
How to Know the Birds
The Art and Adventure of Birding
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Narrated by:
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Graham Winton
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By:
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Ted Floyd
About this listen
Become a better birder with brief profiles of 200 top North American birds. This friendly, relatable audiobook is a celebration of the art, science, and delights of bird-watching.
How to Know the Birds introduces a new, holistic approach to bird-watching, by noting how behaviors, settings, and seasonal cycles connect with shape, song, color, gender, age distinctions, and other features traditionally used to identify species. With short essays on 200 observable species, expert author Ted Floyd guides us through a year of becoming a better birder, each species representing another useful lesson: from explaining scientific nomenclature to noting how plumage changes with age, from chronicling migration patterns to noting hatchling habits. A pleasure for birders of all ages, this witty book promises solid lessons for the beginner and smiles of recognition for the seasoned nature lover.
©2019 Ted Floyd (P)2019 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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By: Kenn Kaufman
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The Life of Birds (Updated Edition)
- By: David Attenborough
- Narrated by: David Attenborough
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Birds. Over 9,000 species, the most widespread of all animals: on icebergs, in the Sahara or under the sea, at home in our gardens or flying for over a year at a time. Earthbound, we can only look and listen, enjoying their lightness, freedom and richness of plumage and song. David Attenborough has been watching and learning all his life. His classic book, now fully updated with the latest discoveries in ornithology, is a brilliant introduction to bird behaviours around the world: what they do and why they do it.
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Delightful and comprehensive, presented with masterful narration by David Attenborough.
- By Steve A on 06-27-24
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Birds in Flight
- By: Anni Taylor
- Narrated by: Harriet Gordon-Anderson
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1998, the American Jorgenson family had been on a year-long road trip in Australia. One humid, storming night, the mother - Elsa Jorgenson - vanished in an isolated stretch of Australian everglades. Elsa was never seen again. That night, twelve-year-old Lily Jorgenson was left alone and terrified in the family camper—even her teenage sister Iris is missing. When Iris comes racing back through the rain, she refuses to tell where she’s been. Lily is certain her sister is hiding a dark secret.
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Kept me hooked, even with mispronunciations
- By Jujube33 on 03-10-23
By: Anni Taylor
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What It's Like to Be a Bird
- From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing: What Birds Are Doing, and Why (Sibley Guides)
- By: David Allen Sibley
- Narrated by: Evan Sibley
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In What It's Like to Be a Bird, David Sibley answers the most frequently asked questions about the birds we see most often. This special brand-new audio edition is geared as much to nonbirders as it is to the out-and-out obsessed, covering more than 200 species. While its focus is on familiar backyard birds—blue jays, nuthatches, chickadees—it also examines certain species that can be fairly easily observed, such as the seashore-dwelling Atlantic puffin.
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The Backyard Bird Chronicles
- By: Amy Tan, David Allen Sibley - foreword
- Narrated by: Amy Tan, Evan Sibley
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2016, Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world: Hatred and misinformation became a daily presence on social media, and the country felt more divisive than ever. In search of peace, Tan turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds visiting her yard. But what began as an attempt to find solace turned into something far greater—an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired.
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Don’t Recommend As An Audiobook
- By AnnSG on 06-02-24
By: Amy Tan, and others
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The Invention of Nature
- Alexander von Humboldt's New World
- By: Andrea Wulf
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery, whether climbing the highest volcanoes in the world or racing through anthrax-infested Siberia. He came up with a radical vision of nature, that it was a complex and interconnected global force and did not exist for man's use alone. Ironically, his ideas have become so accepted and widespread that he has been nearly forgotten.
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Poignant origin story
- By Jeremy Fairbanks on 03-03-16
By: Andrea Wulf
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Beaks, Bones and Bird Songs
- How the Struggle for Survival Has Shaped Birds and Their Behavior
- By: Roger Lederer
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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When we see a bird flying from branch to branch happily chirping, it is easy to imagine they lead a simple life of freedom, flight, and feathers. What we don't see is the arduous, life-threatening challenges they face at every moment. Beaks, Bones and Bird Songs guides the listener through the myriad, and often almost miraculous, things that birds do every day to merely stay alive. Like the goldfinch, which manages extreme weather changes by doubling the density of its plumage in winter.
