Bluebird is gathering things for spring. What could she be making?

Bring more bluebirds into your life with this “lavishly illustrated [and] easy-to-read” how-to book (Manchester Enterprise). Bluebird expert Wayne H. Davis tells how to attract and care for this beautiful and gentle bird and offers solutions to the most common bluebird problems. Since bluebirds are almost entirely dependent on people for providing nesting sites, the book contains plans for erecting a structure that will attract bluebirds to a safe habitat. Instructions for building and maintaining a “bluebirds trail,” complete with drawings of various bluebirds houses and guards against predators, are also included. Davis shares his plans for his specially designed Kentucky Bluebird Box?a unique bird house attractive to the Eastern Bluebird but unsuitable for the bluebird’s rivals?as well a variety of other plans for using materials as inexpensive as milk cartons and scavenged pipes. A chapter by professional photographer Philippe Roca offers tips on photographing bluebirds. Whether you’re a beginning birder or an expert, Davis will help ensure your success in attracting and raising bluebirds. “To ensure the survival of bluebirds (a North American native threatened by sparrows and starlings), the authors instruct on how to build habitats, distribute winter feed, and foil enemies, both feathered and furred. Scientific research is cited to back the authors’ claims on the best diet, nesting locations, and shelters. Finally offered are photography lessons and specific birdhouse designs, from simple milk jugs to a sparrow-inhibiting nest box. Bird-watchers, earnest and casual, will benefit from this guide.” —Booklist

The second book in the Cornell Bird Library Series explains how to attract bluebirds and how to establish and operate a bluebird nestbox trail. 175 photos & illustrations.

“A Way to Garden prods us toward that ineffable place where we feel we belong; it’s a guide to living both in and out of the garden.” —The New York Times Book Review For Margaret Roach, gardening is more than a hobby, it’s a calling. Her unique approach, which she calls “horticultural how-to and woo-woo,” is a blend of vital information you need to memorize and intuitive steps you must simply feel and surrender to. In A Way to Garden, Roach imparts decades of garden wisdom on seasonal gardening, ornamental plants, vegetable gardening, design, gardening for wildlife, organic practices, and much more. She also challenges gardeners to think beyond their garden borders and to consider the ways gardening can enrich the world. Brimming with beautiful photographs of Roach’s own garden, A Way to Garden is practical, inspiring, and a must-have for every passionate gardener.

A complete natural history of one of the best-loved birds in America--illustrated with brilliant color photos from some of the country's top nature photographers. It's all here: where the bluebird lives, what it eats, how it catches its food and communicates with other bluebirds, how it breeds and takes care of its young, and how humans have helped it survive in the wild.

Julie Zickefoose lives for the moment when a wild, free living bird that she has raised or rehabilitated comes back to visit her; their eyes meet and they share a spark of understanding. Her reward for the grueling work of rescuing birds—such as feeding baby hummingbirds every twenty minutes all day long—is her empathy with them and the satisfaction of knowing the world is a birdier and more beautiful place. The Bluebird Effect is about the change that's set in motion by one single act, such as saving an injured bluebird—or a hummingbird, swift, or phoebe. Each of the twenty five chapters covers a different species, and many depict an individual bird, each with its own personality, habits, and quirks. And each chapter is illustrated with Zickefoose's stunning watercolor paintings and drawings. Not just individual tales about the trials and triumphs of raising birds, The Bluebird Effect mixes humor, natural history, and memoir to give readers an intimate story of a life lived among wild birds.

Copiously illustrated with maps, line drawings, and full-color photographs, this large format paperback book contains the essential information that backyard nature enthusiasts want and need -- to attract bluebirds to their yards.