★Authored by LAURA ERICKSON, multiple awards winner, including the American Birding Association’s prestigious Roger Tory Peterson Award and the 2020 Minnesota Ornithologists' Union's Thomas Sadler Roberts Memorial Award!
★Laura Erickson's encyclopdic knowledge of birds makes this book rigorous, scientific and romantic, with humor and insight!
★ With beautiful, vivid and poetic illustrations of birds, this book explore the love tunes of 35 birds in the wild!

From the lifelong devotion of the American crow to the dalliances of the eastern bluebird, from the bald eagle’s dazzling aerial display to the male ruby-throated hummingbird’s reputation as a “deadbeat dad” — courtship, mating, and parenting differ dramatically among birds. Ornithologist and author Laura Erickson takes readers on a romance-fueled romp through the love lives of 35 species, exploring the diversity of avian approaches to pairing up. Each species spotlight pairs Erickson’s remarkable depth of scientific knowledge with her talent for drawing humorous and insightful parallels between human and bird. The result is a riveting read for bird-watchers and nature lovers alike.

LAURA ERICKSON,
2014 recipient of the American Birding Association’s prestigious Roger Tory Peterson Award and the 2020 Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union’s Thomas Sadler Roberts Memorial Award, has been a scientist, teacher, writer, wildlife rehabilitator, professional blogger, public speaker, photographer, American Robin and Whooping Crane Expert for the popular Journey North educational website, and Science Editor at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. She’s written twelve books about birds including, in 2020, The Love Lives of Birds. Her titles also include the ABA Field Guide to the Birds of Minnesota; the National Geographic Pocket Guide to Birds of North America; the best-selling Into the Nest: Intimate Views of the Courting, Parenting, and Family Lives of Familiar Birds (co-authored by photographer Marie Read); the National Outdoor Book Award-winning Sharing the Wonder of Birds with Kids; 101 Ways to Help Birds; and The Bird Watching Answer Book for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. She’s currently a columnist and contributing editor for BirdWatching magazine. Since 1986 she has been producing the long-running “For the Birds” radio program for many public radio stations; the program is podcast on iTunes. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota.
Awards:
2021: KAXE radio’s Harry Hutchins Conservation Award.
2020: Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union’s Thomas Sadler Roberts Award, “For outstanding contributions to Minnesota ornithology and birding.”
2014: American Birding Association’s highest honor, the Roger Tory Peterson Award.
2012: Hawk Migration Association of North America: Conservation Education Award.
2012: Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory Lifetime Achievement Award.
2012: Northeastern Minnesota Book Award Winner for Hawk Ridge: Minnesota’s Birds of Prey.
2011: Northeastern Minnesota Book Award Honorable Mention for Twelve Owls.
2007: Wisconsin Society for Ornithology Bronze Passenger Pigeon Award “For significant contributions to Wisconsin ornithology.”
2000: Leyden High Schools Alumni Wall of Fame Award.
1997: National Outdoor Book Award for Sharing the Wonder of Birds with Kids.
1997: Artist’s grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council.
1994: Northeastern Minnesota Book Award Honorable Mention for For the Birds: An Uncommon Guide.
1991: Cooper Ornithological Society’s Frances F. Roberts Award.
1988: The Raptor Center Conservation Award.
1985: Minnesota State Arts Board Grant.