Birds are people, too.

Okay, they're not. But in the loving and talented hands of Amy Tan, they display individualities and personalities that equal some of her best characters in her award-winning novels, without falling into anthropomorphizing. THE BACKYARD BIRD CHRONICLES is a fun tale of the unending exploration that can be found in one’s own backyard.

"[A]nyone who appreciates our feathered friends will delight in Tan's enthusiasm and commitment to her journaling. Her tell-tale wit is ever-present, and these hours with her birds amounted to a love story."

Tan started working on the book after taking a class with John Muir Laws and as an escape: a way for her to separate herself from a noisy world of division and misinformation. Over the course of six years and the pages of nine journals, Tan's knowledge of her backyard birds grew along with her skill as an artist. When she began, she confesses, she only could identify three species. But with time, she had spotted and chronicled 63 varieties of feathered beauties in her birding oasis: warblers, California quail, scrub-jays, hermit thrush and more.

Tan learned how to attract birds, fend off predators and even create makeshift habitats during rainstorms. She studied what they liked to eat and how much water they needed. She stocked her refrigerator with mealworms (with her husband’s blessing) and created safe spaces for her to observe outside and from inside her house --- sometimes spending entire days watching, drawing and writing her learnings and funny tales of bird behavior.

As Tan's eye improved, so did her sketching. The first entries reveal a naive hand. Actually, one of her initial drawings is a hummingbird sitting in her hand --- a cute, almost cartoonish entry. She had an eye not yet accustomed to the nuances of feathers, tails, wings or even beaks. But the hours spent at her windows and in her yard paid off as more detailed and refined images emerge. Or, as Tan wrote, she was “being the bird,” feeling the little life beneath the plumage, as Laws had advised early in their nature journaling together. The sketches bare witness to a growing love and admiration for her subjects, as well as a burgeoning skill.  

A veteran bird watcher may not learn much from Tan's musings, and she does not proffer to be an expert by any means. She sprinkles her short writings with newfound facts, recognizing that they are new to her but maybe not to her reader. She never boasts a scholar's knowledge or understanding. That said, anyone who appreciates our feathered friends will delight in Tan's enthusiasm and commitment to her journaling. Her tell-tale wit is ever-present, and these hours with her birds amounted to a love story.