Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches? And Other Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask

In 1983, Mike O'Connor opened the Bird Watcher's General Store on Cape Cod, which might well have been the first store devoted solely to birding in the United States. Since that time he has answered thousands of questions about birds, both at his store and while walking down the aisles of the supermarket. The questions have ranged from inquiries about individual species ("Are flamingos really real?") to what and when to feed birds ("Should I bring in my feeders for the summer?") to the down-and-dirty specifics of backyard birding ("Why are the birds dropping poop in my pool?"). Answering the questions has been easy; keeping a straight face has been hard. Finally, it occurred to O'Connor that if he answered these questions in print, he might be able to buy groceries in peace. Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches? is the solution for the beginning birder who already has a book that explains the slight variation between Common Ground-Doves and Ruddy Ground-Doves but who is really much more interested in why birds sing at 4:30 A.M. instead of 7:00 A.M., or whether it's okay to feed bread to birds, or how birds rediscover your feeders so quickly when you've just filled them after a long vacation. Or, for that matter, whether flamingos are really real. "Mike O'Connor knows birds-I mean, REALLY knows them. He has been answering questions about birds for years, and he can deliver the straight scoop with a hilarious twist that makes it unforgettable. Reading this book is almost as fun as bird watching, and that's saying a lot!" -Kenn Kaufman, author of the Kaufman Field Guide to the Birds of North America Mike O'Connor is the owner of the Bird Watcher's General Store on Cape Cod. His column, Ask the Bird Folks, appears in The Cape Codder, and his writing has been included in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004. He lives in Orleans, Massachusetts.

Mike O’Connor is the owner of Bird Watcher’s General Store on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. His column, "Ask the Bird Folks," appears in the Cape Codder newspaper and his writing has been included in Good Birders Don’t Wear White and The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004. The author of Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Headaches? and Why Do Bluebirds Hate Me?, he lives in Orleans, Massachusetts, where, try as he may, he cannot entice even a single bluebird to come to his yard.