I've always loved hummingbirds and have several feeders in my yard. I wanted to find out what type of plants to put in my yard to attract more hummingbirds naturally and this book provided an extensive list with the proper names of the plants so that I could go to my plant store with some knowledge. I enjoyed all the beautiful photos of the various types of hummingbirds and was able to detect the type that visits me every year. If you are a hummingbird lover, you will enjoy everything about this little book.

Hummingbirds are the most amazing birds in the world, in my opinion. This book is full of copious details about hummingbirds, their biology, their lives, where they live, and more. If you ever wanted to learn more about hummingbirds, I recommend this book. It has plenty of stunning photos of hummingbirds in action, but it also has detailed text that tells about the different species found in North America (all of them). There is a nice section at the end with colorful and amazing images of the hummingbirds from South America, which are literally stunning! They are just so beautiful. I may be biased since I just love hummingbirds, but I think you will just love this book.

You will also learn about plants that attract hummingbirds. Not only that, but native plants that you can plant to attract them. This is better all around because, not only do those plants feed the hummingbirds, but the native bees benefit too! I was happy to see this section included in the book.

There is information about how humans have interacted with hummingbirds through history. Did you know that we used to make various items out of them? So glad we no longer do this! But, did you know that praying mantises prey on hummers?

Do you want to learn how to feed hummingbirds in your yard? There is information included on that, as well as how to care for the feeders to prevent spread of disease to the birds. Also, what to feed them and what not to feed them!

Overall, I thought this book was excellent. You get how to identify the birds, their range maps, their biology and life history, how to feed them, plants to plant for them, tons of awesome photos of them, history and folklore about them, and even a look at hummers around the world. So much information packed into this book! It is just fabulous, like the birds themselves! This one is a must-read for any bird lover.

I love nature, animals, even am starting to understand that bugs have a place in this world as food for the animals I like, so when I saw this being offered, I requested it. I knew little about hummingbirds before reading this book, other than they are small, fast and beautiful.

They are also extremely high-maintenance, at least for my gardening skills. Please note I have a brown thumb and am lazy, so I don't have what it takes to create the garden haven for hummingbirds that this book discusses, but don't let my inability to coax a plant out of the ground discourage you. If you want to do it, do so and you will reap the rewards of having a garden alive with the beauty of hummingbirds.

This book is absolutely gorgeous and full of information about different types of hummingbirds and how to build a feeding area for them, using local plants and thoughtful landscaping.

Even if you aren't into gardening, but are into nature, I highly recommend this book. The pictures are BEAUTIFUL and hummingbirds are truly amazing creatures. Definitely good for middle readers on up. 5, zippy colorful, stars!

My thanks to NetGalley and Timber Press for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

This was a beautifully illustrated and extensive book about hummingbirds and anything you could possibly want to know about these amazing creatures. I enjoy seeing them each year and I look forward to using this book as a reference guide to make sure I can help these birds thrive in our neighborhood.

Thank you to NetGalley and Timber Press for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Long a fan of these tiny flying jewels, this is a comprehensive book all about them. I especially loved the folklore about them, and of course, the dazzling photographs. Well done!

I absolutely loved John Shewey’s The Hummingbird Handbook. The full color photos are gorgeous and alone, are worth reading the book. Shewey has packed plenty of information in this book, from habitats to history to identification. This would be a fantastic gift for anyone who enjoys hummingbirds as well as being a great educational resource. While overall I am not a fan of Birds and Blooms magazine, Shewey has made a fantastic resource in this book.

The Hummingbird Handbook is a must have for anyone who is a fan of the tiny little birds. Hummingbirds are absolutely fascinating and this book takes us through why we should love them, gives us facts and trivia about them, helps us build gardens to attract them, and also lets us know how to identify them. This is basically an all in one book on how to landscape for hummingbirds, plants to choose based on our location, and also which hummers to expect at our gardens. If you love hummingbirds or are simply curious about the tiny little creatures, this book deserves a spot on your bookshelf.

A useful singular resource for anyone wanting to know all about hummingbirds of the United States. Beautiful photos are included.

Living as I do in the hummingbird capital of the US, and being an avid albeit lousy birder as I am, and owning half a bookshelf of bird identification books as I do, naturally I wanted to read this new book about hummingbirds. I am very glad I did. It's a great addition to any birder's shelf, and a great introduction to birding--and this particular little bird--for novices. The photographs are great: large and clear and plentiful. There are some pocket bird books that are useful, but the illustrations are not, and that's why most birders carry huge backpacks--because we're carrying our books as well as using our phone apps to id on the wing, The prose is a plus as well. Shewey's enthusiasm for hummers is apparent and his style engaging. I love that he included how he built several of his own gardens to attract hummingbirds as examples, with photos. His descriptions contrasting different species, and instructions on where to look in order to distinguish between similar species, were perfect, being as I am one of those birders who is never looking at the right part of the bird to find the distinguishing mark. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to birders and naturalists.