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very dense but good info
- By K. on 03-20-19
By: Roger Lederer
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Better Living Through Birding
- Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
- By: Christian Cooper
- Narrated by: Christian Cooper
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Christian Cooper is a self-described “Blerd” (Black nerd), an avid comics fan and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop to rest in Central Park, just a subway ride away from where he lives in New York City. While in the park one morning in May 2020, Cooper was engaged in the birdwatching ritual that had been a part of his life since he was ten years old when what might have been a routine encounter with a dog walker exploded age-oldracial tensions. Cooper’s viral video of the incident would send shock waves through the nation.
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If you’re not a birder yet, you soon will be.
- By Anonymous on 06-19-23
By: Christian Cooper
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A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
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I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
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The Bird Way
- A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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"There is the mammal way and there is the bird way." But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries - what they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They are also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own.
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Good Work but it doesn’t scale
- By Stanley Lippman on 07-02-20
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What an Owl Knows
- The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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For millennia, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented more than thirty thousand years ago in the Chauvet Cave paintings in southern France. With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Jennifer Ackerman illuminates the rich biology and natural history of these birds and reveals remarkable new scientific discoveries about their brains and behavior.
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The dedication and fierce commitment of the author
- By Michael G. T. Thompson on 12-17-24
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The Comfort of Crows
- A Backyard Year
- By: Margaret Renkl
- Narrated by: Margaret Renkl
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Comfort of Crows, Margaret Renkl presents a literary devotional: fifty-two chapters that follow the creatures and plants in her backyard over the course of a year. As we move through the seasons—from a crow spied on New Year’s Day, its resourcefulness and sense of community setting a theme for the year, to the lingering bluebirds of December, revisiting the nest box they used in spring—what develops is a portrait of joy and grief: joy in the ongoing pleasures of the natural world, and grief over winters that end too soon and songbirds that grow fewer and fewer.
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Unlistenable
- By maia simon on 04-07-24
By: Margaret Renkl
What listeners say about How to Know the Birds
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- Daniel Galvez
- 06-12-23
Excellent basics on many species and topics
So much great information. And written very well to keep you engaged. Will read it again!
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- Trina Arnold
- 01-26-23
Very Informative
Great book about birding that I have been looking for as a new border. As an academic, the book met my curiosity in learning ID without being verbose and to the point but still tells a good story. With every book, there was more I wanted to know about birds but that’s the beauty of learning. Seeking knowledge!
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- Desiree
- 04-18-25
Good basic intro into all things birding.
This was not what I expected but I still enjoyed it. I even learned some interesting new facts about my familiar neighborhood birds. A good intro book for those wanting to explore birding beyond a field guide.
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- Taylor Driggs
- 02-04-20
Informative American bird and bird watching overview
In an easy to listen to short anecdotal chapter format, this book shares lots of little nuggets of trivia and information about the more common American bird species, it’s as much a book about birdwatching as an avocation and hobby as it is about birds.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Kaysi12
- 11-09-20
Hoping for a series
As an avid but amateur birder, I was delighted with this book and its focus on particular birds in all seasons and it will fall into the category for repeat listening. I am hoping for future books on other species. My one criticism was the excessive referencing of other chapters by number. I suppose if I had a hard copy of the book I could flip back and easily find the relevant information, but in an audiobook, it isn’t helpful at all.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Compsognathus
- 07-26-23
Audio is not really the best format
Great and useful book, but it does refer to other parts of the book frequently. So it would be nice to have the physical book too.
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- Vivek Prachand
- 03-31-22
will take your knowledge of birds to next level
incredibly informative, I wish that the Audible format allowed easier browsing by chapter (since there are 200) and that the bird songs were actual recordings rather than verbal descriptions
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- compassrose
- 05-01-20
Great learning opportunity
We always enjoy Ted's witty articles in ABA's Birding magazine and this book of easy to read, entertaining lessons did not disappoint.
The narration is good too.
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- seven swans
- 12-03-20
Excruciating
While a lot of the content was interesting and informative, reading all of the section numbers was EXTREMELY aggravating and took me out of the narrative. There is no way this audiobook should have kept the "section numbers" -- it's not a reference!
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3 people found this helpful
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- x
- 06-22-22
Wish he didn’t reference previous chapter numbers
This could be a terrific way to learn more about birds.
I enjoyed the first 20 or so, chapters , very much.
The author makes reference to birds from previous chapters, “chapter 16”, that’s fine, but I didn’t think they needed to be read aloud in an audio book. The same with reading website addresses.
I’m not going to go paging back to find them or write them down,while listening while driving.
To be honest, it grew more annoying as the chapters continued and I didn’t finish the book.
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