With fun activities for the whole family, like building a birdhouse and preparing your own bird food, this is a must-have beginner's guide to bird watching in the Land of 10,000 Lakes! Stan Tekiela’s famous Birds of Minnesota Field Guide has been delighting bird watchers for years. Now, the award-winning author has written the perfect bird identification guide for children! The Kids’ Guide to Birds of Minnesota features: 85 of the most common and important birds to know - Species organized by color for ease of use - Full-color photographs and a full page of information for each bird - Field marks, favorite hangouts, calls/songs, a range map, and Stan’s cool facts, making identification a snap! This pocket-sized book is the perfect guide for budding bird watchers. Bird expert Stan Tekiela has done a dandy job of boiling down bird identification to short and simple sentences that kids from 8 to 12 years old will easily understand. Each bird is illustrated with a full-page photo. On the opposite page from the photo, Tekiela provides one-sentence identification clues: what to look for, where to find them, what they eat, etc. His final flourish is to end each bird segment with a fun factoid called “Stan’s really cool stuff.” National Outdoor Book Awards Naturalist, wildlife photographer and writer Stan Tekiela is the author of more than 175 field guides, nature books, children’s books, wildlife audio CDs, puzzles and playing cards, presenting many species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, trees, wildflowers and cacti in the United States. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural History from the University of Minnesota and as an active professional naturalist for more than 25 years, Stan studies and photographs wildlife throughout the United States and Canada. He has received various national and regional awards for his books and photographs. Also a well-known columnist and radio personality, his syndicated column appears in more than 25 newspapers and his wildlife programs are broadcast on a number of Midwest radio stations. Stan can be followed on Facebook and Twitter. Mostly Red Northern Cardinal Look for the black mask What to look for: all-red bird with a black mask, and a large red crest and bill Where you'll find them: wide variety of habitats including backyards and parks; usually likes thick vegetation Calls and songs: calls “whata-cheer-cheer-cheer” in spring; both male and female sing and give chip notes all year On the move: short flights from cover to cover, often landing on the ground What they eat: loves sunflower seeds and enjoys insects, fruit, peanuts and suet; visits seed feeders Nest: cup of twigs and bark strips, often low in a tree Eggs, chicks & childcare: 3–4 speckled bluish-white eggs; Mom and Dad share the incubating and feeding duties Spends the winter: doesn’t migrate; gathers with other cardinals and moves around to find good sources of food Stan's Cool Stuff: Cardinals are sunbathers! Sometimes they stretch out in the sun, spreading their wings and fanning their tails. They’re the first to arrive at feeders in the morning and the last to leave before dark. They are territorial and fight their own reflections in windows. Real Quick Size: 8-9" Nest: cup Feeder: tube or hopper Range: year-round