Ordering signed copies
You can now order signed copies of “What It’s Like to Be a Bird” from my local independent bookstore, The Odyssey Bookshop. Just follow the link for information and to place an order.
Events and interviews
My NPR interview from Weekend Edition is now online at WGBH, along with an extended 23-minute recording of some of my walk in the woods with Craig LeMoult of WGBH. You can listen to all of that here at WGBH.
The first virtual book event with Gibson’s Boosktore in Concord, NH was a great success on April 17th. Thanks to all who attended and apologies to those who found the event full and couldn’t get in. More virtual events are coming up. Here is a list as of 20 April 2020:
SUNDAY, APRIL 26 at 5:00 pm
Politics & Prose, Washington, DC
Link: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/sibley-what-its-like
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29 at 7:00pm
Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures, Pittsburgh, PA
Link to come
THURSDAY, MAY 7 at 8:00 pm
Magic City Books/BookSmart Tulsa, Tulsa, OK.
Link to come
THURSDAY, MAY 21 at 7:00pm
Quail Ridge Bookstore at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC,
Link: https://youtu.be/h0jHp4vv7rw
Stay healthy!
My husband got me a copy of this new book as an early Mother’s Day (quarantine) present. I LOVE it! Beautifully illustrated, of course, beautifully written, of course, and a wondrous view into what it is like to be a bird (a delightful surprise). My whole family (two teens and my husband) are completely taken with learning things like: that birds have two places they balance from and sleep with their feet relaxed, that 30% of the female mallards die while incubating their eggs, that birds will eat paint chips to get enough calcium and that birds are constantly deciding what to do. We had a wonderful conversation about instincts vs decision-making. Thank you David for sharing your brilliance with our family and inspiring us to watch and observe even more carefully and for giving us new tools and information that allows us to be more discerning in what we see and notice as well.
Is this the same book as from an article I was reading awhile back where you had said your goal was painting birds in flight? I am super excited, as the only book of yours I own is Sibley’s Birding Basics, bought at a Goodwill.
I’m fairly new into actual bird watching, so the first field guides in my life were acquired only a couple years ago. Weeellllll, I’ve had Birds of the Puget Sound Region (Dennis Paulson, Bob Morse, Tom Aversa, and Hal Opperman) for much longer (previous version I had officially died, and only had three contributers), but I was only passively checking off birds at that point.
As an artist, myself, what’s most exciting about this book (though the information is also highly valued) is that just by these previews I can see so very much advancement in your art. It really goes to show that no matter what, an artist can (and will) still improve over time. Perhaps “improve” is an inappropriate term- early Elvis is often preferred to late Elvis amongst fans, and I often hear the same reasonings: It’s not, by any means, that late Elvis was WORSE, oh no, no! He refined what he wanted to do, and how he wanted to sound, and it was good. However, lots of people prefer the range of genres and styles that he experimented with early on. I am not an Elvis fan (I don’t dislike him, there’s just other music I’d prefer to pursue), but I notice these comments a LOT. Unlike Elvis, I’ve been watching your art keep a lot of what you seem to have made your foundation. Where Elvis abandoned certain things in order to focus majorly on others (which isn’t bad in and of itself), you seem to have tried to keep a well rounded skill set at hand. The biggest thing I’ve noticed? The eyes.
It looks like you started with a similar technique as I’m using now- a splash of semi-opaque white (my supplies limit me to using white out or a gel pen), which lets SOME of the original eye color (and pupil) bleed through and gives the shine some texture. Then I saw your Pileated Woodpecker… You can see the friggin jagged tree line reflecting off its sclera! This Coopers, there’s an idea that the lens is actually, truly protruding away from the iris.
I wonder when I’ll be able to master the iris looking like a very shallow bowl, falling away into the pupil… hmm…