See the beaks through the trees

Birder’s World Magazine

Kalmbach Publishing,

$4.95 per issue

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For ornithusiasts who can’t be out in the field or aspiring birders who want to discover beak hot spots, this top-flight bimonthly is the next best thing to locking binocs on feathers. The photography brings these elusive creatures front and center and is at times reminiscent of detailed ornithological watercolors. The writing is well above the curve for most specialty magazines.

One recent issue offered a nine-page spread on sighting scopes; two features on Newfoundland, its gannets, black guillemots, purple sandpipers and dovekies; and a cool explanatory piece on how the North American house finch colonized both coasts and finally met in middle America a few years ago. Most features are accompanied by lovely hand-illustrated maps. Birder’s World is not a rare find for ornithologists. But to a neophyte such as myself, this little gem made me want to get out and start spotting.

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Shermakaye Bass