Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds

by Lyanda Lynn Haupt

Overview

Naturalist Lyanda Lynn Haupt, an ornithology teacher and researcher, examines the amazing talents and personalities of the most common of birds. Some birdwatchers will hop the red-eye to Costa Rica if a rare species is reported to be in residence. She makes the argument for sticking close to home. She muses on the tarnished reputation of the starling, the sexed-up antics of male woodpeckers, and the mysterious behavior and startling population explosion of crows in her hometown. Through the eye and voice of this talented writer, birds provide a fascinating point of contact with the natural world at large.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570614194
Publisher:	Sasquatch Books
Publication date:	06/15/2004
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	690,953
Product dimensions:	12.80(w) x 18.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Lyanda Lynn Haupt created and directed education programs for the Seattle Audubon Society. She has worked in raptor rehabilitation in Vermont, peregrine falcon re-introduction in Minnesota, and seabird research in the remote Pacific. Her writing has appeared in Wild Earth Journal, Open Spaces, Birdwatchers Digest, and The Prairie Naturalist. She lives in Seattle with her husband and daughter.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	9
1	First Bird	13
2	An Invasion of Owls	23
3	The Presence of Birds: A Very New Life List	33
4	The Thrush and the Faerie	47
5	Cormorant Problem	59
6	The Birdwatcher's Book of Secrets	79
7	When Good Woodpeckers Go Bad	85
8	The Pacific-Slope Flycatcher: A New Species, Sort of	93
9	The Hidden Blue Grouse	103
10	The Secret Lives of Vaux's Swift	111
11	Winter Wren: Thoughts on Voice and Place	125
12	Sparrows as Mothers	135
13	One-Eyed Dunlin	143
14	Young Love: A Back-to-School Story	149
15	Postcards from the Mayan Ruins	157
16	Crow Stories	167
17	Bird Vision	181

Editorial Reviews

" It takes curiosity to lick a bird nest to learn how it tastes – and pluck to raise 37 baby chimney swifts by hand. Naturalist Lyanda Lynn Haupt has done these things and more. Her collection of essays peers into the lives of such common birds as crows

From the Publisher