Who is Singing that Beautiful Song?
April – May is Warbler migration season in Northern Virginia, but there are great opportunities for year round bird watching in our area.
Learn more about local birds and bird watching with these books and films:
Finding Birds in the National Capital Area
by Claudia Wilds
Wilds provides information on birding from Delaware to North Carolina, including maps, directions, and descriptions. Accessible to the novice and detailed enough for the experienced birder.
The Warbler Guide
by Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle, drawings by Catherine Hamilton
Warblers are among the most challenging birds to identify. They exhibit an array of seasonal plumages and have distinctive yet oft-confused calls and songs. The guide enables birders to quickly identify any of the 56 species of warblers in the United States and Canada.
Birders: The Central Park Effect
DVD [2013]
A diverse group of full of attitude, New Yorker reveals how a hidden world of beautiful wild birds in the middle of Manhattan has upended and magically transformed their lives.
Living On the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds
by Scott Weidensaul
The one truly unifying natural phenomenon in the world, bird migration stitches the continents together. Starting at a wildlife refuge in Alaska, the author follows birds on their southward migration, discovering how birds navigate on their journeys, using the sun during the day, the stars to orient by night, or even the Earth’s magnetic field as a compass.
The Singing Life of Birds
by Donald E. Kroodsma ; drawings by Nancy Haver
Anyone who wonders why birds sing, if their songs are learned or inherited, why mockingbirds sing at night, or why some species mimic will find engaging answers in this authoritative and entertaining book on bird vocalizations. discusses how songs develop, different bird dialects, extremes of male song, songs in the hour before dawn, and avian species whose females also sing.
Bird Talk: What Birds are Saying and Why
by Lita Judge
Birds have lots of ways of communicating: They sing and talk, dance and drum, cuddle and fight. But what does all of the bird talk mean? Filled with gorgeous illustrations, this fascinating picture book takes a look at the secret life of birds in a child-friendly format that is sure to appeal to readers of all ages – whether they’re die-hard bird-watchers or just curious about the creatures in their own backyards.
Virginia Bird Watching: A Year Round Guide
by Bill Thompson III and the staff of Bird Watcher’s Digest
The birds that frequent the backyards of Virginia differ from the birds that frequent the backyards of Tennessee. In addition to unique descriptions, each bird profile includes a range map to identify each bird’s North American distribution. One hundred birds are profiled, each with a color photograph, to ensure accurate identification.
Build Your Own Birdhouse and Feeders
by John Perkins
Perkins, an architectural design technician, offers 25 designs for birdhouses and feeders of varying complexity. This title includes such elaborate designs as a medieval tournament tent and a log cabin, as well as a traditional dovecote and a martin condo.
100 Birds and How they Got their Names
by Diana Wells, illustrated by Lauren Jarrett
Provides a short history and illustrations of one hundred common and exotic birds, including the cardinal, goose, bird of paradise, and the flamingo.
A Birder’s Guide to Everything
DVD [2014]
A fifteen year old birding fanatic, thinks that he’s made the discovery of a lifetime. On the eve of his father’s remarriage, he escapes on an epic road trip with his best friends to solidify their place in birding history.
