Counting Birds

By Heidi E. Y. Stemple, Clover Robin (illustrator),

Book cover of Counting Birds: The Idea That Helped Save Our Feathered Friends

Book description

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…

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Science

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Counting Birds as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Peggy Thomas

Author

Believe it or not, a long time ago hunters would go out on Christmas day and shoot as many birds as they could. I know! What an awful tradition! Yikes! Fortunately, Frank Chapman thought it was awful, too. This book shows how he campaigned for bird lovers to count birds rather than shoot them.

Today, millions of people participate in the Christmas Bird Count. Their data helps scientists keep track of bird populations. The best part is that anyone can participate. Counting Birds reminds us that one person really can make a difference.

From Peggy's list on for budding birders.

Jennifer Ward

Author

Once, each Christmas, there was a contest to see who could shoot and kill the most birds. Cheers to Frank Chapman, an ornithologist, who had the beautiful idea to start a Christmas tradition where a contest could be started, instead, to count birds– and the first, annual Audubon bird count was born. I, myself, love counting birds. Have I mentioned I’ve counted over 100 species in my own backyard? (It’s always fun to document a never-before-seen-species, almost like seeing a unicorn!) I love this book, which introduces readers to the importance of bird counting and offers a glimpse into ecology…

From Jennifer's list on for budding young birders.