Natural History Book Reviews

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.

Natural History (96)

1. Pete Dunne on Bird Watching – Dunne, Pete
2. Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder – Kaufman, Kenn
3. Bird: The Definitive Visual Guide – DK Publishing
4. Birding Illinois – De Vore, Sheryl
5. Birder’s Conservation Handbook: 100 North American Birds at Risk – Wells, Jeffrey V.
6. The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature – Rosen, Jonathan
7. Good Birders Don’t Wear White: 50 Tips From North America’s Top Birders
8. Birding for Everyone: Encouraging People of Color to Become Birdwatchers – Robinson, John C.
9. Rare Birds Yearbook 2008
10. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder – Louv, Richard
11. All Things Reconsidered: Birding With Roger Tory Peterson – Peterson, Roger Tory
12. Roger Tory Peterson: A Biography – Carlson, Douglas
13. Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson – Rosenthal, Elizabeth J.
14. Cornell Lab of Ornithology Handbook of Bird Biology
15. Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas
16. Atlas of Bird Migration: Tracing the Great Journeys of the World’s Birds
17. Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Nevada
18. How and Why Species Multiply: The Radiation of Darwin’s Finches
19. Birds in Flight: The Art and Science of How Birds Fly
20. Rare Birds Yearbook 2009
21. Corvus: A Life With Birds – Woolfson, Esther
22. Princeton Encyclopedia of Birds
23. Lars Jonsson’s Birds: Paintings From a Near Horizon – Jonsson, Lars
24. The Travails of Two Woodpeckers
25. Life List: A Woman’s Quest for the World’s Most Amazing Birds – Gentile, Olivia
26. National Geographic Illustrated Birds of North America (Folio Edition)
27. Birds of Eastern North America (Princeton University Press)
28. Birds of Western North America (Princeton University Press)
29. Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds
30. Bird – Zuckerman, Andrew
31. Bird Coloration (National Geographic)
32. All About Birds: A Short Illustrated History of Ornithology – Chansigaud, Valerie
33. Prairie Spring: A Journey Into the Heart of a Season – Dunne, Pete
34. The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong – Kroodsma, Donald
35. Birdsong by the Seasons: A Year of Listening to Birds – Kroodsma, Donald
36. Birdology – Montgomery, Sy
37. Molt in North American Birds (Peterson Reference Guides) – Howell, Steve N. G.
38. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Mammals
39. Mariposa Road: The First Butterfly Big Year – Pyle, Robert Michael
40. Global Birding (National Geographic)
41. The Scoop From Bird Poop – McCasland, Bebe
42. The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation
43. The Birdwatcher’s Guide to Hawai’i – Soehren, Rick
44. Hawaiian Birds of the Sea – Shallenberger, Robert J.
45. The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth – Conniff, Richard
46. Avian Architecture: How Birds Design, Engineer, and Build – Goodfellow, Peter
47. Arctic Autumn: A Journey to Season’s Edge – Dunne, Pete
48. Wildflower Wonders: The 50 Best Wildflower Sites in the World – Gibbons, Bob
49. Backyard Bird-Feeding Success – Martin, Deborah L.
50. How to Be a Better Birder – Lovitch, Derek
51. What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World – Young, Jon
52. The Atlas of Birds: Diversity, Behavior, and Conservation – Unwin, Mike
53. National Geographic Bird-Watcher’s Bible: A Complete Treasury
54. Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Pennsylvania
55. More Than Birds: Adventurous Lives of North American Naturalists – Shushkewich, Val
56. The Kids’ Outdoor Adventure Book – Tornio, Stacy & Keffer, Ken
57. Gardening For the Birds: How to Create a Bird-Friendly Backyard – Adams, George
58. The Unfeathered Bird – Grouw, Katrina van
59. Rare Birds of North America – Howell, Lewington, & Russell
60. The Fascination of Birds: From Albatross to the Yellowthroat – Young, William
61. The Art of Bird Finding – Dunne, Pete
62. Silent Spring Revisited – Jameson, Conor Mark
63. Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea, and Human Life – Monbiot, George
64. The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature Deficit Disorder – Louv, Richard
65. Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants – Tallamy, Douglas W.
66. The Genius of Birds – Ackerman, Jennifer
67. Vitamin N: 500 Ways to Enrich the Health & Happiness of Your Family & Community – Louv, Richard
68. Long Hops: Making Sense of Bird Migration – Denny, Mark
69. The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt and the Triumph of American Natural History – Lunde, Darrin
70. The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative – Williams, Florence
71. Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life – Wilson, E. O.
72. Nature’s Allies: Eight Conservationists Who Changed the World – Nielson, Larry A.
73. Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History – Flores, Dan
74. PrairyErth – William Least Heat-Moon
75. Across the Wide Missouri – DeVoto, Bernard
76. Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West – Punke, Michael
77. Free Range Kids – Skenazy, Lenore
78. American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West – Blakeslee, Nate
79. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of the Plains – Kimmerer, Robin Wall
80. Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness – Gessner, David
81. Encounters With the Archdruid – McPhee John
82. American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals of the Great Plains – Flores, Dan
83. Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History From Cave Art to Conservation – Birkhead, Tim
84. Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives—and Save Theirs – Louv, Richard
85. Conversations With Birds – Priyanka Kumar
86. The Man Who Loved Birds – James T. Huffstodt
87. Eager: The Surprising Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter – Ben Goldfarb
88. Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals & People in America – Dan Flores
89. The River You Touch: Making a Life on Moving Water – Chris Dombrowski
90. Lost Animals – Extinction and the Photographic Record – Errol Fuller
91. The Hidden Company That Trees Keep: Life From Treetops to Root Tips – James B. Nardi
92. The Forest: A Fable of America in the 1830s – Alexander Nemerov
93. Habitats of the World: A Field Guide for Birders, Naturalists and Ecologists – Iain Campbell, Ken Behrens, Charley Hesse, and Phil Chaon
94. The River of the Mother of God: and Other Essays – Aldo Leopold
95. How Birds Evolve: What Science Reveals About Their Origin, Lives & Diversity – Douglas J. Futuyma
96. The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World – Oliver Milman

