Laura Erickson's For the Birds

Gifts for a Bird-lover (Recording–“Four calling birds, three Frnech hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree”)

Now that Target has had Christmas decorations displayed for over two whole months, I suppose it’s about time to start thinking about gift ideas. December has Hannukah, Christmas, Beethoven’s Birthday–and, for those who commemorate, it, even Jane Fonda’s Birthday–so a lot of people buy a lot of presents this time of year. Here are a few gift ideas for the bird lovers in your life.

First of all–a few don’t’s. Any picture of a cute little owl with its eyes cast coyly downward or to the side is a no no. Owls don’t have eyeballs like we have–they have eye cylinders which are absolutely fixed in their sockets. Any artist who has actually looked at an owl knows this–it’s the surest way to spot a fake wildlife artist. And any book or T-shirt that refers to a Herring Gull or Ring-billed Gull as a “Seagull” is probably not very good either.

Bird books are always welcome to a bird-watcher. National Geographic offers a nice package–a big coffee table book of birds, a field guide, two recordings, and a poster for $29.95. This field guide is probably the best one available anywhere.

Any north country bird afficionado would like Tom Klein’s LOON MAGIC, published by the Paper Birch Press of Ashland, Wisconsin. Although it’s written in a conversational style for non-birders, its scientific accuracy pleased even the reviewer for the American Ornithologists’ Union. And some of the photographs in LOON MAGIC are exquisite. The price for this book is $40.00.

Bird recordings are another good idea. A FIELD GUIDE TO BIRD SONGS, a record designed to accompany the Peterson field guide, is expensive but covers over 200 species. I like the first edition better than the second, but the older one may be impossible to find. Donald Borror’s cassettes, COMMON BIRD SONGS, SONGS OF EASTERN BIRDS, and SONGS OF WESTERN BIRDS, put out by Dover, are excellent. They each provide long recordings of 60 different species. These cassettes cost $7.95 each–the record versions are out of print and may be hard to find. Again, for Loon lovers, there’s a whole record album devoted to loon songs–“Voices of the Loon.”

Bird feeders are another good idea. Rubbermaid has come out with a reasonably inexpensive line of feeders made of sturdy plastic, but I wouldn’t bet on them lasting more than a few days in a yard with squirrels. Wooden feeders, many home-made by area residents, are available at a lot of gardening supply stores and hardware stores in Duluth and Superior. A 50-pound bag of sunflower seed costs less than $10.00, but if you’re on a budget, you can buy several pounds of suet for less than a dollar at a grocery store.

A membership in one of the area bird organizations is a fine gift idea, too. The Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union, and Duluth Audubon Society are all excellent choices. Membership in each includes a magazine.

Finally, a nice pair of wool socks is always welcome for anyone who spends winter outdoors, birding in the northland.

(Recording)

This is Laura Erickson, and this program has been “For the Birds.”