ull-color reference book for backyard bird enthusiasts, The Backyard Birdwatcher's Bible is beautiful enough to be a coffee table book and practical enough to be a guide for both beginner and expert birders alike.

Here, an elegant aesthetic is paired with practical tips on identifying, attracting, and caring for backyard birds, as well as crafting bird-friendly gardens and birdhouses. Did you know that the red-bellied woodpecker "is an opportunistic feeder, taking a wide range of invertebrates, seeds, and nuts, also fruits (it drinks from oranges) and sap"? Photographs include images of both males and females, and maps explain the range of the species.

Packed with information and beautiful full-color photography and art, bird experts and artists Paul Sterry, Christopher Perrins, Sonya Patel Ellis, and Dominic Couzens flock together to offer a cornucopia of information:

• Species profiles: how to identify species, their habitats, their diets, and their status.
• Birdwatching for beginners: expert information about the life cycle of a bird, from hatchling to adult.
• Information about birdsongs, details about territories and nests and eggs, and much more, including essential practical advice for birdwatchers in the field.
• Creating a bird-friendly backyard: information on birdfeeders, breeding shelters, and flowers and shrubbery to plant in order to entice the winged visitors to visit and stay.
• A lively lesson on birds in art: beautiful and educational, with classic and modern art, and photographs. From Audubon to Taiichiro Yoshida, who creates delicate metal work to create bird images, the art is inspiring.

This is the perfect gift for any birder, and one that birders will buy for themselves and refer to again and again.