Featuring dramatic, detailed, and scientifically accurate color illustrations by the acclaimed wildlife artist Robert Bateman, this beautiful book is written on a level that can be enjoyed by older children as well as by adults who are newcomers to bird watching. The book opens on an autobiographical note, describing how, at the age of eight, the author stopped to watch a chickadee's gymnastics in a hedge. As an adult, Bateman has sketched and painted birds in every corner of the world, and has developed deep insights into bird habitats, behavior, and survival skills. This book's stunning illustrations, supplemented with descriptive notes, show a variety of familiar birds in their natural settings. Readers who study these vivid illustrations of the black-capped chickadee, the nuthatch, the downy woodpecker, the sparrow, the cardinal, the robin, and other species will come to see these fascinating birds in a new light. The more than 65 color illustrations, supplemented with simple, direct text and interesting sidebars, make this unusual volume the perfect introduction to birding for nature lovers of all ages.