Title: Lifestyles of Back Yard Birds and How They Are Affected by Climate Change
Author: Frederic Buse
Publisher: Author’s Tranquility Press
ISBN: 978-1967776986
Pages: 214
Genre: Non-fiction / Nature / Birding
Reviewer: Susan Brown
Hollywood Book Reviews
I like birds. I have a bird bath in my garden and can identify the various species that stop by for a good soak — California jay, red-headed woodpecker, Towhee, an occasional mourning dove. Even though I am fond of birdwatching, I do not consider myself a birder. That takes an interest level I just don’t have.
Fortunately, author Frederic Buse’s interest soars. His book is an astounding compilation of the birds which have frequented his backyard, a rehabilitated Pennsylvania farm, for more than 50 years. With his copious notes, charming photos, detailed graphs and personal observations, reading it brings his world of birds to life in a thoroughly engrossing manner.
So, in five decades, more than 80 species of birds traveled in and out of Mr. Buse’s garden habitat. We are treated to his delightful chronicling of the various bird regulars he dubs the “Gang,” as well as those that were just passers-by. Although he collects data throughout the year, the rush of winged visitors begins in spring, sometime in early March, and the flurry continues through June.
Out of his half-century of data collection, the author extrapolates migration patterns, social behaviors, feeding habits, fledging conduct, bathing rituals, nesting preferences and population numbers of the species that alight in his yard. Comparisons of data throughout the years allowed the author to track changes in all of these characteristics and formulate reasons for variations, the preponderance of which he attributes to a result of both environmental and climate changes caused by changing temperatures, drought and differing weather patterns.
This is, however, so much more than just a book about facts and figures on Mr. Buse’s feathered friends. Embedded in the content between the charts and graphs is a treasure trove of information about the author’s avian visitors. I learned: jays are the police of the forest, there are six species of sparrows, ducks can hiss, mockingbirds have a repertoire of 30 songs, doves and jays are arch enemies, the Ruby-throated hummingbird is the only “hummer” east of the Mississippi, a group of turkey vultures is called a venue and starlings perform an aerial display called murmuration.
The narrative is also filled with detailed and descriptive writing that allows the readers to share Mr. Buse’s experience. He writes of the red-tailed Cooper Hawk, “Come spring the Cooper or sharp-shinned will go under the hemlock hedge, wait, then explode up to ambush a smaller bird from underneath.” I’ll be much more attuned to what the jays are expressing in my yard after reading, “The jay usually gives a caw-caw-caw before landing on the feeder. Other times it is a nice chirp-chirp-chirp before it swoops down to the feeder; the call changes to a caw-caw as it lands. In spring a male will call out a trilling whistle; other times it gives a gargle.”
Whether you’re an avid birder, or armchair bird enthusiast, you’ll find this book teeming with details from the author’s bird’s-eye view of the collective of birds he shares his backyard home with that will inspire you to look at your own back yard with new eyes. From chirping sparrows to darting hummingbirds, our backyard birds live intricate, fascinating lives and lives now facing unprecedented challenges. In Lifestyles of Back Yard Birds and How They Are Affected by Climate Change, Frederic Buse blends engaging storytelling with scientific insight to reveal how rising temperatures, shifting seasons, and habitat changes are transforming the daily routines, migration patterns, and survival of the birds we love. A must-read for bird lovers, nature enthusiasts, and anyone concerned about the future of our shared environment.