Amazon.com: Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches?: And Other Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask (9780807085745): Mike O'Connor: Books
Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Buy New

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Buy Used
Used - Good See details
$3.20 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches?: And Other Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask
 
 
Start reading Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches?: And Other Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask [Paperback]

Mike O'Connor (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

List Price: $14.95
Price: $11.21 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $3.74 (25%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it delivered Friday, February 24? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $7.16  
Paperback $11.21  

Book Description

April 15, 2007
In 1983, Mike O'Connor opened the Bird Watcher's General Store on Cape Cod, which might well have been the first store devoted solely to birding in the United States. Since that time he has answered thousands of questions about birds, both at his store and while walking down the aisles of the supermarket. The questions have ranged from inquiries about individual species ("Are flamingos really real?") to what and when to feed birds ("Should I bring in my feeders for the summer?") to the down-and-dirty specifics of backyard birding ("Why are the birds dropping poop in my pool?"). Answering the questions has been easy; keeping a straight face has been hard.

Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches? is the solution for the beginning birder who already has a book that explains the slight variation between Common Ground-Doves and Ruddy Ground-Doves but who is really much more interested in why birds sing at 4:30 A.M. instead of 7:00 A.M., or whether it's okay to feed bread to birds, or how birds rediscover your feeders so quickly when you've just filled them after a long vacation. Or, for that matter, whether flamingos are really real.

Frequently Bought Together

Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches?: And Other Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask + Down and Dirty Birding: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous, Here's All the Outrageous but True Stuff You've Ever Wanted to Know About North American Birds + Good Birders Don't Wear White: 50 Tips From North America's Top Birders
Price For All Three: $37.15

Show availability and shipping details

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cape Codder columnist O'Connor ("Ask the Bird Folks") illuminates his intricate, arcane area of expertise through jovial insider explanations that will enlighten as well as entertain ornithiphiles, average backyard birdwatchers and even nonbirders. O'Connor's humorous birding columns are organized into sections on ways to attract specific species, food, unusual birds, habitats, equipment and more. Among many wry but practical answers to tongue-in-cheek and sincere questions, O'Connor explains why birdseed is healthier for birds than white bread (empty calories), but plain (not sugared) doughnuts are also better than bread. He debunks the "old wives' tale" of ostriches hiding their heads in the sand—on the open savanna they just drop their heads to the ground hoping to appear like a bush to a predator in the distance. As for the woodpecker, it has "evolved a rather tough head. Its larger brain case prevents concussions, and the muscle and bone structure at the base of the bill serves as a shock absorber. The avian equivalent in tone and expertise to NPR's Car Talk Magliozzi brothers, O'Connor should net a wider audience with this amusing collection. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Mike O'Connor knows birds—I mean, REALLY knows them. He can deliver the straight scoop with a hilarious twist that makes it unforgettable. Reading this book is almost as much fun as bird watching, and that's saying a lot!"—Kenn Kaufman, author of the Kaufman Field Guide to the Birds of North America

Product Details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Beacon Press (April 15, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 080708574X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0807085745
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

 

Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Entertaining, May 1, 2007
By 
J. head (littlteton, nh USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches?: And Other Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask (Paperback)
Perhaps the most entertaining book about birds ever written. This book is a collection of the author's newspaper columns entitled, "Ask the Bird Folks". These excepts discuss questions that the general public is concerned with, or that the author has repeatedly answered in his Bird-watchers Store on Cape Cod. Common questions such as, How do you squirrel proof your bird feeder, or If I keep the bird feeder full of food will the birds still migrate South for Winter, to more exotic ornithological questions. The author, Mike O'Connor, answers these questions along with some related facts usually couched in between some hilarious zingers thrown out at the questioner's expense.
All in all the book is a good balance of factual material with humor and a down-to-earth commonsense style. Kudos to the author. A very good book for short segmented reading opportunities.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great for any level birder, fun and full of good advice, June 27, 2007
This review is from: Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches?: And Other Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask (Paperback)
Mr. O'Connor runs a bird store on Cape Cod and writes a column about birds and birders for the local paper there, The Cape Codder. He answers the questions that people who shop in birder stores ask people who run the stores. Often the people who ask the questions are new to birding. Sometimes they are eighty years old and sometimes they are five years old. We've never heard a bad question from such people. How do I get birds to come to my backyard? What do I feed them? What kind of birds like peanuts? What is this "thistle" or "nyjer" you sell? If I leave my hummingbird feeders up too long will that keep the hummingbirds from migrating? How do I keep squirrels off my bird feeders? What are the best binoculars? What was that little brown bird that I had at my feeder last weekend? Mr. O'Connor answers them. He answers with wit and verve. His answers are accurate, humane and wise. This is a great book for anyone you know who is beginning to know birds. It is even a good book for a birder of any level. Best of all, you'll laugh out loud and heaven knows, we could all use some of that these days.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


4.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read!, December 7, 2009
By 
Mary Bach (Riverhead, NY) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches?: And Other Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask (Paperback)
This book answers all kinds of birding questions with a humorist twist. I bought extra copies to give to friends.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews





Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
great auk, black ducks, peanut feeder, get headaches, feeder birds, cavity nesters
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
North America, House Finch, Cape Cod, New England, Barn Owl, Purple Finch, Ludlow Griscom, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Wood Ducks, Barn Swallows, Indigo Buntings, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Beach Orioles, South America, California Gulls, Tree Swallows, White-breasted Nuthatches, Audubon Society, New York, Christmas Day, Central America, Eastern Bluebird, New Mexico, Scarlet Tanagers
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums





Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject