Bluebirds Forever

Few garden birds have contributed so much to the rising popularity of birds in general than members of the titmice family. Their boldness, attractiveness, and agility has endeared them to countless armchair bird watchers. For nature and animal fans.

Award-Winning Bluebird Book Now In Paperback!
Bluebirds Forever won a 1995 Merit Award from the Midwest Independent Publishers Association as the Best Environmental/Nature Book.

Bluebirds Forever received First Place from the Mid-American Publishers Association in 1995 for the Best Photographic Book, three or more colors.

Bluebirds Forever was featured by Rodale Book Club as a monthly Editor's Choice selection and was featured by the Birding Book Club as an Alternate Selection.

Sample a few more reviews (originally written for hardback edition):

Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History Guide, Spring 1995

The history of ornithology is full of the contributions of devoted amateurs. The story of bluebirds, in particular, is closely linked to human advocates who have directly intervened to bring their populations back to relative health in the past few decades, from disastrously low numbers around mid-century. Habitat destruction, especially removal of dead trees that provided natural nesting cavities, and competition from alien European Starlings and House Sparrows, had deprived these beautiful birds of places to breed. People lamented the fact that no one saw bluebirds anymore, but what was to be done about it? (To illustrate public ignorance about bluebirds' need for nesting cavities, I have a copy of a book about birds by a well-known illustrator and writer of children's literature from the 1950's, accurate except for an illustration of a bluebird brooding robin-like on a tree branch.) Fortunately, people did do something to reverse their course toward extinction. Bluebirds Forever is, in part, their story.

In 1993 naturalist and photojournalist Connie Toops crossed the continent visiting some of these people and watching bluebirds. These dedicated bluebirders have established nest box trails in locales that vary from urban Minneapolis to rural Montana, but they share a common compassion, determination, and resourcefulness. They spend countless hours building and distributing nest boxes, and helping their charges cope with cold, predators, and food shortages. They experiment with nest box design, placement and maintenance, and keep reliable records of what they have seen that are useful both to professional ornithologists and to other amateurs.

Connie, too, sees clearly and tells what she has seen in a plain way. Her account of watching a fledgling Western Bluebird help feed his younger siblings doesn't just reinforce what science tells us sometimes happens; it makes the reader aware of the palpable connection that Connie has with the living beings she is watching.

In addition to being a fine overview of the natural history of the three species of bluebirds - Eastern Bluebird, Mountain Bluebird, and Western Bluebird - and a celebration of people who have made a difference, this book is a practical guide for anyone who would like to color their own back yard with bluebirds: how to deal with predators and unfair competition from European Starlings and House Sparrows; how to build, place, and maintain nest boxes and how to improve your landscape to attract bluebirds. There is even a pull-out supplement with detailed nest box plans.

All this, and dozens of beautiful color photographs, most by the author. Read this book, and if you're not already involved in bluebird conservation, you'll want to be, starting this spring.

Small Press, Spring 1995

Gentle manners, a sweet song, and a flash of cobalt: It must be a bluebird. In Bluebirds Forever photojournalist Connie Toops explores the decline and fledgling renewal of the three North American species of bluebirds - Eastern, Western, and Mountain. Toops details the facts of bluebird life from migration and eating to mating and nesting. She packs the book with stunning full-color photos. But most interesting of all are the stories of bluebird fanciers across the country.

Elsie Eltzroth oversees more than a thousand bluebird boxes in her hometown of Corvallis, Oregon. She bands the nestlings, knows their genealogies, places orphans with foster bluebird parents, and takes handicappe d birds home to live in her outdoor aviary.

Seventy-five-year-old Robert Rager rides a moped to monitor a bluebird trail in west-central Ohio. During nesting season he checks the boxes every few days, opening them to count eggs or nestlings. So deft is his touch that often the nesting female simply steps aside to let him count. Mark Raabe tends a bluebird trial at Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland, encouraging the re-establishment of a species that was native to the area at the time of the Civil War.

From the East Coast to the West, Toops introduces readers to the individuals who work to assure the survival of bluebirds. The stories of these human champions bring life and inspiration to the book. Jane Pickard

Wildlife Activist, April 1995

Eastern and Western Bluebirds are among America’s most beautiful birds, and there is great public concern regarding their welfare. This book provides a non-technical account of these birds, with emphasis on establishing bluebird nest boxes and trails, and other ways in which these species can be attracted, information regarding pests and predators, and landscaping. Numerous references are provided, and there is an index. Excellent color photographs and maps provide illustrations. A 16 page pull-out supplement providing bluebird nest box plans, and names and addresses of bluebird organizations and suppliers, is included in a pocket at the back of the book. Anyone interested in bluebirds will want a copy of this book. Highly recommended.

Connie Toops is a former naturalist for the National Park Service. As a professional nature photojournalist, her work has been used during the past two decades by numerous nature book and magazine publishers, including Audubon, National Wildlife Federation, National Geographic Books, National Parks, Sierra, and Time-Life. She is the author of nine nature books and is a contributing editor for Birder's World and Nature's Best magazines. END