Even an Ostrich Needs a Nest: Where Birds Begin

People live in all sorts of houses. Some people live in high rises, some live in ranches, some live in long houses while still others live in little cottages with thatched roofs. The variety appears to be endless, but whatever families choose to live in becomes their home. In the animal world birds also create a wide variety of homes to raise their families in. The Costa's Hummingbird builds a nest "half as big as a Ping-Pong ball" while the Bald Eagle can build one that is "up to ten feet wide" and can weigh in at two tons. Some birds like the Emperor Penguin and the Blue-footed Booby have no need to build a nest because their bodies are equipped to nurture their eggs. Some birds like the Cliff Swallow will build their nests in colonies of up to one thousand birds while the Flamingo goes solo and puts her one egg in a foot high mud nest. Each bird species has their own style and way of building a nest. In this book you will meet the American Dipper, American Robin, Atlantic Puffin, Australian Brush turkey, Bald Eagle, Baltimore Oriole, Barn Owl, Black-browed Albatross, Blue-footed Booby, Burrowing Owl, Carmine Bee-eater, Cliff Swallow, Common Loon, Costa's Hummingbird, Cowbird, Cuckoo, Dickcissel, Elf Owl, Emperor Penguin, Flamingo, Gila Woodpecker, Hammerkop, Hornbill, Horned Coot, Jacana, Masked Weaver, Murre, Ovenbird, Palm swift, Pileated Woodpecker, Potoo, Reed Warbler, Satin Bowerbird, Snowy Owl, Sociable Weaver, Tailorbird, Tundra Swan, Vogelkop Bowerbird, Wandering Albatross and the Yellow-rumped Thornbill. Do you know which bird has "eggs so pointy that they roll in a tight circle if they are nudged?" This is a marvelous book and any youngster or adult taking a peek inside its pages will learn a lot about the nesting habits of forty bird species. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened this book's pages because I was fully expecting a book about the ostrich as the cover belies what is actually inside this book. This book is definitely a page turner with each page hosting one or more birds. The text artistically swirls up and down like a wave, but the confident reader should have little trouble with it. The watercolors are slightly muted, but very lovely and appealing. In the back of the book is a world map indicating where the birds can be found and a page telling you how you can help gather materials for nesting birds. If the young reader is especially interested in birds, you may be buying a set of binoculars to go with this one!