Bird Nerd Book Club

It is the end of 2025 - so time for a bit of a wrap-up! Lyzy Lusterman, owner of Buteo Books, joined me to talk about some favorites, some trends, and books to look forward to in 2025. Buteo Books is a family-owned and operated business based on the firm belief that independent booksellers are a vital component of our social and cultural landscape. Their brick-and-mortar store is in San Rafael, California but can also be found online (Instagram; TikTok) Don't forget to check-ou...

Ryan Goldberg came to birding unexpectedly, but as many first-timers do after seeing their “spark” bird, he fell hard. Enamored with the incredible variety of species that pass through his hometown of New York City, and with the other passionate birders he meets, he embarks on a year of reporting on the natural wonders hiding amidst the skyscrapers. He learns that millions of birds migrate through the city each year—more than four hundred different species have been found in New York, many mo...

The British Isles are remarkable for their extraordinary seabird life: spectacular gatherings of charismatic Arctic terns, elegant fulmars and stoic eiders, to name just a few. Often found in the most remote and dramatic reaches of our shores, these colonies are landscapes shaped not by us but by the birds. In 2015, Stephen Rutt escaped his hectic, anxiety-inducing life in London for the bird observatory on North Ronaldsay, the most northerly of the Orkney Islands. In thrall to these windswep...

Throughout a lifetime of biological and seabird research, Michael Brooke has been blessed with the opportunity to visit a huge array of islands dotted across all the oceans of the world. His is an island list fit to make the armchair traveller green with envy – and potentially seasick. Truly no island has been too far: from St Kilda to Spitsbergen, from Hawaii to the furthest reaches of the Southern Ocean, with all manner of destinations in between. No Island Too Far is deeply knowledgeable a...

Spanning much of the western part of South America, the Andes are home to some of the world’s most magnificent birds, from exquisite hummingbirds to fabulous flamingos. This beautifully illustrated large-format book celebrates the splendor and extraordinary diversity of Andean birds and the habitats they depend on. It draws on the latest findings from the field and sheds light on the lush alpine and forested terrains that make this avifauna so rich and plentiful. With illuminating essays that...