{"product_id":"why-do-bluebirds-hate-me-isbn-9780807012536","title":"Why Do Bluebirds Hate Me?","description":"\u003cb\u003eA collection of humorous Q\u0026amp;As about everything you've always wanted to ask about birds and birding\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eMike O’Connor knows bird watchers as well as he knows birds. He knows that if you’re even slightly interested in identifying birds or attracting them to your backyard with a feeder, then you’ve also had your share of strange and silly questions about birds and their sometimes inexplicable behavior. In \u003ci\u003eWhy Do Bluebirds Hate Me?\u003c\/i\u003e, O’Connor applies his deep knowledge of all things avian to answer the questions that keep birders up at night. Questions like\u003cbr\u003e · Should you clean your birdhouses?\u003cbr\u003e · Do swallows have a feather fetish?\u003cbr\u003e · How much does it cost to run a heated birdbath?\u003cbr\u003e · Is drinking coffee bad for birds?\u003cbr\u003e Other questions O’Connor covers range from the practical (Should I rotate the seed in my feeder?) to the quirky (Why are vultures eating my vinyl screen door?) to the just plain adorable (Are those birds kissing or feeding each other?). And he also explains why bluebirds just don’t seem to like some people.\u003ci\u003eIntroduction: Exactly the Same, Only Different............................ ix\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e 1.\u003cbr\u003e Birds Everyone Should Know\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eWhy Do Bluebirds Hate Me?...................................................... 1\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eWoodpeckers Do Take Baths....................................................... 4\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eHip Catbirds........................................................................... 7\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eWhat’s with All the Grackles?................................................... 10\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eWhy Hummingbirds Hum....................................................... 12\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eCarolina Wrens Singin’ in the Fall........................................... 14\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eTitmice Love Peanuts but Hate Water....................................... 16\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eNo-Bird Syndrome.................................................................. 19\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBirds Can’t Afford Bottled Water.............................................. 21\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eNot All Cardinals Are Catholic................................................ 23\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e 2.\u003cbr\u003e It’s Time to Look Past the Feathers\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eDon’t Call Me “Pretty Boy”...................................................... 26\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eSwans Support Integration...................................................... 29\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eSandhill Cranes Migrate (Mostly)............................................. 31\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eQuail Chicks Have Two Dads.................................................. 34\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThey’re Called Snowy Owls for a Reason.................................... 36\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eDoves Can Whistle without Moving Their Lips........................... 39\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eCattle Egrets Fit Right In......................................................... 41\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eFearless Red-breasted Nuthatches.............................................. 43\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eChickens Get No Respect.......................................................... 45\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eDon’t Be a Bird Bigot.............................................................. 48\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e 3.\u003cbr\u003e A Few Things Even You Can Do\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Cost of Running a Heated Birdbath.................................... 51\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eClean Your Birdhouses!........................................................... 54\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eSugar Water Brings More Than Just Hummingbirds................... 57\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBluebird Housing................................................................... 59\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eTree Swallows, the Bluebird Alternative..................................... 61\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eHomeless Baby Ospreys............................................................ 64\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eVintage Birdseed Is Not the Best................................................ 66\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eOrioles Like It Sweet, Perhaps Too Sweet.................................... 67\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eOh, Rats!.............................................................................. 68\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eRotating Seed........................................................................ 70\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e 4.\u003cbr\u003e There’s More to Life Than the Backyard\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003ePyrrhuloxia Is a Real Bird (Not a Strange Disease)..................... 73\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eAvocets, the Birds to See When You Can’t Go Shopping................ 76\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eSpoonbills Don’t Eat Soup or Chowder....................................... 78\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eKookaburras Always Get the Joke.............................................. 81\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eLapland Longspurs, More Fun Than Going to the Dentist........... 84\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eCaracara, the Mexican Eagle................................................... 86\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eNot All Flycatchers Are Dull..................................................... 89\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eNënë, Not Easy to Say and Impossible to Type............................. 91\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e 5.