Field Guides and Identification Guides (56)

1. Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America – Kaufman, Kenn
2. Audubon Pocket Backyard Birdwatch
3. Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America – Thompson III, Bill
4. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America – Peterson, Roger Tory
5. Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America – Floyd, Ted
6. Owls of North America – Backhouse, Frances
7. Falcons of North America – Davis, Kate
8. Watchable Birds of the Black Hills, Badlands, and Northern Great Plains – Wassink, Jan L.
9. A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors
10. Gulls of the Americas (Peterson Reference Guides)
11. Shorebirds: Beautiful Beachcombers – Morris, Arthur
12. Hummingbirds of North America: Attracting, Feeding, and Photographing – True, Dan
13. Where the Birds Are in Northeast Spain – West, Steve
14. Birds of Eastern Africa
15. Birds of Southern Africa
16. Birds of East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Russia
17. Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia
18. The Sibley Guide to Trees – Sibley, David Allen
19. Birds of Borneo: Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak, and Kalimantan – Myers, Susan
20. Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica – Haynes-Sutton, Ann
21. Birds of Europe (Princeton Field Guides, 2nd Edition)
22. Birds of the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, and Socotra (Princeton Field Guides)
23. Peterson Field Guide to Birds – Western North America / Eastern North America
24. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia – Simpson, Ken & Day, Nicolas
25. Raptors of New Mexico – Carron, Jean-Luc E.
26. Birds of Peru (Princeton Field Guides)
27. Identifying and Feeding Birds – Thompson III, Bill
28. The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America – Stokes, Donald & Stokes, Lillian
29. Parrots of the World (Princeton Field Guides)
30. Mammals of North America (Princeton Field Guides)
31. Birds of the Middle East (Princeton Field Guides)
32. The Birds of Kaua’i – Denny, Jim
33. A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Hawai’i – Denny, Jim
34. Backyard Guide to the Birds of North America (National Geographic)
35. The Crossley ID Guide to Eastern Birds – Crossley, Richard
36. Hawks at a Distance: Identification of Migrant Raptors – Liguori, Jerry
37. Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding – Kaufman, Kenn
38. Birds of Hawaii, New Zealand, and the Central and West Pacific (Princeton Illustrated Checklists)
39. The Birds of New Jersey: Status and Distribution
40. National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America – 6th Edition
41. Backyard Birding: A Guide to Attracting and Identifying Birds – Minetor, Randi
42. Petrels, Albatrosses & Storm-Petrels of North America: A Photographic Guide – Howell, Steve N. G.
43. The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of North America (Peterson Field Guides) – Thompson III, Bill
44. Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of New England – Kaufman, Kenn
45. Birds of Melanesia: Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia (Princeton Field Guides)
46. Cuckoos of the World
47. Birds of India: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and The Maldives (Princeton Field Guides)
48. Hawks in Flight (Second Edition) – Dunne, Pete; Sibley, David; & Sutton, Clay
49. The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds Eastern Region – Donald & Lillian Stokes
50. The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds Western Region – Donald & Lillian Stokes
51. Crossley ID Guide: Raptors – Crossley, Richard
52. The Warbler Guide – Stephenson, Tom & Whittle, Scott
53. Hummingbirds and Butterflies – Thompson III, Bill & Toops, Connie
54. Ultimate Explorer Field Guide: Birds (National Geographic Kids)
55. The Crossley ID Guide Britain & Ireland – Crossley, Richard
56. Field Guide to Flycatchers: Empidonax and Pewees – Cin-Ty Lee