Where to Get Information About Birds

By Mary Wilson

Now that winter has formally arrived, many of us in the northern climates will be bound closer to home than we were during the warmer months. This makes winter the perfect season in which to read up about our favorite birds and to spend more time with them. With this article, I will begin a series on where to get information about birds, reviewing various periodicals, books, and Internet sites in the hope that we broaden our experience as bird owners.

There are four main places people obtain bird information: books, magazines, websites, and other bird owners. While it is difficult to be sure of the information we receive from other people, unless they have experience in the hobby, the words printed in books, magazines, or on websites are taken to be of some use, depending on the type of bird and the issue involved.

Four main publishing companies dominate the bird market: Barron's, BowTie Press, Howell House, and TFH. Barron's and Howell House publish "complete guides" or "owner's manuals" to various species of birds. These books are aimed at the beginning bird owner and provide very broad information about the species of birds covered. BowTie Press is part of Fancy Publications, who owns Bird Talk and several other animal magazines. Their books range from the whimsical to the detailed, with very few books on birds. TFH publishes books about all species of animals and has books dedicated to just one species or a complete guide dedicated to a family of birds.

There are few main magazines in the bird world: Bird Talk, Original Flying Machine, Companion Parrot Quarterly, and Bird Times. Some titles are aimed at new bird owners, or those who haven't gone beyond their single parakeet or cockatiel, while others contain detailed behavioral information that even quite experienced bird owners find interesting.

Websites -- what can be said about them? There are as many websites dedicated to pet birds as anything else on the Internet, and just with other topics, the information gained can be good or bad. How do you judge a website? Don't be afraid to ask for credentials for the author. For example, I have kept birds for many years, dealt with many species of birds, as well as raised and handfed babies. I'm honest in that I don't know everything about all topics, but I can help people with small hookbills and finches. Most websites will list the author's background in birds, or at least provide some insight into their experience. However, don’t take everything a website says as if it were gospel. Birds are just as individual as their owners, and what works for one person and bird may not work for the next.

Article courtesy of Suite101.com.