In the past dozen plus years, we have reviewed 152 natural history books. Here is the entire list of Natural History Book Reviews, updated February 24, 2023. The list is separated into two categories: Natural History and Field Guides. Please note that “field guides” also includes books on bird families, even though these may not be usable “in the field”.
This website focuses on birds so many of these titles are bird-related.
96
Natural History
56
Field Guides
Natural History (96)
- Pete Dunne on Bird Watching – Dunne, Pete
- Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder – Kaufman, Kenn
- Bird: The Definitive Visual Guide – DK Publishing
- Birding Illinois – De Vore, Sheryl
- Birder’s Conservation Handbook: 100 North American Birds at Risk – Wells, Jeffrey V.
- The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature – Rosen, Jonathan
- Good Birders Don’t Wear White: 50 Tips From North America’s Top Birders
- Birding for Everyone: Encouraging People of Color to Become Birdwatchers – Robinson, John C.
- Rare Birds Yearbook 2008
- Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder – Louv, Richard
- All Things Reconsidered: Birding With Roger Tory Peterson – Peterson, Roger Tory
- Roger Tory Peterson: A Biography – Carlson, Douglas
- Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson – Rosenthal, Elizabeth J.
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology Handbook of Bird Biology
- Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas
- Atlas of Bird Migration: Tracing the Great Journeys of the World’s Birds
- Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Nevada
- How and Why Species Multiply: The Radiation of Darwin’s Finches
- Birds in Flight: The Art and Science of How Birds Fly
- Rare Birds Yearbook 2009
- Corvus: A Life With Birds – Woolfson, Esther
- Princeton Encyclopedia of Birds
- Lars Jonsson’s Birds: Paintings From a Near Horizon – Jonsson, Lars
- The Travails of Two Woodpeckers
- Life List: A Woman’s Quest for the World’s Most Amazing Birds – Gentile, Olivia
- National Geographic Illustrated Birds of North America (Folio Edition)
- Birds of Eastern North America (Princeton University Press)
- Birds of Western North America (Princeton University Press)
- Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds
- Bird – Zuckerman, Andrew
- Bird Coloration (National Geographic)
- All About Birds: A Short Illustrated History of Ornithology – Chansigaud, Valerie
- Prairie Spring: A Journey Into the Heart of a Season – Dunne, Pete
- The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong – Kroodsma, Donald
- Birdsong by the Seasons: A Year of Listening to Birds – Kroodsma, Donald
- Birdology – Montgomery, Sy
- Molt in North American Birds (Peterson Reference Guides) – Howell, Steve N. G.
- The Princeton Encyclopedia of Mammals
- Mariposa Road: The First Butterfly Big Year – Pyle, Robert Michael
- Global Birding (National Geographic)
- The Scoop From Bird Poop – McCasland, Bebe
- The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation
- The Birdwatcher’s Guide to Hawai’i – Soehren, Rick
- Hawaiian Birds of the Sea – Shallenberger, Robert J.
- The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth – Conniff, Richard
- Avian Architecture: How Birds Design, Engineer, and Build – Goodfellow, Peter
- Arctic Autumn: A Journey to Season’s Edge – Dunne, Pete
- Wildflower Wonders: The 50 Best Wildflower Sites in the World – Gibbons, Bob
- Backyard Bird-Feeding Success – Martin, Deborah L.
- How to Be a Better Birder – Lovitch, Derek
- What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World – Young, Jon
- The Atlas of Birds: Diversity, Behavior, and Conservation – Unwin, Mike
- National Geographic Bird-Watcher’s Bible: A Complete Treasury
- Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Pennsylvania
- More Than Birds: Adventurous Lives of North American Naturalists – Shushkewich, Val
- The Kids’ Outdoor Adventure Book – Tornio, Stacy & Keffer, Ken
- Gardening For the Birds: How to Create a Bird-Friendly Backyard – Adams, George
- The Unfeathered Bird – Grouw, Katrina van
- Rare Birds of North America – Howell, Lewington, & Russell
- The Fascination of Birds: From Albatross to the Yellowthroat – Young, William
- The Art of Bird Finding – Dunne, Pete
- Silent Spring Revisited – Jameson, Conor Mark
- Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea, and Human Life – Monbiot, George
- The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature Deficit Disorder – Louv, Richard
- Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants – Tallamy, Douglas W.
- The Genius of Birds – Ackerman, Jennifer
- Vitamin N: 500 Ways to Enrich the Health & Happiness of Your Family & Community – Louv, Richard
- Long Hops: Making Sense of Bird Migration – Denny, Mark
- The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt and the Triumph of American Natural History – Lunde, Darrin
- The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative – Williams, Florence
- Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life – Wilson, E. O.
- Nature’s Allies: Eight Conservationists Who Changed the World – Nielson, Larry A.
- Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History – Flores, Dan
- PrairyErth – William Least Heat-Moon
- Across the Wide Missouri – DeVoto, Bernard
- Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West – Punke, Michael
- Free Range Kids – Skenazy, Lenore
- American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West – Blakeslee, Nate
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of the Plains – Kimmerer, Robin Wall
- Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness – Gessner, David
- Encounters With the Archdruid – McPhee John
- American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals of the Great Plains – Flores, Dan
- Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History From Cave Art to Conservation – Birkhead, Tim
- Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives—and Save Theirs – Louv, Richard
- Conversations With Birds – Priyanka Kumar
- The Man Who Loved Birds – James T. Huffstodt
- Eager: The Surprising Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter – Ben Goldfarb
- Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals & People in America – Dan Flores
- The River You Touch: Making a Life on Moving Water – Chris Dombrowski
- Lost Animals – Extinction and the Photographic Record – Errol Fuller
- The Hidden Company That Trees Keep: Life From Treetops to Root Tips – James B. Nardi
- The Forest: A Fable of America in the 1830s – Alexander Nemerov
- Habitats of the World: A Field Guide for Birders, Naturalists and Ecologists – Iain Campbell, Ken Behrens, Charley Hesse, and Phil Chaon
- The River of the Mother of God: and Other Essays – Aldo Leopold
- How Birds Evolve: What Science Reveals About Their Origin, Lives & Diversity – Douglas J. Futuyma
- The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World – Oliver Milman
Field Guides and Identification Guides (56)
- Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America – Kaufman, Kenn
- Audubon Pocket Backyard Birdwatch
- Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America – Thompson III, Bill
- Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America – Peterson, Roger Tory
- Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America – Floyd, Ted
- Owls of North America – Backhouse, Frances
- Falcons of North America – Davis, Kate
- Watchable Birds of the Black Hills, Badlands, and Northern Great Plains – Wassink, Jan L.
- A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors
- Gulls of the Americas (Peterson Reference Guides)
- Shorebirds: Beautiful Beachcombers – Morris, Arthur
- Hummingbirds of North America: Attracting, Feeding, and Photographing – True, Dan
- Where the Birds Are in Northeast Spain – West, Steve
- Birds of Eastern Africa
- Birds of Southern Africa
- Birds of East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Russia
- Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia
- The Sibley Guide to Trees – Sibley, David Allen
- Birds of Borneo: Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak, and Kalimantan – Myers, Susan
- Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica – Haynes-Sutton, Ann
- Birds of Europe (Princeton Field Guides, 2nd Edition)
- Birds of the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, and Socotra (Princeton Field Guides)
- Peterson Field Guide to Birds – Western North America / Eastern North America
- Field Guide to the Birds of Australia – Simpson, Ken & Day, Nicolas
- Raptors of New Mexico – Carron, Jean-Luc E.
- Birds of Peru (Princeton Field Guides)
- Identifying and Feeding Birds – Thompson III, Bill
- The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America – Stokes, Donald & Stokes, Lillian
- Parrots of the World (Princeton Field Guides)
- Mammals of North America (Princeton Field Guides)
- Birds of the Middle East (Princeton Field Guides)
- The Birds of Kaua’i – Denny, Jim
- A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Hawai’i – Denny, Jim
- Backyard Guide to the Birds of North America (National Geographic)
- The Crossley ID Guide to Eastern Birds – Crossley, Richard
- Hawks at a Distance: Identification of Migrant Raptors – Liguori, Jerry
- Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding – Kaufman, Kenn
- Birds of Hawaii, New Zealand, and the Central and West Pacific (Princeton Illustrated Checklists)
- The Birds of New Jersey: Status and Distribution
- National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America – 6th Edition
- Backyard Birding: A Guide to Attracting and Identifying Birds – Minetor, Randi
- Petrels, Albatrosses & Storm-Petrels of North America: A Photographic Guide – Howell, Steve N. G.
- The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of North America (Peterson Field Guides) – Thompson III, Bill
- Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of New England – Kaufman, Kenn
- Birds of Melanesia: Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia (Princeton Field Guides)
- Cuckoos of the World
- Birds of India: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and The Maldives (Princeton Field Guides)
- Hawks in Flight (Second Edition) – Dunne, Pete; Sibley, David; & Sutton, Clay
- The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds Eastern Region – Donald & Lillian Stokes
- The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds Western Region – Donald & Lillian Stokes
- Crossley ID Guide: Raptors – Crossley, Richard
- The Warbler Guide – Stephenson, Tom & Whittle, Scott
- Hummingbirds and Butterflies – Thompson III, Bill & Toops, Connie
- Ultimate Explorer Field Guide: Birds (National Geographic Kids)
- The Crossley ID Guide Britain & Ireland – Crossley, Richard
- Field Guide to Flycatchers: Empidonax and Pewees – Cin-Ty Lee