Birds, it must be admitted, are the most exciting and most deserving of the vertebrates; they are perhaps the best entre into the study of natural history, and a very good wedge into conservation awareness.

We don't have to go to wild places to find wildlife. A surprisingly wide range of species can be found in our sities and towns, from familiar animals like the raccoon to more exotic ones like the mountain lion.

Birds are an ecological litmus paper.

Vultures are homely, but they clean up all the garbage and that's good. And they're elegant in the sky.

Conservation is not just an ideal that we read about; it works.

Birds ... are sensitive indicators of the environment, a sort of "ecological litmus paper," ... The observation and recording of bird populations over time lead inevitably to environmental awareness and can signal impending changes.

I can recognize the calls of practically every bird in North America. There are some in Africa I don't know, though