Customer Reviews

101 Ways To Help Birds

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this as a gift for my wife, who just qualified our backyard as a National Wildlife Habitat. It is sensibly organized in five parts:

Part I: Helping Birds at Home

Part II: Enhancing the Natural Habitat of Your Backyard

Part III: Supplementing Backyard Habitat

Part IV: Helping Birds Away from Home

Part V: Helping Birds on a Larger Scale

As experienced bird lovers and supporters, I can readily say that there is a great deal in this book that I was unaware of. Parts III and IV were most interesting to me, and Part V I had never really thought about. If birds are the "canary in the coal mine" for the Earth, then this book, as other reviewers have suggested, of larger importance, but for me, it is quite simply a wonderful selection of 101 useful easy to read ideas that can make a difference.

Very nice.

This is the book you've been waiting for. Naturalist Laura Erickson sets out 100+ things we can do to ensure the survival of birds, from making our windows collision proof to choosing fuel-efficient cars to buying a duck stamp. Lively and well-researched, the book is a gold mine of information about the many hazards to birds and the things we can do about them.

Instead of just feeling guilty about the impact we're having on the natural world, 101 Ways to Help Birds shines like a beacon of hope. We learn why garden store chemicals are bad for birds, why water looms as a major issue and how to conserve it, how to help an injured or sick bird and why shade-grown coffee is a boon for birds.

Erickson cares so deeply about birds and their continued survival on this planet that she devoted three years of her life to researching and writing a book to help turn the tide. Readers may not wish to go quite as far as she does:, Erickson's been known to stop her car to toss a dead skunk off the road to save a hungry turkey vulture from feeding too close to traffic. But you'll find all sorts of suggestions, both big and small, for making the world a safer and better place for birds, written in Erickson's engaging style.

This book occupies a unique niche-I know of no other like it--and 101 Ways to Help Birds belongs on the shelves of anyone who feeds birds, watches birds and just generally cares about birds.
101 Ways to Help Birds, by Laura Erickson, Stackpole Books, 2006

This book is so useful because it gives all kinds of tips, from saving an injured bird to trying to solve the issue of birds flying into windows. They are tips on food loved by diffent species, ideas for youth helping birds, or advice for controlling rodents.
There are addresses and internet links to birds associations, organizations, environment agencies. Did you know that orioles love orange marmelade ? Do you know when is best to clean your chimney and that it is dangerous to provide heated bird baths in winter ? Exquisite illustrations appear throughout the book.

And then there are small personal stories that will touch your heart.

If you are only mildly interested in birds, this book will make an avid and loving birder out of you, and life will sizzle even more !

I wish I had written this book. I'm a professional bird conservationist, and this book really provides the best introduction to the many ways that our lifestyles impact birds and the environment. Its a beautiful little book, with great ideas, fresh writing, and a cheerful tone. Laura manages to suggest 101 ways to improve your lifestyle, without loading on the guilt. A bible for bird lovers. Very informative, inspiring, and motivating. If you are one of the 50 million Americans who watch birds in your yard, or you just want some practical ideas on how to make your lifestyle more sustainable, do yourself a favor--buy the book, find something new to try, then buy copies of it as a present for those you love.

First of all, I don't think I like birders. I recently attended a seminar on reintroducing the Western Bluebirds to the San Juan Islands (where I live) and wasn't there 15 minutes before I had exchanged words with 3 different people, 2 of whom I wanted to poke in the nose.

That said, Laura Erickson's "101 Ways to Help Birds" seems to me a dandy book for birders or non-birders alike. Her suggestions are all practical ones which cover everything from the role of conservation of our natural resources and its impact on bird populations to basic information everyone should know when feeding birds. Her language is clear and precise and she writes with wit as well as authority.

I still rarely meet a birder without wanting to thrust out my foot and watch him or her go tumbling, but I do appreciate a well-written book on ways we can increase bird populations. Nice work, Ms. Erickson!

If everyone read this book and put into practice just a few of these suggestions, this world would be a much better place.

Although written from the perspective of helping birds, many of these suggestions will help the world as a whole, one step at a time. As I read this book, I was surprised to learn the consequences of some of my actions that I had never even thought about. Now I'm thinking seriously about changing some of these seemingly innocuous behaviors since I know their big-picture impacts.

While not purporting to have all the answers, Erickson has done an incredible amount of research and helps guide us to make responsible decisions on even the stickiest of issues.

Anything but a dry read, and a book you won't soon forget.

This book covers more than simple "blue jays like peanuts" advice. It covers the entire gamut of our impact on birds and other life on earth. Some of the suggestions are simple, (clean your bird feeders to keep them disease-free) others more life changing, but all are good. I've bought three copies of this book for gifts and will probably buying more since I keep giving my copy away!

As the author of this book, and also as an official member of the Nominating Committee for the Stephen T. Colbert Award for The Literary Excellence (I became a member of this by buying Stephen Colbert's "I Am America (And So Can You!), I can proudly state with 100% truthiness that my book is a nominee for the Stephen T. Colbert Award for The Literary Excellence.

Also, the information contained within will make the world safer for Stephen Jr.

I love this little book, and find it incredibly useful.

I'm not sorry I read 101 Ways to Help Birds. Within are plenty of suggestions and tips of which I wasn't aware, like crushing up the shells of hard boiled eggs and putting those shell pieces in a feeder to supply wild birds with much needed calcium. At times the book can be inspiring and motivational while at the same time painting a bleak picture of the plight of wild birds in the modern world, a world being contaminated by fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. It is a world of ever shrinking environments and changing temperatures that cause some robins to winter further north they they ever had before.

Mrs. Spudman and I are bird-brained fanatics. During the recent Mid-Atlantic record snowfall, we kept the feeders full and I made numerous trips outside to brush snow off the tray feeder and make sure the water in the sipper hadn't frozen. Thus I hoped this book would be brimming with 101 ideas I could actually use and act on. Though Laura Erickson shares many pragmatic bits of advice and suggestions in her book, she also includes broadly grand measures that indirectly affect our resident birds.

Some of the 101 ways I probably won't adopt are:
Eat less beef.
Buy organic food. (too expensive)
Cut hay and alfalfa as late in the breeding season as possible.
If your property provides space for power lines or wind turbines, make sure they are bird safe.
Be a responsible boater.
Buy and display a federal Duck Stamp.
Volunteer to help youth organizations develop bird study programs.
Provide the local media with accurate information about local bird issues.
And on and on.

Erickson's book is actually well organized, divided into five chapters each with a specific focus. The 101 ways to help birds are printed in bold font and individually numbered. Each "way" is followed by several paragraphs or several pages of elaboration. A reader can pick and choose which "ways" to read about and which ones to adopt.

Yes, this is an interesting, useful book but not quite the gem I expected of a book with five star ratings across the board.