By Tamara Enz

On Sale: Jun 11, 2024
Page Count: 316 pages
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN-13: 9781643261348

$19.99

$25.99 CAD

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Trade Paperback $19.99 $25.99 CAD
ebook $11.99 $15.99 CAD

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This practical, pocket-sized book is a beginner-friendly guide to the amazing birds you can find in the coastal areas of the Evergreen State.

Washington’s coast is teeming with scores of beautiful birds, and Birds of Coastal Washington will help you find them. This easy-to-use book will help you identify more than 100 commonly occurring birds that help make the Washington coast the natural wonder that it is. An emphasis on best practices and habitat sustainability help empower conservation and ensure that birding on the coast will be possible for years to come. Perfect for budding and experienced birders alike, this sleek and compact guide is the ideal travel companion for every trip to the coast.

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Best Little Book of Birds

Tamara Enz has worked as a biologist for the past 25 years. Formally trained as a plant biologist, she has spent more of her time studying birds than plants. From casual observation to serious research, central Maine to southern California and Arctic Alaska to central Missouri, Tamara’s work with birds has spanned the country. She has lived on the Oregon and Washington coasts and conducted bird surveys throughout the West.

Birds of Coastal Washington (Best Little Book of Birds)

Birding the Washington Coast

The Washington Coast, including the Pacific Ocean, Strait of Juande Fuca, Salish Sea, Puget Sound, nearly infinite coves, islands, and inlets, is said to run 3,026 miles from Canada to the Oregon border. A s a point of comparison, the longest straight-line distance across the United States is from Jupiter, Florida, to Ocean Creek, Washington, and is 2,802 miles long.

Spanning two ecoregions, from the Snow Geese of Skagit fields to the Snowy Plovers of Cape Disappointment, coastal habitats include prairies, forest, sandy beaches and dunes, rocky shores and cliffs, salt and freshwater wetlands, and estuaries.

Estuaries are important resources for many bird species throughout the year. Supplying food, cover, nesting, and roosting, the least disturbed estuaries in the Salish Sea and Puget Sound are the Skagit, Snohomish, Nisqually, and Stillaguamish Rivers. On the Pacific Coast, the dominant estuaries are the Chehalis River at Grays Harbor, the Willapa River, and, on the Oregon border, the colossal Columbia River.

Thirty-one of Washington state’s 75 Important Bird Areas are on the coast, from Semiahmoo Spit in the Salish Sea to Deception Pass in Puget Sound to Cape Disappointment overlooking the mouth of the Columbia River. Designated by the National Audubon Society, Important Bird Areas provide essential bird habitat during breeding, wintering, and migration. They also offer opportunities for birders to enjoy the species of the season, finding concentrations of birds not commonly found at other times.

Olympic National Park, numerous city and state parks, and national forests offer extensive public lands to explore. Innumerable urban and wildland trails, beaches, and quiet back roads are within reach of every town. The ferry system allows the otherwise landbound birder to easily get on the water and find a whole new habitat to delve into. The sheer length of coastline combined with variety of habitats, numerous estuaries, fresh- and saltwater, range of elevation and latitude, integrating with migratory flyways can provide near limitless birding opportunities. Choose a habitat, a season, a specific park, or a species of interest to spark a birding expedition. Slow down, enjoy the trip, and take time to appreciate the birds

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