This unique and well-researched guidebook by Jennifer L. Bristol will take birders on a reflective journey through the ecological uniqueness and historical importance of cemeteries across Texas. As a self-identified cemetery birder, I can attest to the diversity found at high-quality cemeteries. They provide me with reliable locations to find nesting owls or hawks and the decades-old trees sourced from various corners of the world. The ideal cemetery is easy to access, charming, and supports many birds. Until recently, finding an exemplary cemetery was an arduous guessing game. Cemetery Birding: An Unexpected Guide to Discovering Birds in Texas takes the guesswork out of finding the perfect cemetery to explore.

For the uninitiated, recreating in cemeteries can seem taboo. Bristol reassures the wary that graveyards were also created for the living and are not just lawns for the departed. Introductory sections of the book recap how to safely and ethically explore cemeteries. Additionally, each destination includes a brief description of accessibility, road limitations, and trail conditions for disabled visitors to consider. For the experienced cemetery wanderer, the guide has distinguished quality birding cemeteries based on ground maintenance, potential bird diversity, and the variety of bird habitats. If you are traveling near any of Texas’s major cities, rely on this guide to find a nearby cemetery birding destination. Included are descriptions of nearly 100 cemeteries across ten ecologically distinct regions of the Lone Star State.

If you are new to birding, each location in the book includes “Tombstone Tails”—photos with simple facts to identify birds likely to be observed. Photos and meanings of tombstone symbols are also explained in “Tombstone Tales” for each destination. For those more interested in gardening, bioblitz, storytelling, genealogy, or anyone just looking for a good time, consider how your skills can also be used to enhance cemeteries. A strong but overlooked connection likely exists between cemeteries and your hobbies. Working with cemeteries gives the living an opportunity to honor the past, present, and future.

Cemeteries have provided urbanites and wildlife alike with relief from the bustle of sprawling cities. Burial grounds are the precursors to parks. Central Park, such a culturally significant destination in New York, was designed after Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. The opening of Green-Wood Cemetery in 1838 provided overcrowded New Yorkers a 485-acre greenspace to get some fresh air. In recent years, the picturesque trails and significant individuals interred at Green-Wood attract over 550,000 annual visitors. Green-Wood also functions as an arboretum, housing over 700 species of plants. Consider how the greenspaces protected by cemeteries assist in offsetting carbon emission, improving air quality, reducing stormwater runoff, and limiting the impact of heatwaves. Given steadily growing populations across the state, Texas cemeteries have a unique stake in conserving and buffering the limited available public land. Bristol writes:

The more than fifty thousand cemeteries in Texas collectively constitute hundreds of thousands of acres of land that make them worth considering when thinking about our natural spaces. Texas is 268,596 square miles big, however 94 percent of that land is privately held. Since only 6 percent of land in the state is public and there is a rapidly growing population of over thirty million people, it becomes imperative that we consider how every acre is used to support human needs as well as the needs of wildlife.

Historical and ecological conservation groups in north Texas recently commenced the Constellation of Living Memorials, a cemetery restoration project to bring new life to neglected cemeteries. Their two-year pilot program began in 2023 with the goals of providing spaces where the community can honor their ancestors and simultaneously improving the natural environment of historic cemeteries. Community members of all ages alongside trained volunteers of the Texas Master Naturalists and Master Gardener programs have enhanced trails, added native pollinator-friendly plants, removed non-native plants, and replaced vandalized or stolen tombstones. The pilot program continues to add new stars to the Constellation of Living Memorials and hopes to expand to more cemeteries across Texas.

In my own travels, I’ve visited a handful of the cemeteries included in the guide. For example, my cemetery birding origin story took place in Chamberlain Cemetery (p. 211), I celebrated a birthday birding at Rose Hill Cemetery Complex (p. 235), I often visited the famous peacock in San Marcos City Cemetery (p. 143), and I’ve listened to the whispering pines of Fairview Cemetery (p. 94). Some locations attracted my genuine curiosity, whereas others were visited deliberately to find a recently reported bird. I’ve also been fortunate to have had birding adventures with Bristol in two of the included Hill Country cemeteries: Texas State Cemetery (p. 149) and Oakwood Cemetery (p. 152). While strolling the 173-year-old Texas State Cemetery, we gave our respects to the U.S. Congresswoman, Barbara Jordan, as we watched a family of Blue Jays slink through the live oak canopies. Barbara Jordan, buried in 1996, made Texas State Cemetery history by being the first African American interred.

During our trip to Evergreen Cemetery, we were enamored by a nesting pair of Mississippi Kites while I visited with my late great-uncle. Evergreen Cemetery was established in 1926 to serve the African American community segregated to the east side of Austin, Texas. Bristol includes sobering reminders that not all cemeteries are created equal. Even the most sacred of grounds have been seized by the tendrils of bigotry and division.

Bristol writes equally from a historian’s and a naturalist’s perspective. The author’s ability to highlight personal heroes, famous figures, and local legends alike is attributed to her exhaustive researching abilities and attentive ear. Should readers desire to dive deeper into a topic, rest assured that Bristol includes books and other resources to reference for further information. Cemetery descriptions also include historical context surrounding the era of the earliest burials. One of the most historic cemeteries includes Caddo Mounds State Historic Site (p. 54). Over 1,000 years of Caddo ancestors and their stories are preserved at the site.

While reading Cemetery Birding, it is easy to realize how serendipitous birding is. What are the chances that we exist in this moment of time, at the exact location as our feathery kin; to know that a bird follows the same ancient migratory pathways as their forefeathers, and to consider that our human ancestors happened to be in the right place at the right time to grace us with existence. We are all inexplicably tied to the circle of life. Bristol has provided an all-in-one guide to provide not only a unique connection to nature but also a portal to the past. I am proud to join the legion of cemetery wanderers who share a strange love for things of the past because we care so deeply about the future.