When Birds Are Near

In this dazzling literary collection, writers explore and celebrate their lives with and love for birds—detailing experiences from Alaska to Bermuda, South Dakota to Panama. In When Birds Are Near, fresh new voices as well as seasoned authors offer tales of adventure, perseverance, and fun, whether taking us on a journey down Highway 1 to see a rare California Condor, fighting the destruction of our grasslands, or simply watching the feeder from a kitchen window.

But these essays are more than just field notes. The authors reflect on love, loss, and family, engaging a broad array of emotions, from wonder to amusement. As Rob Nixon writes, "Sometimes the best bird experiences are defined less by a rare sighting than by a quality of presence, some sense of overall occasion that sets in motion memories of a particular landscape, a particular light, a particular choral effect, a particular hiking partner." Or, as the poet Elizabeth Bradfield remarks, "We resonate with certain animals, I believe, because they are a physical embodiment of an answer we are seeking. A sense of ourselves in the world that is nearly inexpressible."

When Birds Are Near gives us the chance to walk alongside these avid appreciators of birds and reflect on our own interactions with our winged companions.

Contributors: Christina Baal, Thomas Bancroft, K. Bannerman, R. A. Behrstock, Richard Bohannon, Elizabeth Bradfield, Christine Byl, Susan Cerulean, Sara Crosby, Jenn Dean, Rachel Dickinson, Katie Fallon, Jonathan Franzen, Andrew Furman, Tim Gallagher, David Gessner, Renata Golden, Ursula Murray Husted, Eli J. Knapp, Donald Kroodsma, J. Drew Lanham, John R. Nelson, Rob Nixon, Jonathan Rosen, Alison Townsend, Alison Világ

Introduction
1. Nighthawks: Lake Perez
2. Spotted Owls
3. Birding in Traffic
4. Buried Birds
5. The Problem with Pretty Birds
6. Red-headed Love Child
7. Crane, Water, Change: A Migratory Essay
8. The Black and White
9. One Single Hummingbird
10. Assault on the French Canal Bridge
11. Wild Swans
12. The Snowy Winter
13. Koan
14. This Is My Tribe
15. In the Eyes of the Condor
16. Little Brown Birds
17. The Keepers of the Ghost Bird
18. The Hour (or Two) before the Dawn
19. Secret of Owls
20. Guardian of the Garden
21. Chasing the Ghost of the Imperial Woodpecker
22. Extralimital
23. Death and the Rose-breasted Grosbeak
24. Birding on Bleaker Island
25. Nest Watcher
26. My Bird Problem