Birds of Point Reyes - (Birds of California) by Keith Hansen (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A richly illustrated guide celebrates California's coastal birds and the wonders of witnessing them.

"A compact treasury of natural history knowledge." --Burr Heneman, former executive director of Point Reyes Bird Observatory

"A meditation on beauty and survival." --Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club

A birding paradise, Point Reyes National Seashore boasts a breathtaking coastline that attracts an array of winged beauties and their flightless fanciers year-round. Both a waystation for feathered vagrants and home to a wealth of native species, this coastal sanctuary is teeming with avian life, and in Birds of Point Reyes expert birder and ornithological illustrator Keith Hansen celebrates this airborne abundance. From the sparrows and cormorants to the hawks and ravens to the wild wanderers who sweep through in vast seasonal migrations, Hansen introduces readers to the wildlife that soar and swirl overhead through over 25 awe-filled portraits of Point Reyes's birds. Both experienced birdwatchers and less-than-expert birders will delight in Hansen's reflections, brought vividly to life by full-color artworks that reward the reader's sustained attention and help to identify the many-splendored species of the region. With this guide Hansen invites readers to imagine the world's fastest hunt through the eyes of a cliff-dwelling peregrine, to appreciate the evolutionary complexity of the shorebird beaks prodding the sands of Drakes Bay, and to attune to the serenade of birdsong. Grab your binoculars and get ready to see these birds like never before.

Review Quotes

"Pairing beautiful illustrations with nuanced observations, Hansen brings California's coastal birds to life." --Alta Journal

"An essential guide to better understanding our avian neighbors with beautiful and detailed illustrations. The book is delightfully specific, offering insights into the stories of the many birds that migrate through or reside in West Marin." --Point Reyes Light

"Magnificently illustrated and narrated in Hansen's poetic and often playful voice, this jewel of a book enables us to experience nature as miraculous. Each essay deserves to be reread often as a meditation on beauty and survival." --Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club

"Keith gets the Point! He distills decades of appreciation of Point Reyes into a compact treasury of natural history knowledge. Marrying his art with a lifetime of acute observation, Keith offers more than a guide to identification--you really understand how each of these birds lives. And it's all done in his sparkling and entertaining style." --Burr Heneman, former executive director of Point Reyes Bird Observatory

"The breathtaking illustrations and exuberant species accounts in this book arise from Keith's lifetime of boundless enchantment and keen observation. His eye for nuance and beauty brings each species to life on the page. Most important of all, his celebration of this unique peninsula's wondrous birdlife teaches us to stay open to the world with our eyes, ears, and mind." --Jules G. Evens, author of Natural History of the Point Reyes Peninsula

"Keith Hansen's lovely book perfectly pairs informative, entertaining, and insightful species accounts with beautiful illustrations. A necessity for anyone visiting the Point Reyes region!" --Sophie Webb, coauthor of Field Guide to Marine Mammals of the Pacific Coast

About the Author

Keith Hansen illustrated and coauthored Hansen's Field Guide to the Birds of the Sierra Nevada (Heyday, 2021), a field guide companion to Birds of the Sierra Nevada: Their Natural History, Status, and Distribution. He is a professional bird illustrator whose images have been featured in Discovering Sierra Birds; Birds of Yosemite and the East Slope; and Natural History of the Point Reyes Peninsula, among other books.