Customer Reviews

To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession

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I never thought birdwatching was even vaguely interesting until I read this book, and now I'm viewing every pigeon in Los Angeles with new eyeballs.
Dan Koeppel is a wonderful storyteller, and this tale of birds, family, and the evolution of birdwatching brims with amazing details, vivid description, and heartfelt anecdotes. His fluid writing is a joy to read. Complex concepts of scientic nomenclature are elegantly explained. The book revolves around an intense subset of birdwatchers- the so-called "Big Listers," folks so obsessed with the flying creatures that they have a need to see every species that exists on the planet. Sparing no expense, Big Listers jetset from jungle to jungle, equipped with tape recorders, binoculars, and field guides looking for more and more birds to put on their well-kept lists. At the same time, the designations of species are constantly changings, so from time to time lists grow due to splitting or shrink from lumping! Koeppel patiently explains this fanaticism of hardcore birdwatching. His perspective is unique; his father, Richard Koeppel, is currently one of the top 10 Big Listers on the planet. Woven within the stories of birds and birders is a tale of the relationships within Koeppel's family, as if this can possibly explain his father's arcane obsession.
Very readible. Perfect beach reading, especially for beaches that might have some avifauna nearby.

Dan Koeppel very much wanted to get to know his father. His mom and dad were divorced when he was young and it was not an easy time. He saw his dad every other weekend but he seemed removed and withdrawn, and Dan never felt he really knew his dad. Dan had a usual childhood, and his adolescence was full of drugs and alcohol. As a young adult Dan outgrew his wild ways and settled down to become a nature writer. This brought him to the point where he realized his dad was getting older and he wanted a better relationship. And, Dan had a pretty good idea of how to achieve this.

Richard Koeppel had grown up wanting to be an ornithologist. He had a particular love of birds and wanted to study them. However, his parents and his father in particular had a different vision of his son. So, Richard began his life studying to become a physician. He continued with his life long love of birds and went birding whenever he could. Eventually, Richard met the love of his life and married her. She was a hometown girl and was beautiful and was swept away by this man. Richard continued his studies and graduated as a physician. He now had responsibilities because his first born son was born. He didn't like the life of a physician, and he had various jobs that at leas paid him a decent salary. By this time there were two young boys and his marriage was going sour. He and his wife divorced and he never married again. He saw his boys on weekends.

Dan saw both sides of the marriage and was unsettled. He lived with his mother, and her boyfriends were sometimes nasty and abusive. She would also take out her frustrations on her sons. Life was not good. He would go birding with his father and this became fun for him. But he didn't get to see his dad often enough.

By the time Dan was ready to get to know his father better, Richard was on his way to identifying his 6,000 bird. The birding world is a different species. There were many people who love birds and there were 9,600 birds to identify in the entire world. People spent millions of dollars traveling to various parts of the world just to find that bird. This is when Dan started going on birding trips with his dad. His dad was now an ED physician which gave him plenty of time to pursue his love. He had been all over the world and was so pleased that Dan wanted to continue with him. He had a few more birds to identify and he wanted to make it to 7,000 birds. Thus began the quest for Dan and his father, Richard, to find the birds.

I love birds, love their coloring , their calls and their existence. However I have never been that much interested in identifying birds. This book opened up the world of birding, and these are crazy people in a sense. They will do anything; go anywhere to find that bird. I loved that Dan got to know his father better while they both developed their relationship birding. I learned a great deal about birds and that kind of life. Dan Koeppel writes well and his sense of nature reveals the world around us. Highly recommended. prisrob

If someone wants to understand birding in America, this is the book to read. The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik would be my second choice. Koeppel's book is better, however, because it focuses on one person as opposed to a group of competitive birders. As a result, the author does a much better job of probing the inner-workings of the obsessed birder than Obmascik, who never quite gets beneath the feathers of most of the birders he examines. Koeppel, by contrast, tells us everything about the big lister profiled in the book--his eye ring, distinctive wing bars, rufous belly, etc. At times, the book is almost too personal and too intimate, making it painful to read in points. I sometimes wished that the author examined his father with a pair of Swarovski EL 10x42s as opposed to a high-powered microscope, but a son in the end can only see his father through the lens of his own personal experience. What results is not always pretty but nevertheless an excellent portrait of a great American birder.

I was captivated by this book, which came as a surprise since I didn't think I'd be interested in the subject. I found, however, a truly wonderful account of a father-son relationship from its earliest years to the present that is extremely rich in understanding and empathy, as well as a brilliant depiction of the world of bird-watching and its most passionate practioners, the "big listers" who are determined to see every bird species on earth. Anyone who has seen their lives transformed by a hobby for collecting that morphs into a life-dominating obsession will treasure this book.

