A plain, little brown bird grows up not feeling special. He happens to fly into a little mountain church on Christmas Eve. By listening to the story of the baby Jesus he learns how special he is. He experiences joy and a wonderful change takes place.

Naturalist Stephen Moss digs beneath the surface of some of our most popular Christmas carols in an ornithological celebration of the Festive Season. Using the structure of the carol as a jumping off point, he explores the place of twelve fascinating British birds in our history, culture and landscape. Some of the birds are obvious, there's the swan and of course the partridge. Other chapters are loose interpretations of a verse: for drummers drumming he delves into the woodpecker's distinctive drumming tap. Woodpeckers, he explains, have special padded skulls to mitigate against using its head like hammer drills. They carefully select dead trees for the most hollow, sonorous sound. With brilliant anecdotes and insights, Stephen Moss weaves history, culture, bird behaviour and folklore into a compelling narrative for each species, tracing its fortunes over the past two centuries. 'A superb naturalist and writer' Chris Packham 'Moss has carved out an enviable niche as a chronicler of the natural world' Daily Mail

The National Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count stars in this charming picture book, just right for young community scientists, bird watchers, and nature aficionados. A young girl and her mother participate as community scientists in the Christmas Bird Count. The girl is excited when Big Al, the leader of their team, asks her to record the tally this year. Using her most important tools―her eyes and ears―she eagerly identifies and counts the birds they observe on their assigned route around town. She and her team follow the rules, noting the time of day, the habitat, the birding ID techniques used for each sighting. Finally, they meet up with the other teams in the area to combine their totals for a Christmas Bird Count party and share stories about their observations. Sidebars tally up the birds they observe and record. This book introduces young readers to birdwatching with simple explanations of birdwatching techniques and clear descriptions of bird habitats. Stephanie Fizer Coleman's charming illustrations add color and context to a joyful story that's sure to inspire the nature lover in everyone. Back matter includes more information about all the birds featured in the book and about the Christmas Bird Count, the nation's longest-running community science bird project. Capitol Choices Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award Mathical Honor Award International Literacy Association Primary Fiction Award

The Atlas of Wintering North American Birds represents the effects of thousands of people who have participated in the Christmas Bird Counts, an annual event sponsored since 1900 by the National Audubon Society. Unlike a conventional field guide, the Atlas doesn't show what birds look like, but rather tells where to find them in the winter months. Terry Root has used the data from the 1963-72 counts to provide the first large-scale biogeographical account of birds wintering in North America. Using sophisticated computer techniques, Root has translated the data into both traditional contour maps and innovative new maps that stimulate three dimensions. The maps show at a glance that, for example, the Baltimore Oriole winters primarily along the eastern seaboard, with the densest populations in Florida between Tallahassee and Gainesville and in North Carolina from Rocky Mount to the Croatan National Forest.

This classic Christmas story by the author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm features a child as memorable and charitable as Dickens

Everyday kids learn how they can help protect bird species, near and far, with the award-winning book Counting Birds—the real-life story behind the first annual bird count. What can you do to help endangered animals and make a positive change in our environment? Get counting! Counting Birds is a beautifully illustrated book that introduces kids to the idea of bird counts and bird watches. Along the way, they will learn about Frank Chapman, an ornithologist who wanted to see the end of the traditional Christmas bird hunt, an event in which people would shoot as many birds as possible on Christmas. Chapman, using his magazine Bird-Lore to promote the idea of counting birds, founded the first annual bird count. More than a century after the first bird count, bird counting helps professional researchers collect data, share expertise, and spread valuable information to help all kinds of birds around the world, from condors to hawks to kestrels and more. Counting Birds introduces kids to a whole feathered world that will fascinate and inspire them to get involved in conservation and become citizen scientists. 2019 Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students: K–12 (National Science Teachers Association and Children's Book Council) 2019 Best STEM Book for K–12 Students (National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council) Winner of the 2019 Riverby Award (The John Burroughs Association) Recipient of the 2019 Green Earth Book Award Honor (The Nature Generation)