Bird Songs is an absolutely fabulous book. It features 250 North American birds and there’s an interactive sound panel that allows you to listen to all the bird songs.

Raincoast publicist Danielle has taken quite a liking to it and often quizzes the marketing department on bird-call identification. I can pick out the Laughing Gull but that’s about it.

The sounds are absolutely incredible, these are not the scratchy sound chips of my childhood.

Bird Songs draws from the collection of the world-renowned Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The most notable North American birds are in this book, including the rediscovered Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Renowned bird biologist Les Beletsky provides a succinct description of each of the 250 birds profiled, with an emphasis on their distinctive songs.

The book is gorgeous and a great gift for bird lovers, but also for the curious adult or the child who likes interactive toys.

If you want to hear what the sounds are like, check out The Macaulay Library bird sounds page.

My favourite is the American Goldfinch song with “potatochip” calls. Find it under “Western US.”