There is a reason these magnificent birds have captured the interest of people for so long. They are tiny, beautiful, fast and a wonder to behold. While there is a wealth of information, such as trivia, basics, planting and landscapes, and varieties stateside and abroad, my favorite element, hands down, is the stunning photography. The colors and details captured are just breathtaking. This is an excellent resource for all lovers of hummingbirds, from novice to expert. I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own, freely given.

Awesome guide on hummingbirds! This book is a gem! As a admirer of these beautiful birds, and as a bird lover, who searches for books to better understand these magnificent creatures, this one is informative, enjoyable to read and has an abundance of stunning photographs! A plus for me, was the lists of viewing opportunities arranged by States, to observe hummers on the road, and a list of hummingbird festivals to attend around the Country as well! Well done! Thank you!

So delightful!

Reading this book has been a lovely experience.
It is filled with great facts about these fascinating creatures, at times comparing various species, it abounds in information about how to create the perfect environment for them to visit your garden and how to properly take care of the feeders in order to keep them healthy and happy.

I liked that it also features a list of places you can go to see them in action, without creating your own space. It is truly a complete book, perfect for any type of hummingbird lover, from the simple admirer to a true aficionado and connoisseur of their realm.

Living in a country where these lovely birds are not present it has been delightful discovering so much about them. Not to mention the abundance of fantastic photographs and the final guide on spotting and understanding many types of hummingbirds. A wonderful book!

The Hummingbird Handbook is a comprehensive guide to understanding the hummingbird.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher  Timber Press and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis and Opinions:
First, make sure you read this on a colour tablet, or computer.  Or better yet, buy the book.  It would be a wonderful coffee-table addition.  The pictures just pop.  They are just a beautiful representation of an amazing bird.

The book includes everything from basic information, to myths, to plants that will attract them, and different hummingbirds in different areas of the world.

Some of the amazing things I've learned....there are over 340 species of these wonderful birds...the largest of them does not even weigh an ounce....they can fly amazing distances -- one flew from Tennessee to Alaska in 5 months.....their heart is 2.5 percent of their body weight (ours is .3).

One of my favorite sections of the book includes their favorite plants. The pictures in this section are wonderful.

Then there is the section on identifying the different species, where they are found -- most of which are in the mid-west to western US and Canada.  Over 90% of hummingbirds found in Eastern North America are Ruby Throated.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves hummingbirds.  They are, indeed, a fascinating creature.

Hummingbirds. Is there any other species of bird that so immediately conjures up images of shimmery colors and blurry wings?

Author John Shewey provides a rather thorough look at the group of birds known as hummingbirds, as well as looking at the individual groups of hummingbirds.

This is a coffee-table-style book, meaning that it is rich with photos and relatively large text, making it easy to pick up and look at a photo and read just a little bit. It also implies a kind of veneer quality to the material - covering enough to look good without getting too thorough or in-depth. This is probably a pretty apt description, but I also want to be clear ... I liked this book. We don't always need to get deep into the science of ornithology to enjoy a book. Those kinds of books are also available to those who want it.

When you pick up a book about hummingbirds, you want to be able to look at a lot of pictures - to see the colorful variety of the species, and this book definitely provides plenty of remarkable photos.

The book is broken down into six chapters. The first chapter is explores "Hummingbird Trivia: Facts, Fictions & Folklore." I found some of the trivia interesting, specifically the Aztec interest surrounding the birds. The more I watch and learn about hummingbirds the more I realize how appropriate it was that the Aztecs had a hummingbird war god ('Huitzilopochtli'). Those little birds are very aggressive!

Perhaps because I already have a hummingbird-friendly yard, I didn't find the third chapter ('Planting and Landscaping for Hummingbirds') as useful. Shewey breaks this down quite a bit, identifying hummingbird-friendly plants, which zones those plants thrive in, and why the birds like these plants specifically (with lots of photos, remember).

The chapter 'Hummingbirds of the United States' starts with "The Big Eight" - identifying the most common hummers found in the United States and for each bird Shewey provides: Identification; Status Range; Habitat; Voice; Behaviors; and Similar Species. And with each is also a map of the bird's range for breeding, migration, winter, and year-round. This section was probably the most helpful to me.