\u003cbr\u003e Bet You Didn’t Know Birds Did This\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eAll Hatched Out and Ready to Go............................................ 94\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eSome Birds Fly in the Dark Better Than Owls............................. 97\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003ePaint-Eating Jays................................................................... 99\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBee-Eating Birds.................................................................. 101\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003ePuffins Aren’t That Fussy...................................................... 103\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eKissing Cardinals................................................................ 106\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eHummingbirds—They’re on Everyone’s Menu.......................... 108\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eVinyl-Eating Vultures........................................................... 110\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e 6.\u003cbr\u003e Don’t Forget Cities Have Birds, Too\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBig-City Lifestyle Suits Peregrine Falcons Just Fine.................... 113\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBirding in Central Park........................................................ 116\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Legend of Pale Male....................................................... 118\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eCity Turkey......................................................................... 121\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eCity Bird Assortment............................................................. 123\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e 7.\u003cbr\u003e Being Free as a Bird Isn’t Always That Great\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBirds and Power Lines—Sometimes It Works,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eSometimes Not So Much........................................................ 126\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBattling Hurricanes............................................................. 128\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBirds Care about Which Coffee You Drink................................ 131\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003ePesticides Aren’t as Healthy as They Sound.............................. 134\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Disappearing Song of the Wood Thrush............................. 136\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eWe’ll See Your Sparrow and Raise You a Squirrel...................... 138\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBirds and Planes—and You Think YOU\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eHave Trouble with the Airlines............................................... 141\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Loss of the Carolina Parakeet........................................... 144\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e 8.\u003cbr\u003e Birds Are Superstars—and Publishers and Hollywood Know It\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBond, James Bond, Ornithologist............................................ 147\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eAfrican Eagles Can’t Compare to Ours.................................... 150\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThat Quail, Robert............................................................... 153\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eTurkeys Don’t Come in Flocks................................................. 155\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Good Movie No One Saw................................................... 158\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e 9.\u003cbr\u003e A Bird Buffet\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eAnd You Think YOUR Feet Are Cold...................................... 161\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Twelve Days of Christmas Explained, Finally..................... 164\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eHow Could Anyone Be Afraid of a Chickadee?......................... 166\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eEven Scary Places Have Birds................................................ 168\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eRed Squirrels, the Overlooked Annoyance................................. 171\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eStick with Who You Know..................................................... 174\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eScary Owls.......................................................................... 176\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eDon’t Give Kids “Bird Stuff”................................................. 178\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eTurkeys Rule, Eagles Drool.................................................... 181\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eStart the Year with a Bird List . . . Instead of a Hangover.......... 183\u003c\/i\u003e\"This detailed q\u0026amp;a will appeal to bird enthusiasts and birdwatchers, but O’Connor’s friendly approach will also appeal to novices.\u003cb\u003e”\u003c\/b\u003e —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A nice selection of quirky and more common questions that teach the reader quite a bit of ornithology between the chuckles.” —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I laughed as I learned my way through this quirky, well-researched question-and-answer book.” —\u003ci\u003eHouston Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“You will be hard-pressed to find a funnier writer in all of birding than Mike O’Connor.” —\u003ci\u003eBirder’s World Magazine\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[A] whimsical and insightful new opus...a treasure-trove of information.”\u003cbr\u003e —American Birding Association blog\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMike O’Connor\u003c\/b\u003e is the owner of the Bird Watcher’s General Store on Cape Cod. His column, Ask the Bird Folks, appears in the\u003ci\u003e Cape Codder\u003c\/i\u003e, and his writing has been included in \u003ci\u003eGood Birders Don’t Wear White\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004\u003c\/i\u003e. The author of \u003ci\u003eWhy Don’t Woodpeckers Get Headaches?