For thirty years, journalist Mark Cocker has been a member of a
community of fanatics who sacrifice most of their spare time, a good
deal of money, sometimes their chances of a partner or family, even
their lives, to watch birds. In Birders, Cocker not only introduces
lay-readers to the venerable art of birding but shares some of the
incredible tales previously circulated only among the loop, involving
unforgettable -- and sometimes deadly -- encounters with everything from
pipits, puffins, and plovers to border-patrol officers and horseback
bandits. And then there is his personal journey, which began when he
discovered a nest of pigeon eggs in his family attic and soon led to the
fetishism of his binoculars (or rather, bins).