There is also a chapter called 'Hummingbirds on the Road' which is more like an appendix as it features a "Viewing Hummingbirds, State by State" guide. I'm not sure how these locations were chosen. In my state, nine parks or refuge centers were listed, but I think many more parks and centers could easily have been included. There is also a listing of hummingbird festivals for the dedicated birder.

The book concludes with a quick look at hummingbirds that don't make it to the United States. Again, the photos are a delight to look at.

Looking for a good book? The Hummingbird Handbook by John Shewey has a lot of useful information but is primarily a book full of really great photos of an incredible type of bird.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The hummingbirds are due back any day now. Our feeders are out and just in time, Timber Press is publishing (April 27, 2021), "The Hummingbird Handbook - Everything You Need to Know about These Fascinating Birds" by John Shewey (Birds & Blooms).

The book is divided into six basic sections: Trivia, Fictions & Folklore; Hummingbird Basics; Planting and Landscaping; Hummingbirds of the United States; Hummingbirds on the Road; and Hummingbirds Abroad. Written in a straight forward style and filled with glorious photographs, author John Shewey has caught the essence of the little bird that seems to be everyone's favorite.

An attractive cover makes "The Hummingbird Handbook" a perfect gift (I just ordered a copy for a friend.) and certainly a title any library should purchase. Some of the facts are amusing and some are tragic like the enormous number of hummingbirds that were once slaughtered for the fashion industry. Photo credits and an extensive index make this book easy to use. Smaller in dimension than one might expect, the book measures 8 x 0.7 x 8.9 inches. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Thanks to the author, Timber Press, and NetGalley for am ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Hummingbird Handbook is a layman accessible collection of facts and pictures of these beautiful and fascinating birds written by John Shewey. Due out 27th April 2021 from Workman Publishing on their Timber Press imprint, it's 240 pages and will be available in paperback, and ebook formats.

This is a beautifully illustrated and well presented book and will be especially relevant for birders. The author is an experienced birder and nature journalist and writes engagingly about these beautiful little animals.The first chapters give a good introduction and history and lots of interesting trivia as well as representations of the hummingbird in media, on stamps, and from Native American petroglyphs. I especially liked reading about their physiology and behavior; they're such captivating and fascinating creatures. Following chapters give a good overview on landscaping with hummingbird friendly plants (and coincidentally as habitat for other pollinators and wildlife), picture/species galleries and profiles of North American hummingbirds as well as hummingbird species elsewhere in the Americas (North, South, and Central). There is also a cross referenced index and a useful abbreviated resource and links list for further reading.

I would recommend it for readers of nature and conservancy writing, birders, gardeners, and anyone who has ever been enchanted by hummingbirds' incredible aerial gymnastics. I still remember when I was living in West Virginia, seeing one of "my" tiny fearless little male ruby throated hummers checking out a bowl of tomato peels I was preparing to toss into my compost. He quickly decided they weren't sweet or yummy for hummingbirds, chirped me a *distinctly* unimpressed raspberry and zoomed off back to the feeders.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I love Hummingbirds and was excited to find this informative guide to them on here. The pictures are beautiful, the descriptions of each kind of Hummingbird and where you can find them is good. I live in Michigan, USA and all we ever see are the ruby-throated kind. Fun to see good pictures of other varieties. There is a ton of information in this guide, from what the birds look like, to preferred flowers and feeders, to migration patterns and more. If you are just starting out feeding them, or even if you have been for years, you will surely find whatever information you are looking for.

This is a wonderful book. It has a lot more text than I imagined, but it is all interesting and clearly written by people who love hummingbirds as much as those who are likely to buy the book.
The pictures are absolutely stunning and make it so nice to see the different types of humming birds.
This book was a joy all the way through. I'm getting one as a gift for my mom who loves hummingbirds.
I also really enjoy the layout of this book, It's so clear and easy to read.
I highly recommend this book.

Everything you wanted to know about hummingbirds is in this one volume. You'll learn about the family in general, how best to feed them, and how to plant a hummingbird garden. A major part of the book is given over to lovely close-up pictures of the species of hummers you can see throughout the US, Detailed information about each species includes information about habitat, behavior, and more. A final chapter has stunning pictures of many hummingbird species found outside the US.

I absolutely love birds of all kinds especially hummingbirds. This book gave me a greater understanding of each kind of hummingbird and the seasons to look for them, so I can begin putting out several feeders. I will be buying this book for my father-n-law for sure!