Baby Birds: An Artist Looks into the Nest

To the millions who find delightful solace in observing wild birds, Julie Zickefoos has given us the rarest of gifts in her latest book. I have long been enchanted by Earth's feathered inhabitants. They have winged through my days and lifted my spirits. I have written about them, listened to them sing, and attempted to draw and photograph them, with little success. Sometimes I have had the privilege of becoming friends with a wild bird who dared to trust me.As other reviewers have said more eloquently than I, Julie's insight and devotion to her subject are in a class of their own. Her pen, pencil, and watercolors (no easy medium) are simply phenomenal in capturing the very essence of our winged friends--better than most photographs. With a few deft strokes she can capture the magic of any bird.Some reviews have cited a difficulty in deciphering the penciled notes on her beautiful artwork, but we must remember that these are simply brief reminders to herself of the time and circumstances of her observations which are fleshed out in her delightful prose in the text.Thank you Julie Zickefoose. You are a treasure.

While the book contains a myriad of information about baby birds—fascinating drawings, detailed fold outs, and handwritten field notes, the layout and design of the material blunt the reader’s pleasure. The main text (journal entries) is too dense, the drawings are jammed helter-skelter into the margins, and the field notes appear so light that in many cases reading the comments is impossible even with a magnifying glass. The hatchling-to-adult lifecycle foldouts appear before the main text for each bird but the lifecycle foldout has no title anywhere on the three pages. Still, the book is lovely. The illustrations are engaging. The approach is easy to grasp. The author deserved a better printing than this.

Zickefoose, a life-long bird rescuer and talented watercolor artist, took up the task of chronicling the development of 17 different baby birds, from the day the nestlings hatched until they fledged from the nest. This has never been done before. The book is truly a labor of love. Each day, Zickefoose removed one of the nestlings from its nest and took the baby bird to her studio to draw it. (She did this for 15 of the 17 birds; two she drew from photos. e.g. Hummingbirds were too fragile to remove from their nest.) While you would think that the commentary that accompanies the drawings would be repetitive, it is not. As you read through the narrative, her commitment to the little guys rings authentic as she takes the reader through the steps she followed to nurture each of her subjects. She has a good sense of humor that also comes through in her writing. Her knowledge of bird life is impressive. It is worth buying the book just for the section on hummingbirds - truly amazing!

This is one of the best bird books I've ever read. I am slowly reading it because I love it. As soon as I finish I intend to start at the beginning again. The drawings are beautiful. The copy is charming and informative. I'm learning new things about various birds and their development. Great for bird lovers, bird watchers, naturalists, children. Many illustrations unfold to cover three leafs.

Her life is a labor of love of birds. I would love to have her life for one season. You can read this book continuously because it is hard to put down or in short intervals and just pick it up anytime and read about one species. Also you learn so many facts about baby birds and their adults.I will never give this book away. I know I can pick it up and just look up a certain bird.I have given this as a gift also. It is for anyone who has the slighted interest in birds. They say 40% of the USA feed birds that also means that 40% would love this book!

This book is totally amazing in its ability to let the reader see into a nest of baby birds and to follow their growth process one day at a time. Absolutely unique in the kingdom of "bird books". Beautiful as well as heart warming, as stories about various birds are told from Julie's personal experience point of view. This is a coffee-table book in my home!

this book is amazing. I purchased another one for a dear friend. The illustrations along are worth the purchase. The details are beyond what you would expect. Love it

Beautiful, dreamy watercolors of the progression of baby birds from egg to to fledgling, along with the writing that sheds light on the quirks and personalities of the different species. I highly recommend to anyone who loves nature, beautiful art, and warm and engaging prose.

Loved this book artwork amazing and very interesting insite into birds lives.

El libro es grande y grueso. La autora se dió a la tarea, por años, de ilustrar nidos y los polluelos que ahí nacen. Tiene ilustraciones preciosas de aves desde que nacen hasta que dejan el nido. También, a manera de diario, escribió sus observaciones. Sin duda alguna es un libro para los amantes de las aves que también agradecen la belleza visual de las ilustraciones.Esta dividido por especies y se puede leer sin ningún órden.

Nice book with beautifully illustrated pictures of the baby birds at different stages. Lots of interesting information too.

If you want a mega dose of "baby bird" cuteness, this is a book you will love!!