City Birding: True Tales of Birds and Birdwatching in Unexpected Places

This is a series of first person accounts of birding (aka birdwatching) in urban areas in the United States. The writers are a number of prominent birders and nature writers, and with the inclusion of nature writers that are not necessarily birders, show a wide range of experience, skill, and approaches to birding. But the main theme is that it is in urban areas, where the mass of concrete, steel and glass make its residents not as attuned to the natural world in its midst. And, truth be told, an environment where a lot of people who consider themselves nature lovers would not think of as rich environments for observing nature. The urban environments are a wide range. From the dingiest examples of urban blight known as New York-New Jersey harbor to backyards to urban parks. Some of the writers, are city mice themselves who delight in showing off their world. Some of them are country mice who are lost in the city, but discover some surprising corners (like Julie Zickefoose in Lincoln Park (Montrose), Chicago). Some are world reknown experts in bird identification. Some have no idea how to use binoculars. But all have the sense of wonder in the world around them, and write to communicate that wonder and joy. I live in the middle of the city, and I have the privilege of walking to work amist tree lined streets and living close to two large (150 acres) urban parks, and many of the stories here hit close to home.