In 2009, the New Yorker declared chickens the "it bird" and heralded "the return of the backyard chicken." This honor occurred as, a host of American cities were changing their laws to allow chickens in residents’ backyards. Philip Levy, a sometime chicken keeper himself, mixes cultural history with husbandry to chronicle the weird and wonderful story of Americans’ urban chickens. From the streets of Brooklyn to council chambers in Albany to the beat of Key West’s Chicken Nuisance Patrol, yard birds are an important and growing part of American city life. Part history, part travelogue, and part reportage, Yard Birds takes the reader on a tour-de-force journey across America, past and present, to profile its urban chickens housed in luxury coops or dying at yearly rituals. What emerges is a compelling picture of city chickens that can both serve as hipster status symbols and guarantee that the families keeping them have at least something to eat. Levy’s smart and entertaining investigation of the contemporary urban chicken craze reveals that poultry flocks were historically an integral part of America’s urban spaces; chickens have simply returned home now, some to very fancy roosts.

Like their two previous collaborations, this book brings together three artists and two cultures in a charming juxtaposition of work and cultures. Yard Birds focuses on common backyard birds.

A lavish celebration of 47 of the most frequent and familiar birds found in gardens around the British Isles. Even the smallest garden attracts some birdlife, and watching garden birds is a great joy for all nature lovers, especially those who cannot travel as widely as they might like. Garden birdwatchers are often new to birdwatching and can feel daunted by the array of species covered in even a small field guide to British birds. This beautiful book focuses wholly on birds that are frequent garden visitors to the UK and reveals details of how they live, how you can bring them into your garden and boost their survival and breeding success, and how to identify them. It is divided into logical categories for the non-expert. Forty-seven garden bird species are treated in detail over two or four pages, with more extended accounts for the most widely observed garden species. Marianne Taylor looks at each species' life history, behaviour and breeding habits, advising how to attract and support each bird in your garden, as well as sorting out all common identification conundrums. Chapters are interspersed with spreads on general practicalities of garden birdwatching and managing a wildlife garden. More than 200 spectacular photographs will reveal every detail of our garden birds' appearance and behaviour and side-by-side images are included for more difficult-to-identify species. The final chapter deals with birds that are welcome but less regular visitors and encourages readers to venture into the wider world of birdwatching.

This accessible, practical guide includes everything you need to know to capture fantastic photographs of birds on your doorstep. In RSPB How to Photograph Garden Birds, celebrated photographer and wildlife writer Mark Carwardine shares his expert advice and insider tips and tricks for capturing the perfect photo. Whether you have a professional camera and a garden filled with birds, or a smartphone and access to a bird table, his guidance will improve your photography in leaps and bounds. Packed with beautiful photographs, this book is a step-by-step masterclass on garden bird photography – from attracting different species to using artificial rain and capturing spectacular images of birds in flight. Once you've mastered the basics, you can make garden bird photography as simple or as challenging as you like. A robin perched on a garden spade? Easy. A blackbird feeding among fallen leaves? No problem. A blue tit in flight? Might take some planning but still very achievable. And there's more. Garden bird photography isn't only rewarding in its own right – it's also a sensational way to hone wildlife photography and field skills that you can then adapt to suit any subject anywhere in the world.

In this beautiful gift edition, pop-art street artist Matt Sewell offers his own unique take on 52 of our favourite British garden birds. 'An offbeat book featuring 52 charming characterful illustrations of our best-loved British birds' -- BBC Wildlife 'A treasure to behold' -- ***** Reader review 'Quirky, creative but very well-observed' -- ***** Reader review 'This book should be owned by all garden bird lovers!' -- ***** Reader review 'Absolutely love this book!' -- ***** Reader review 'Utterly charming!' -- ***** Reader review ************************************************************************************* Since its first appearance in July 2009, Matt's 'Bird of the Week' feature for the Caught by the River website has quickly become a cult hit. His pop-art watercolours are distinctive and enchanting, as are his innovative descriptions, which see great tits 'bossing the other birds around', the 'playful yet shy buoyancy' of bullfinches and the 'improbable' nature of the waxwing ('like a computer-generated samurai finch'). This witty, delightful and distinctive gift book will appeal to bird watching enthusiasts, children and adults, and art and illustration fans alike.

Bloomsbury Pocket Guides are essential photographic guides to the natural world. This compact title is an essential guide to every aspect of the subject, from when and what to feed the birds to building bird tables and nest boxes and planting a garden that will provide nesting, feeding and roosting places. There is also an ID guide to 80 of the most common garden bird species, including the familiar Chaffinch and Blue Tit and more unusual visitors such as Brambling, Redstart and Tawny Owl. This book is as visually impressive as it is easy to use, with many stunning full-page and double-page images to support the authoritative text. Printed on quality paper, the paperback format with flaps adds to the book's durability in the field and provides built-in page-markers for quick reference.

On a lovely autumn day in a quiet neighbourhood village, Feathers Territory is formed after some garden birds discover that seeds and nuts have been set out for them in most of the back gardens. This is a welcoming sight for the birds as they are aware that winter is approaching. The winter is very harsh. The garden birds soon learn they have to survive and occupy themselves in the very cold and snowy weather. Their life is never boring. They make use of all the facilities in the gardens and learn how to fend off their unwelcoming enemies. How do the garden birds manage to survive the winter?

This is the first full-length biography of Keith Relf, frontman for the Yardbirds and one of the great tragic characters in rock history. Keith's moody vocals and harmonica helped to define the Yardbirds' sound on a string of innovative hit records in the 1960s that influenced garage rock, psychedelia, blues rock, hard rock and heavy metal. Numerous books have been written about the Yardbirds' famous guitarists--Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page--yet Keith has remained a mysterious and elusive figure since his death by electrocution at age 33. A deeply private person, prone to depression and poor health, Keith was ill-suited to the life of a rock star. In the years following the Yardbirds' breakup, as the band's guitarists became household names playing blues-based rock, Keith insisted on pursuing new musical paths, always searching for something new and trying to extend the Yardbirds' spirit of curiosity and innovation. By the time of his death in 1976, Keith was nearly forgotten and struggling physically, emotionally and financially. More than forty years after his tragic death, this important artist's story has finally been written and his contributions celebrated as more than just a footnote to the careers of his better-known bandmates.

An informative handbook of American birds explains how to use landscaping and plantings to provide food and shelter and attract birds to the garden, offers practical tips on food for birds, and includes a directory of one hundred types of birds

After Schuyler and Eliza Saunders staked out property in 1851, early pioneers referred to the soggy Chehalis River bottomland as "Saunders Bottom." The community of Claquato on a nearby hillside became a busy way station for travelers but only until enterprising businessmen like William West repeatedly flagged down passing trains, prompting railroad officials to establish a depot at Chehalis. Following an economic boom in the 1880s, fires in 1892 destroyed much of the business district. Chehalis thrived in the 1920s, suffered during the Depression, and built parts for B-17 bombers in a Boeing Company plant during World War II . An early-1950s Adventure in Cooperation forged even stronger community bonds, leading to the formation of the Chehalis Industrial Commission. Today, Chehalis has thriving retail and industrial areas and a renovated downtown promoted by members of the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team.