Country Bird

Title: Country Bird
Authors: Angela Harrison Vinet and Janis Hatten Harrison
Series: Birds Illustrated Collection, book 1
Major Themes: Birdwatching, Field Guides, Nature
Synopsis: A delightful, gorgeously illustrated field guide to common country birds in the US.

I’m not the type of person who typically would sit down and read a field guide, but when I saw Country Bird coming up, I knew I wanted to have a closer look. My grandma has been an avid birder for much of her life, and while she’s done her best to try to instill a love of birdwatching in us grandchildren, it’s only moderately worked. Still, when I saw this book, I thought of her and knew I wanted to see what it was like for myself. I was delighted by how many birds I knew in these pages, and delighted still more at how they were presented—this is a delightful “guide”!

Publisher’s description:

My thoughts:

If you’re looking for a traditional field guide, intent on helping you identify the birds you see, this probably isn’t the best book for the purpose. On the other hand, if traditional field guides intimidate you with their statistics and detail-heavy language, Country Bird could be exactly what you’re looking for.

The first thing I was struck by when I picked this book up was all the illustrations. Full-page, gorgeous paintings, these illustrations are a delight to the eyes. Sometimes, you see just one pose of each bird; other times, a couple of different perspectives are given, or if the female looks different compared to the male, you’ll get both of those.

Then there’s the language used to describe each bird. Along with each bird’s name is a Southernism or common saying—the Chipping Sparrow is given the title “Knee-high to a Grasshopper”; the Crow is called “A Real Snake in the Grass”; the Goldfinch is called “Miss Highfalutin”. On what would normally be a detailed specifications page is a delightful description of each bird. Sometimes, it talks about the bird’s coloring, other times it talks about its song, or what it eats, or particular characteristics that set it apart from other birds. For example, on the page about the White-Crowned Sparrow, the description spends quite a bit of time talking about their unique singing behavior—sparrows in different territories have their own dialects and sets of songs.

I found Country Bird to be a delightful read, not just for the illustrations and descriptions, but also for the way it makes birdwatching feel approachable—something I could do. The authors have obviously spent quite a while studying these birds, and love birdwatching themselves—that comes through clearly in these pages. If you enjoy birdwatching or know someone who does, this would be a treasure to have on the shelf or to use as a gift.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

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