led the list as I have quite a year round gathering at my place.

I am actually, unbeknown to myself, quite far along in the process as my little flocks here already quite trust me and will set just a couple of feet from me when I fill the feeders, which is on a daily basis. I feed during all twelve months of the year.

In addition to the training methods outlined in this work, the author has filled his pages with little delights; stories of single birds he has befriended, life cycles of the various species he works with and some of the best bird behavioral notes I have ever read written by an amateur ornithologist. This is delightful stuff her folks. The book includes around 80 very well done color photographs of the author in action and devotes an entire chapter as to photography methods for filming birds while feeding from your hand.

The text is straight forward and actually quite poetic at times while still giving you the detailed information you need.

The last time I attempted to hand feed a wild critter was last year when I attempted it with a couple of feral cats that where hanging around my barn. I almost lost a hand over that little venture; ended up with some pretty good injuries and taking the rabies shots along with enough antibiotics to kill every organism in my body. I am a trusting soul, and am willing to take the author's assurance that I am in little danger along those lines if I stick to birds.

For something which seems like a neat thing to do during wintery days, I do very much recommend this work. If you love birds, enjoy brisk cold days and have a goodly amount of patience, then this quite possible would be something you would be interested in.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

There are some things that make you just stop and stare in amazement. Seeing someone in the middle of a park calmly hand-feeding chickadees is one of those things. Chickadees aren't tame - they fly away from feeders when you approach! And yet, ANYBODY can learn how to hand-feed these and other birds.

If you're interested, definitely grab this book. It has gorgeous photos, and simple, step-by-step instructions. It tells you when to try this for best results, how go to about it, which sorts of birds respond best, how they tend to act, what they like to eat, and much, much more.

Definitely a great gift for any birder, and once your birder (or you!) learns the technique, it'll be a present that lasts them a lifetime!