A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird

Part field guide, part history, part ornithology primer, and altogether fun.

Fact: Pigeons are amazing, and until recently, humans adored them. We've kept them as pets, held pigeon beauty contests, raced them, used them to carry messages over battlefields, harvested their poop to fertilize our crops--and cooked them in gourmet dishes. Now, with The Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, readers can rediscover the wonder. Equal parts illustrated field guide and quirky history, it covers behavior: Why they coo; how they flock; how they preen, kiss, and mate (monogamously); and how they raise their young (on chunky pigeon milk). Anatomy and identification, from Birmingham Roller to the American Giant Runt to the Scandaroon. Birder issues, like what to do if you find a baby pigeon stranded in the park. And our lively shared story together, including all the things we've taught them--Ping-Pong, for example. "Rats with wings?" Think again.
Pigeons coo, peck and nest all over the world, yet most of us treat them with indifference or disdain. So Rosemary Mosco, a bird-lover, science communicator, writer, and cartoonist (and co-author of The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide for the World's Most Adventurous Kid) is here to give the pigeon's image a makeover, and to help every town- and city-dweller get closer to nature by discovering the joys of birding through pigeon-watching.


Author: Rosemary Mosco
Publisher: Workman Publishing
Published: 10/26/2021
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 6.90h x 5.00w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781523511341


Review Citation(s):
Foreword 08/26/2021
Booklist 10/01/2021 pg. 8
Library Journal 12/01/2021 pg. 109

About the Author
Mosco, Rosemary: - Rosemary Mosco is a science communicator, acclaimed cartoonist, and speaker on all things bird. She's the creator of the webcomic Bird and Moon and has authored many science books for young people, including co-authoring the bestselling Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide for the World's Most Adventurous Kid. She lives in Massachusetts.