What a wonderful book! The editorial reviews are real good on this book and I won't repeat the same,just no need to. Also, the first customer review is a real good effort ,especially for someone who appears somewhat of a birding novice.Lisa AA has posted her 1st review, and I would like to commend her on her efforts.She very well shows that this book can be of interest to anyone who enjoys life,people and also the world of birds.I have the same experience when people who learn that I am into birding.Everyone seems to be fascinated about my interest,has a million questions and are amazed over the interest,sport or even the obsession that it can become.Questions like, "You mean you would drive 500 miles,just to see a bird;and it might even be gone when you get there?" As you will see, if you read this book;that can just be the start of it.
Of course ,not all birders can,or even begin to take on this interest the way world lister birders go at it.Some "bird" in their own back yards,towns,county,state or province,country,ABA (which takes in all the continental US,Hawaii,Alaska and Canada ,and then there are those tha make the whole world their target.What this book does is to give one an idea of what this pursuit can be all about.
The people who take up birding come from all walks of life,all ages, all abilities,all financial backgrounds.The one thing they all have is the desire to see as many birds as possible.Whether it is as simple as adding the number 78th bird to their yard list or the 4078th to their world list,the pleasure is the same;only the scale differs.
While the author centers on his father,he also discusses a lot about Phoebe Snetsinger ,who held the record of seeing the most birds in the world at the time of her untimely and unfortunate death.It just so happens that I know,and often bird with a lady who knew her well and was on the bus with her when the accident occurred.
I also knew another "Birder of the World",as is incribed on his tombstone.Norm Chesterfield held the world record for 7 years into the late 1980's.What a great fellow to talk to and what stories and experiences he had.He even went to Vietnam while the war was on.Just imagine,this little old man ,well into his 70's, birding while the the war was underway.He complained "the birding was lousy;too damn much shooting and banging going on.Couldn't hear nothing (birds singing)."
I guarantee anyone who likes birds,enjoys the outdoors or wonders what this obsession with birds is all about will love this book.
While most of us can only dream of what these World Listers do, we have to be content to read about it and dream ;or grab the bins and go see what's around.

This book is about birds and birding but more importantly it is about life's dreams and obligations. As a birder and a doctor I could easily relate to the father in the book and as a son of a divorced father and mother, I could have empathy with the author. I was intrigued with the possiblility of reading this book about world birding, the travels and the stories but the book was better than just that. I have often wondered about the effect of my birding on my son's lives and my wife. Fortunately I somehow have managed to maintain a good marriage and according to my sons have not done them harm from birding unlike what seemed to happen to the father and son in this book. This book details the dramatic effects of one's struggles with their lifetime dreams (birding, career, and travel in this case)and the obligations of marriage, fatherhood,and being a dependable provider. For those passionate about their dreams and sensitive to their obligations, life can be a difficult road and the best choices may have unsought complications.

Compared with the author and his father I have felt fortunate in this life and this book served as an unexpected gauge of that sometimes not too apparent good fortune. I hope many people read this book.

I went back and forth trying to decide whether I liked this book or not. I decided that I mostly did but when I didn't, I really didn't. The parts of the book that dealt with the birding and even the psychology of the Big Lister was pretty interesting. But a significant portion of the book was dedicated to the foibles of the author's father both as a parent and as a man. The author's father is not a public figure. Delving into some of the sordid details of his life felt sort of like reading somebody else's mail. Besides the fact that it felt intrusive, it frankly just wasn't that interesting. I am sorry the author's parents got divorced. I am sorry that his mother dated a series of losers and his dad became a swinger. I just don't know what that has to do with looking for all of the birds in the world. I would like to read a book that covered that topic. I thought that I was going to when I got this one.

To See Every Bird on Earth is about the father of the author who had a lifelong obsession with birding. However it is about much more than that as the author fills out the life of everyone from himself to his grandparents. He describes his grandparents trip from Nazi Germany to the United States and their effort to help found Israel. Then he moves on to his fathers life. He notes his father's early love of birding and tries to figure out why it became an obsession. This has to do with his father's parents pushing him in a direction he didn't want to go and the fallout of a failed marriage among other things. The author notes with sadness his fathers distance as a result of his obsession with birding and concludes that birding was an escape for him. However the book ends on a high note as father and son finally begin to reach out to eath other. Although I am not a birder I really enjoyed this book. I especially enjoyed his accounts of the times he grew up in, the 60's and 70's.

Don't mix birding with complicated family dynamics. That's the take-away from this dreary, disjointed book. Koeppel basically sketches a biography of his father, one of the world's foremost "birders." While the two didn't share a very good relationship, Koeppel tries to be understanding and write sympathetically, to outline and explain his fractured interactions with his dad. He also writes about birding. All the stuff about Koeppel's father is maudlin drudgery. A lot of the birding stuff is enjoyable and interesting.

It's not that Koeppel is a bad writer--he's not--but the topic was just too hard for him to write about without engaging in dismal reflection. He works hard to explain his father's avian mania. It's tough for us, however, to care about Richard Koeppel's psychology nearly as much as Dan does...because he's not our dad!

I loved this book on so many levels. I love birds, so I picked this book up and simply could not put it down until I read the last page. This is an account of passion, obsession and consequences. It was fascinating to see how the process of interest into hobby into obsession evolved. It is also the compelling story of a son who has the inner fortitude to eventually come to terms with his father's obsession and even help him celebrate a birding milestone.