\u003c\/i\u003e, he lives in Orleans, Massachusetts, where, try as he may, he cannot entice even a single bluebird to come to his yard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eINTRODUCTION\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e Exactly the Same, Only Different\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e When I mentioned to a friend that I was putting together another book, he asked what this new book would be about. His response caught me off guard. We have been friends for a long time. He knows me pretty well and is aware that I don’t know much else once the topic gets beyond birds. Still, I understand why he was asking. After all, I had already written one bird Q\u0026amp;A book. Does the world really need a sequel?\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e My response to that is, yes, of course it does. (How else do you think I was going to answer that?) I don’t know when the first cookbook came out, but cookbooks didn’t end with that original book. They still keep coming. There will always be newer and yummier recipes to write about. This same principle applies to bird Q\u0026amp;A books. I’ve been operating a birding store for over thirty years, and hardly a day goes by when I don’t hear a question I’ve never heard before. Some questions are trivial, some are intriguing, and a few truly scare me.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e One of the main reasons for this sequel is that sometimes people want to ask a question but it takes them a while to work up the nerve. It’s like when we go to the local auditorium to hear someone speak about some topic (birds, flowers, pet hypnotism) that we thought we were interested in at the time. Sometimes the talks are enlightening, and sometimes they make us wish we had stayed home and done the laundry.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e But whether the talks are good or bad, they all end the same way: the speaker’s last four words are always, “Anyone have a question?” For the next eight seconds the room is filled with deadly silence. Half the people in the audience want to ask a question but are too self-conscious to be the first to raise a hand; the other half of the audience are praying that no one raises a hand so they can get the heck out of there, or at least be first to the refreshment table.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e This book was written for the first half of the audience. It is for the people who were too shy to raise a hand and thus their question didn’t make it into my previous book, \u003ci\u003eWhy Don’t Woodpeckers\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eGet Headaches? And Other Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask. \u003c\/i\u003eI realize this book should have come out sooner, but I’ve been busy hanging out at the refreshment table with the other half of the audience. They’re my kind of people.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Writing a Q\u0026amp;A bird column for Cape Cod’s weekly newspapers is not as easy as it sounds. There are always issues to deal with. For example, some folks insist I get right to the point and give them a straight answer. Others don’t like seeing their name in print. First of all, I never give a straight answer, so making such stipulations is a waste of time. Second, relax. I use only first names. No matter how lame the question is, no one is going to know you asked it. I’m sure there is more than one Mary or Rick in, say, Tallahassee. Besides, having your name appear in a bird column is not the worst thing in the world. It’s not like having your name in the police blotter or the obituaries. Asking questions about birds is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s not as bad as admitting to being from Tallahassee.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e One of my favorite ways to receive a question is what I call the “clandestine approach.” Someone will catch my eye at work and motion for me to come over to a dark corner of the store. They want to talk to me privately. Suddenly, I feel like I’m about to receive national secrets from Deep Throat. But instead of secrets, I’m asked which is the last bird to go to bed at night or why wrens have such weird tails. Edgy stuff. Soon I understand why these people don’t want to be overheard by anyone else.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In this book I’ve tried to answer the questions that didn’t make it in the first time around. I’ve also included questions from the shy, the paranoid, and the clandestine types. I address such burning topics as these: Why do hummingbirds hum? Why do doves’ wings whistle? Do woodpeckers take baths? (Again with the woodpeckers.) I also add a few columns on birds that many folks aren’t familiar with. (Ever see a Hoopoe?) It’s my way of trying to expand the readers’ bird horizons. There’s life beyond backyard chickadees and wren tails, you know.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e I’m often asked what is the strangest question I’ve ever gotten, to which I reply, “That question.” (It always leads to puzzled looks.) However, I think the top contender for the strangest question has to be one I found on my answering machine one morning. (I swear this is true.) A lady called wanting to know if thistle (nyjer) seed is safe for humans to eat. It seems this woman had bought a bag of thistle, took it home, and put it in a different container to keep it fresh. The next morning she found her houseguest chowing down a bowl of fresh thistle. We played her call over and over until the tape wore out. (I’m starting to understand why some people have second thoughts about asking me questions.) The person who ate the seed suffered no ill effects, BTW, but reportedly now sleeps by standing on one leg and sings very early in the morning.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e One last thing: When my first book was released, some folks complained that the illustrations didn’t match the text. They suggested that when I wrote about a Belted Kingfisher, for example, it would have been helpful if an appropriate illustration had accompanied the text. In this new book I responded to those complaints by ignoring them. There are tons of precisely illustrated books out there. I didn’t want to compete with them. It just wouldn’t be fair to those other books. Besides, illustrations cost money. If the publisher put extra dough into illustrations, there wouldn’t be enough left to pay me. I certainly can’t have that.","brand":"Beacon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302001266917,"sku":"NP9780807012536","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780807012536.jpg?v=1767744262","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/why-do-bluebirds-hate-me-isbn-9780807012536","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}