It’s time for another giveaway! With social distancing, travel restrictions, and quarantine conditions in many areas, it can be hard to get out and go birding, but this giveaway will help you enjoy birds from the comfort and safety of your own home with fantastic birding books. And to share the experience more widely, not one, not two, but three books will be given away – one to each of three different winners!

The Books to Win

Three different titles are part of this giveaway – each one from our non-fiction Birder’s Bookshelf collection! Each one is a fine read and a worthy addition to any birder’s personal library. (Click any of the book covers for a more detailed review.)

Cat Wars

Not a war at all, this book goes into great detail about the effect cats can have on wild bird populations, whether those cats are outdoor pets, feral colonies, abandoned strays, or any other variation of roaming feline. Yet the authors are not without compassion: they make it clear that this issue is neither simple nor straightforward, and it will take concentrated efforts to protect wildlife and address the problem of these introduced predators. Well researched and with authoritative citations, Cat Wars will give both cat lovers and birders a new perspective on this controversial but not insurmountable issue and how we must all work together to protect both birds and cats.

Why Do Bluebirds Hate Me?

A fun and irreverent question-and-answer book, Why Do Bluebirds Hate Me? addresses questions about birds you may never have known you needed to ask. From bird behavior, naming, nesting, and feeding to stranger queries about birds eating paint, which birds tolerate cold the best, and why chickens aren’t in field guides, more than 70 questions are covered with authoritative research and quirky personal anecdotes. A collection of Mike O’Connor’s best columns from the Cape Codder newspaper but with answers expanded and updated, this book will help you understand, once and for all, why bluebirds may or may not passionately dislike you.

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

Feral birds don’t always get the best appreciation from the birding community, but the parrots of San Francisco are some of the most beloved introduced birds in the world. Get new insights and an intimate look at this urban flock of red-masked parakeets in Mark Bittner’s detailed study and personal interactions with the birds. While his methods can be unconventional and occasionally controversial, there is no doubting his enthusiasm and love for the birds he comes to know so well. Through his experiences all readers and birders alike will not only get to know these famous birds, but come to understand more about the intricacy of how nature and urbanization interact.

Enter the Giveaway!

Do you want to win one of these books to add to your own birding library? Three winners will be chosen – a different one for each book – and to have a chance to be one of those winners, you only need to leave a comment below answering this question…

Which of these books would you MOST want to win?
(Or list them in the order you’d prefer!)

You must include a valid email address with your comment so you can be contacted if you win. The contest is only open to winners in the United States, and the book prizes will ship directly from Be Your Own Birder; check the Giveaway Guidelines for further details. By entering, all participants agree to those guidelines. Entries will close on March 30, 2020, and winners will be chosen at that time. Good luck, and happy birding!

The entry period has ended and comments are now closed.

Congratulations to our three book winners:
Cheryl Adamik, Mary Trimble, and Karen von Bargen!