The Hummingbird Handbook is a layman accessible collection of facts and pictures of these beautiful and fascinating birds written by John Shewey. Due out 27th April 2021 from Workman Publishing on their Timber Press imprint, it's 240 pages and will be available in paperback, and ebook formats.
This is a beautifully illustrated and well presented book and will be especially relevant for birders. The author is an experienced birder and nature journalist and writes engagingly about these beautiful little animals.The first chapters give a good introduction and history and lots of interesting trivia as well as representations of the hummingbird in media, on stamps, and from Native American petroglyphs. I especially liked reading about their physiology and behavior; they're such captivating and fascinating creatures. Following chapters give a good overview on landscaping with hummingbird friendly plants (and coincidentally as habitat for other pollinators and wildlife), picture/species galleries and profiles of North American hummingbirds as well as hummingbird species elsewhere in the Americas (North, South, and Central). There is also a cross referenced index and a useful abbreviated resource and links list for further reading.
I would recommend it for readers of nature and
conservancy writing, birders, gardeners, and anyone who has ever been enchanted by their incredible aerial gymnastics. I still remember when I was living in West Virginia, seeing one of "my" tiny fearless little male ruby throated hummers checking out a bowl of tomato peels I was preparing to toss into my compost. He quickly decided they weren't sweet or yummy for hummingbirds, chirped me a *distinctly* unimpressed raspberry and zoomed off back to the feeders.
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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