Bird Neighbors is the classic American bird guide that turns strangers in the garden into familiar friends, introducing one hundred and fifty common birds with an introduction by the great naturalist John Burroughs.
First published in 1897, Bird Neighbors was the first major work by Neltje Blanchan, the pen name of the American writer and naturalist Nellie De Graff Doubleday. Written for the ordinary observer rather than the specialist, it gathers one hundred and fifty of the birds most often seen about our gardens, meadows, and woods, and arranges them not by Latin family alone but by colour, size, season, and habitat, so that a bird glimpsed on a morning walk can be found and named with ease. Blanchan writes as a true bird lover, pairing close observation with warmth and good humour, while John Burroughs lends a generous introduction, praising the book as reliable and written in a vivacious strain by a real bird lover. The result is one of the best loved popular bird guides of its age, and a small classic of American nature writing.
For anyone who has wondered at a song from the hedgerow or a flash of colour among the branches, Bird Neighbors remains the gentlest of introductions, as good a companion at the kitchen window as on a long country walk. This A Thousand Fields edition returns a treasured classic to the shelf, for the seasoned naturalist, the new birdwatcher, and every reader who finds a quiet reward in paying closer attention to the wild lives around us.
Key features
- A classic of American nature writing, first published in 1897 and introduced by the naturalist John Burroughs
- An introductory acquaintance with one hundred and fifty birds of the garden, meadow, and woodland
- Birds grouped by colour, size, season, and habitat, so they can be named at a glance in the field
- Warm, accessible writing that asks for no prior knowledge, for the new and seasoned birdwatcher alike
- A thoughtful gift for birdwatchers, walkers, and lovers of the natural world