Short listed for the Green Earth book award In early April, as Owen and his sister search the hickories, oaks, and dogwoods for returning birds, a huge group of birds leaves the misty mountain slopes of the Yucatan peninsula for the 600-mile flight across the Gulf of Mexico to their summer nesting grounds. One of them is a Cerulean warbler. He will lose more than half his body weight even if the journey goes well. Aloft over the vast ocean, the birds encourage each other with squeaky chirps that say, “We are still alive. We can do this.” Owen’s family watches televised reports of a great storm over the Gulf of Mexico, fearing what it may mean for migrating songbirds. In alternating spreads, we wait and hope with Owen, then struggle through the storm with the warbler. This moving story with its hopeful ending appeals to us to preserve the things we love. The backmatter includes a North American bird migration map, birding information for kids, and guidance for how native plantings can transform yards into bird and wildlife habitat.

A field guide that revolutionizes warbler identification Warblers are among the most challenging birds to identify. They exhibit an array of seasonal plumages and have distinctive yet oft-confused calls and songs. The Warbler Guide enables you to quickly identify any of the 56 species of warblers in the United States and Canada. This groundbreaking guide features more than 1,000 stunning color photos, extensive species accounts with multiple viewing angles, and an entirely new system of vocalization analysis that helps you distinguish songs and calls. The Warbler Guide revolutionizes birdwatching, making warbler identification easier than ever before. For more information, please see the author videos on the Princeton University Press website. Covers all 56 species of warblers in the United States and Canada Visual quick finders help you identify warblers from any angle Song and call finders make identification easy using a few simple questions Uses sonograms to teach a new system of song identification that makes it easier to understand and hear differences between similar species Detailed species accounts show multiple views with diagnostic points, direct comparisons of plumage and vocalizations with similar species, and complete aging and sexing descriptions New aids to identification include song mnemonics and icons for undertail pattern, color impression, habitat, and behavior Includes field exercises, flight shots, general identification strategies, and quizzes A complete, page-by-page audio companion to all of the 1,000-plus songs and calls covered by the book is available for purchase and download from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library by using the link at www.TheWarblerGuide.com

A humorous, light-hearted account of a father and son's "Big Year" traveling across the country and abroad on a birdwatching quest

A spectacularly illustrated, factually accurate story of a tiny yellow warbler's migration journey as she flies thousands of miles to reach her mate. In her dazzling oil paintings, Nancy Lane creates stunning landscapes and people that illuminate Pulitzer-prize finalist Scott Weidensaul's poetic and detailed description of the warbler's perilous journey from the tropics of Central America to the Canadian tundra. Together, they engage the reader's interest in a story that conveys a deep sense of the wonder and the danger of the migration journey. Children will also discover how they can help birds like our yellow warbler by seeing how three different children and families help her along the way: a Nicaraguan family who know the bird as reinita amarilla and whose traditional shade coffee farm sustains migrant birds, an African-American family that creates a garden in their backyard on the gulf coast to provide food for migrating birds, and a family from The Łutsël K'é Dene First Nation in Canada who have preserved land for all animals.

Provides basic information about the biology, life cycles, and behavior of birds, along with brief profiles of each of the eighty bird families in North America.

Marcel the swan stays behind when his family migrates for the winter, but soon finds he cannot find food and shelter the way other animals do in the winter.

Presents the songs and calls of fifty North American birds that are common to residential settings, city parks, and urban areas.