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showell's review against another edition
5.0
Ridiculously entertaining. I probably learned something too, but I was laughing too hard to be bothered by the influx of facts into my brain.
ja3m3's review against another edition
3.0
Mike O'Conner lives in Cape Code where he owns the Bird Watcher's General Store an writes a column called Ask the Bird Folks. The book is actually the most commonly asked questions about birds and birding that he has received from his column and the answer that he wrote for the column. There is a lot of good information in this book especially for beginning birders.
My only problem with this book is that I think it reads better as a weekly newspaper column than an actual book. Mr. O'Connor has a rather snarky sense of humor, which is fine and quit funny, but in small, weekly doses. Reading the flippant responses back to back can be rather tiresome. My advice would be to read a few questions/answers and come back to it later. It is well worth reading and has answered some of my birding questions.
My only problem with this book is that I think it reads better as a weekly newspaper column than an actual book. Mr. O'Connor has a rather snarky sense of humor, which is fine and quit funny, but in small, weekly doses. Reading the flippant responses back to back can be rather tiresome. My advice would be to read a few questions/answers and come back to it later. It is well worth reading and has answered some of my birding questions.
carolpk's review against another edition
5.0
Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches? by Mike O'Connor is one fun book. If you're a bird lover, it's a must. Since 1983, O'Connor has been the owner of Bird Watcher's General Store on Cape Cod and though I've been there I never realized he wrote. He really knows his birds and has answered thousands of questions about our feathered friends Cape Codder column "Ask the Bird Folks" What makes his answers shine is his unbeatable sense of humor and an all out passion for all things bird.
I pride myself on my bird savvy but Mike has me beat by a mile. Take for instance my belief, one shared by many, that baby birds that have fallen from a nest should not be touched by human hands in the belief the mother will abandon the baby. O'Connor maintains songbirds aren't in the habit of sniffing their nestling's. As for the one that cardinals mate for life, he dispels this myth, stating they might spend a year with the same partner, but life, this "gives us the impression that they spend years of bliss together until they retire to a cardinal condo in Ft. Lauderdale" (pg. 53).
I've got to give Mike credit as he defends some birds like the Blue Jay, who tend to get a bad, undeserved, he feels, rap. Complaints about them heard are that they are pigs at the feeder, they scare the cute little birds away, and that they eat other bird's eggs. Mike comes to their defense with lots of facts, and a laugh with this line "apparently some other birds have better PR agents".
From feed to feeder, birdhouses, birdbaths, and binoculars, identification, migration, fact and myth, this gem of a book will brighten any back yard birders' day. Read it and cheep!
I pride myself on my bird savvy but Mike has me beat by a mile. Take for instance my belief, one shared by many, that baby birds that have fallen from a nest should not be touched by human hands in the belief the mother will abandon the baby. O'Connor maintains songbirds aren't in the habit of sniffing their nestling's. As for the one that cardinals mate for life, he dispels this myth, stating they might spend a year with the same partner, but life, this "gives us the impression that they spend years of bliss together until they retire to a cardinal condo in Ft. Lauderdale" (pg. 53).
I've got to give Mike credit as he defends some birds like the Blue Jay, who tend to get a bad, undeserved, he feels, rap. Complaints about them heard are that they are pigs at the feeder, they scare the cute little birds away, and that they eat other bird's eggs. Mike comes to their defense with lots of facts, and a laugh with this line "apparently some other birds have better PR agents".
From feed to feeder, birdhouses, birdbaths, and binoculars, identification, migration, fact and myth, this gem of a book will brighten any back yard birders' day. Read it and cheep!
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