The books and authors collected in this bibliography represent the important and expanding contribution of Black birders to the broader canon of birding literature. Through memoir, field guides, essays, poems, and educational works, these authors have shaped conversations around birds, conservation, identity, access, and belonging in outdoor spaces while helping make birding literature reflective of the diversity of people engaging with birds and the natural world. This bibliography is an ongoing project, and readers are welcome to suggest additional works.
Belleny, Danielle. The Junior Birder’s Handbook: A Kid’s Guide to Birdwatching. Quarto Kids, 2024.
An accessible introduction to birding for young readers, with information on where and how to bird, different habitat types, and a selection of species profiles. Beautiful illustrations enliven the inviting text.
Belleny, Danielle. This Is a Book for People Who Love Birds. Running Press, 2022.
A visually engaging celebration of birds and birding culture. Structured mostly as a series of species profiles, with each entry receiving a beautiful illustration and containing natural history and accessible science, written in an inviting tone.
Burgess, Murry. Sparrow Loves Birds. Illustrated Tamisha Anthony. Christy Ottaviano Books, 2024.
A work of children’s literature, this story follows Sparrow, a young birder, as she documents and identifies the different birds she encounters on her walk. The author also has written two other children’s books about wolves and reptiles.
Cooper, Christian. Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World. Random House, 2023.
A memoir and meditation on identity and nature, Cooper’s book explores how birding shaped his life and worldview as a gay Black man in America. The book includes reflections on the infamous Central Park incident as well as many of the author’s other birding experiences.
Dorsey, Sharon. Shorebirds: A Compare and Contrast Book. Arbordale Publishing, 2025.
An informative and helpful guide to learning about shorebirds. The book includes photographs and tips for identifying shorebirds and explains their often lengthy migration journeys.
Edmondson, Dudley. The Black & Brown Faces in America’s Wild Places. Adventure Publications, 2006.
A collection of interviews and profiles of Black environmentalists working in outdoor recreation fields, from National Park Service administrators to mountaineers to rangers to cowboys and more. The author is an accomplished bird and nature photographer, so the book features high-quality portraits of the individuals profiled.
Edwards, Scott V., ed. Audubon: Early Drawings. Harvard University Press, 2008.
This work reproduces 116 of John James Audubon’s early bird drawings, documenting the formative period in which Audubon developed both his artistic style and his approach to ornithology. Edwards contributes ornithological commentary and scientific context throughout the book, helping interpret the illustrations in the context of American natural history at that time. Edwards is a major scholar of avian evolution and biodiversity.
Edwards, Scott. V., and J. Michael Reed, eds. New Perspectives in Ornithology: 21st Century Dispatches Across the World of Birds. Oxford University Press, 2025.
A scholarly overview and academic resource exploring how new technologies are reshaping the study of birds and advancing fields such as evolution, behavior, ecology, and conservation. Edited by two leading ornithologists, the book also examines major challenges facing birds today.
Hafting, Melissa. Dare to Bird: Exploring the Joy and Healing Power of Birds. Rocky Mountain Books, 2024.
This book combines the author’s excellent bird photography with her personal reflections on how birding helped her navigate grief and loss. The author also writes about her own struggles with inclusion in the birding world and advocates for greater access for marginalized groups.
Lanham, J. Drew. The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature. Milkweed Editions, 2016.
One of the great works of not only birding but all environmental literature. Lanham’s memoir meditates on the meaning of place while exploring the topics of race, family, and our relationship to the living world. The author reads the audiobook himself, an excellent way to experience the book.
Lanham, J. Drew. Joy Is the Justice We Give Ourselves. Milkweed Editions, 2023.
Poems and brief essays on wonder, grief, conservation, and identity through the lens of birds and the natural world.
Lanham, J. Drew. Sparrow Envy: Field Guide to Birds and Lesser Beasts. Milkweed Editions, 2018.
Poems and brief essays that are close observations of birds, other animals, and people.
Lanham, J. Drew, and Jamie K. Reaser, eds. Dawn Songs: A Birdwatcher’s Field Guide to the Poetics of Migration. Talking Waters Press, 2023.
An anthology of poems and essays on birds and migration and how they intersect with human culture.
Lindo, David. How to Be an Urban Birder. Princeton University Press, 2011.
A practical guide to finding birds in cities and suburban environments around the world. Lindo challenges the assumption that meaningful birding only happens in remote wilderness. The author is known as the “Urban Birder.”
Lindo, David. Tales from the Concrete Jungles: Urban Birding Around the World. Bloomsbury Natural History, 2015.
This book documents Lindo’s birding experiences in cities, most of them in the U.K., but some from farther afield, celebrating biodiversity and birding accessibility in densely populated environments.
Patterson, Dexter. Birds of the Great Lakes: How They Look & Sound, Where to Find Them, How to Protect Them. Timber Press, 2025.
A field guide to the birds of the Great Lakes region, providing concise species accounts that include tips on identification, bird-finding, and bird conservation.
Robinson, John C. Birding for Everyone: Encouraging People of Color to Become Birdwatchers. Wings-on-Disk, 2008.
A practical guide for encouraging broader participation in birding and removing systemic barriers, the book includes primary research such as interviews conducted by the author. Also includes general information on birding and birding culture.
Stotts, Rodney. Bird Brother: A Falconer’s Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife. Atria Books, 2022.
A moving memoir recounting Stotts’s journey from a difficult upbringing in Washington, D.C., to becoming a master falconer and conservation educator. The book emphasizes personal transformation through birds and wildlife rehabilitation.
Troutman, Alex. Critters of Georgia: Pocket Guide to Animals in Your State. Adventure Publications, 2023.
Just one entry in a series of books by the author with 18 entries already, and more planned! Compact wildlife guides introducing readers to mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and other critters in Georgia and other states respectively. Florida, New York, Texas, and California are just some of the states included in the series so far. Fun, approachable, and well-suited for younger readers.
Watts, Tammah. Keep Looking Up: Your Guide to the Powerful Healing of Birdwatching. Hay House, 2023.
While managing a chronic disability at home, Tammah Watts first notices a male Northern Yellow Warbler, which led her to “noticing [that her] outdoor world was alive.” Watts discovers the therapeutic benefits of connecting to birds and nature, which she documents in her narrative memoir and incorporates in her therapeutic practice and outdoor guiding.
Wendler, Amber, and Shaz Zamore, eds. Been Outside: Adventures of Black Women, Nonbinary, and Gender Nonconforming People in Nature. Mountaineer Books, 2023.
A collection of essays and poems by Black women and nonbinary scientists. The book centers Black outdoor experiences and explores how different identities relate to questions of ancestry, stewardship, and science in environmental spaces.
