Wings of Spring: Courtship, Nesting, and Fledging

With more than 200 stunning images by one of the country's top nature photographers, this beautiful and informative book tells the age-old story of how birds migrate to their nesting grounds, select a mate, establish a nest site, and raise their young in the wild. The nesting cycle starts when early migrants return to snow-covered breeding territories. It includes colorful courtship displays; intricate nest-building techniques; egg laying, brooding, and hatching; and the never-ending hunt for food. It also includes ingenious methods of protection and the miraculously quick growth of chicks. It can end with a fall migration flight thousands of miles long. Songbirds, owls, hummingbirds, shorebirds, raptors, waterfowl. . . . All engage in breeding rituals, and all are included here. Featuring a wealth of information conveyed by words and pictures, this handsome book offers a fascinating look at a rarely observed world.

Tom Vezo is an award-winning wildlife photographer who travels the world to capture images of animals in their natural environments. His photos have appeared in Audubon, Bird Watcher's Digest, Birder's World, National Geographic, National Wildlife, Outdoor Photographer, Sierra, and WildBird as well as in numerous calendars and advertisements. He has provided photography for two other books, Wings in the Wild (0-8117-2989-3) and Birds of Prey in the American West (1-887896-38-4).

Chuck Hagner is the editor of Birder's World magazine, a longtime birder, and an experienced writer whose work has appeared in Nature Conservancy magazine, dozens of Time-Life books, and other publications. He lives in Milwaukee.