Bluebird effect: uncommon bonds with common birds.

New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2012.
Octavo, dustwrapper, 355 pp. colour and black and white illustrations.

Through raising and rehabilitating birds, Julie Zickefoose pulls back a curtain on their motivations, desires, and even emotions. This book is about the change that's set in motion by one single act, such as saving an injured bluebird - or a hummingbird, swift, or phoebe. Each of the twenty five chapters covers a different species, and many depict an individual bird, each with its own personality, habits, and quirks. Each chapter is illustrated with Zickefoose's stunning watercolor paintings and drawings. Not simply individual tales about the trials and triumphs of raising birds, it mixes humor, natural history, and memoir to give readers an intimate story of a life lived among wild birds.