The Ultimate Bird Lover. Edited by Marty Becker et al, HCI Books, 2010.

Many readers are familiar with the Chicken Soup for the Soul or Cup of Comfort book series. These cover many topics and consist of brief sketches, essays, and anecdotes on the specific topic of the book, e.g. A Cup of Comfort for Dog Lovers.

HCI Books is putting out a similar series entitled The Ultimate [fill in the blank] Lover series. This one is obviously about birds. Most entries are two or three page focused anecdotes. Many are about personal observations of birds in one’s yard or neighborhood. Two or three are about birding. A majority have to do with pet birds. They are amusing and could be of interest.

The three editors contribute some key chapters at the end which give advice on choosing and caring for bird pets and on bird conservation. Dr. Becker, for example, is a avian veterinarian. He works not only with pet birds but with birds in aviaries and zoos.

As Gordon Korman “complained” in No More Dead Dogs that dogs often die at the end of popular dog stories, so here some of the birds die, others fly off. That does provide a little tenderness if one does not feel exploited.

I am not sure if this would qualify as an ultimate book on birds. I personally would probably recommend Tales of a Low Rent Birder, The Feather Quest, or even The Big Year, but especially for those who are interested in both wild and captive birds, this can be a leisurely and pleasant read. It could provide good food for thought if you are thinking of getting a pet bird.