Bird-By-Bird Gardening: The Ultimate Guide to Bringing in Your Favorite Birds--Year After Year

I am baffled by the negative reviews about this book. It is an extremely useful reference if you want concrete ideas about establishing a bird-friendly garden. We are landscaping our yard from scratch after a major renovation to our house, and this book is exactly what I was looking for. As a couple of the reviewers mentioned, this is NOT a bird identification book, which is fine with me because there are zillions of those books out there. Instead, this is a gardening book. The author devotes a chapter to each of the most common bird families, gives some basic information about the natural habits and preferences of each family, and then presents an actual garden plan (with sketch) to attract members of that family. The garden plans are simple, which is great, and the author also includes a table of other recommended plants and their use for birds (food, shelter, etc.) The plant lists are not exhaustive, but the garden plans are a terrific starting point. This book is most useful for folks who already know the type of birds they'd like to attract to your garden. If you don't, get yourself a basic bird ID book that gives a list of local inhabitants in your area, and then use the BIrd-by-Bird Gardening book to figure out how to attract the species of your choice. The author does have a very casual, chatty writing style, which I have to admit gets a bit annoying, but if you ignore that, the book is loaded with great information. The only thing I felt uncomfortable with is that the author takes a somewhat less rigorous approach about the use of invasive plants than is environmentally responsible. Still, she encourages use of native trees and plants in each of her plans, and flags any invasive plants so you can choose not to use them. Overall, this book is great for folks who already have some knowledge about birds, and want specific instructions about what to plant to attract them. Very useful.

I thought this book was great! I am primarily a gardener, and getting in to birding as a result of all I'm doing in the yard. This book was excellent because for each type of bird, it told you what plants you could plant in your yard to attract them, what plants they would eat, if they would be likely to nest in your yard, what kind of plants they require for nesting, what the nest would look like, and what other kinds of general habitat they might like. I really had never thought about how birds need places to hide from predators, not just places to get food and have nests. It also had information like what kind of foods each bird likes, if you want to put out feeders, and what kind of feeders (if any) each kind of bird might be attracted to. It's not really a bird reference, this is more a gardening reference to attract birds. It does a very good job of giving you specific plant ideas for any kind of bird that you want to attract - I find that picking out specifics is often the hardest part! The only thing I wish this book did differently is to not include invasive plants, even if they aren't invasive all over the US. There are several plants in here that are causing significant habitat problems in Massachusetts, even though in other regions in the US they aren't such a problem. Fortunately, she does call out each plant that she mentions that could fall into that category, so you will know. I just wish they weren't mentioned at all!

I have tried over the years to create a yard that is as friendly to wild birds as possible. I've made kind of a game out of seeing how many different species I can attract to my yard. I found this book to be very helpfull in my efforts. As the title suggests, it's more of a gardening book than a bird guide, so people who want detailed information about the birds should look elsewhere. But if you know enough about birds to know which ones can be found in your area, the information in this book will help you plant gardens that will entice those birds into your yard.

I just started reading Sally's book, one of which I should have written myself, but am delighted in the way she has designed this topic. As a person with a forestry background, I have long advocated that the birds represent the plant community, however indirectly. That said, once one gets the needs of a particular species, which has been well brought about by the endangered species advocates, then a landowner can tailor approaches with managing property in order to attract those birds. Other wildlife is benefitted, too, but we do concentrate on birdlife. So, this a two pronged effort: pay attention to the plant associations, and then realize the wildlife management aspects resulting. Each of us can be an earth citizen, making a vital contribution on one's own land. I have a radio show and weekly newspaper column here in NH, "COUNTRY ECOLOGY" where I pursue these ecological profiles and whatever one can do to make things prosper. I formerly built over 11,000 bark-faced natural birdhouses during 14 years in that business, and was on the board of directors for NABS. I take care of two UNH natural areas on Squam Lake, where "On Golden Pond" was filmed years ago.