Do you want to buy a holiday gift for a special birder in your life? You are in luck: we are absolutely the easiest people to shop for. Check out my top four gift ideas for the 2016 holiday season!
1) The Sibley Birds Coloring Field Journal
Adult coloring books are all the rage lately, and for good reason. I scoffed when I first learned of the craze, but after my mother-in-law sent me an intricately designed version for Christmas last year, I realized that coloring really does relieve stress and improve my mood.
For birders, David Sibley is a hero. His field guide to American birds goes everywhere with me, and now birders have the opportunity to color 75 of his original works!
Birders like reading about other birders. In Lost Among the Birds, Neil Hayward traces his record-breaking “Big Year” from start to finish, when he sought to see as many North American birds as possible in just 365 days.
The book delves not only into his amazing adventures, but also into the emotional journey he took with a significant other. He is a witty writer, and I enjoyed every page. Available in Kindle, hardcover, and paperback versions.
Check out a longer review here.
No, you can’t really adopt owls or songbirds from Audubon, but their symbolic adoptions are pretty cool.
For $40 each (or less, if you buy as a set) you choose a Bald Eagle or Flamingo or Purple Martin or so many more to “adopt.” You receive an adorable plush of the bird you chose, a certificate of adoption, and a bird photo, while your gift goes to support avian conservation.
This is obviously a great gift for kids, but adults like it too! I personally have the Snowy Owl, and have given the Snowy Owl as a gift to my grandmother after she and I bonded over seeing our very first owl together. I’ve also given the Common Loon to my mother!
4) Go Birding Together
For the last few holidays, my favorite gift has come from my little brother: the gift of his time. I love sharing my birding enthusiasm, and he gives me an entire day to go birding together. My memories of us finding Purple Sandpipers on the coast of New Hampshire, or spotting Buffleheads floating near a Maine pier, are priceless.