Urban Roosts: Where Birds Nest in the City

by Barbara Bash

Describes the birds that make their homes in the heart of the city and examines how they have adjusted to such a harsh urban environment.

Genres: Birds, Picture Books, Animals, Nonfiction, Childrens, Science, Nature

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1990

About the author

Barbara Bash grew up in Barrington, Illinois and has worked for many years as a calligrapher, illustrator and teacher of book arts and botanical drawing. She currently lives in upstate New York.

Reviews

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t a scintillating telling but this non-fiction account is full of fascinating facts and wonderful illustrations. I love this author-illustrator’s “Tree Tales” books, and that’s the main reason I read this book. I have read two and I have two others at home from the library.

While it’s exhilarating to learn about these various birds and their ability to adapt to city living, I felt a tinge of sadness throughout the book. It’s made clear from the start that these birds are city dwellers because their natural habitats have been destroyed. I’d have loved double the illustrations, with one picture of each bird in its natural habitat paired with the various pictures of their urban roosts. But the illustrations that are there are big and bold, striking, beautiful, and informative.

I can see city kids reading this (or having it read to them) and then being observant and noticing birds in their neighborhoods.

This book is wonderful for independent readers and will also work well for reading aloud, within families, classrooms, and for other groups too.

I appreciate how the author did her research. She spent a year studying city birds in NYC. Her artwork is stellar. While the accounts of the birds are very straightforward, I found the information interesting and I think many children will enjoy learning the information in the book.

Pigeons, sparrows, finches, house wrens, barn owls, nighthawks, killdeers, barn swallows, chimney swifts, crows, starlings, snowy owls, and peregrine falcons are all featured.

Children (and adults) will learn that they don’t have to go out in the wilderness to find and view birds. I enjoyed the tree books a bit more than this one, but I think I’m more of a tree person than bird person. I did really like this. It’s a great idea for a book and it’s well executed.

I just checked this book’s Goodreads’ page and it definitely deserves to be more widely read and reviewed. I suspect many members have read it, but it’s an older book so perhaps they just haven’t thought to shelve it or don’t remember it well enough to rate and review it. Thanks to my Goodreads’ friend Abigail for alerting me to it.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children's natural history author and artist Barbara Bash, whose Tree Tales picture-book series explored the world of various arboreal species, turns here to the life of city birds, and the urban homes that they have created for themselves. From pigeons, who like to roost on window ledges, highway overpasses, and rooftops, to peregrine falcons, who nest on skyscrapers, the diverse range of birds profiled here have all learned to adapt themselves to a changing, increasingly urbanized environment.

Although I wouldn't say that I enjoyed Urban Roosts: Where Birds Nest in the City quite as much as Bash's Tree Tales, particularly Tree of Life: The World of the African Baobab (my favorite, of her books), I did find it engaging, and thought it was both informative and well illustrated. I'm always glad to run across books like this, which examine wildlife and nature in the city, as I think sometimes people assume (erroneously) that the two are mutually exclusive. This is one I would recommend to young ornithologists and nature-lovers. It can be paired with such titles as The Curious Garden , about the High-Line Park in NYC, or Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City , a picture-book biography of one of the most famous city birds of all.

[Srujan · Rating 5 out of 5]

With human encroachment into forest and decreasing habitable spaces for birds, birds in urban areas are a sight that makes me happy. Urban Roosts is simply perfect for spending a few minutes engrossed in the sheer ingenuity of these birds to find a habitable space for themselves and their young ones. They adapt to the concrete jungle by utilizing unconventional sites such as building ledges, street signs, and even traffic lights. It is not surprising to see birds fly in and out of streetlights and damaged traffic poles. They cleverly exploit eaves, gutters, chimneys, and even window ledges as nesting sites. Needing warmth and security are basic needs and reading the book made me appreciate how hard it is for them to raise their young out there like that. Lovely read, would enthusiastically recommend this to parents and children above 5 years. <3

[Jennifer E. Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be a great addition to a collection for a unit on habitats or birds, or read just for curiosity's sake. I love the detailed illustrations and the many facts about birds living in American cities.

[wildct2003 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative with good illustrations

[Meagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative; nice illustrations.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've owned this book since my student teaching days and it is still relevant to urban watchers of birds. We don't read this often anymore but we did when Bea was younger.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was really interesting and beautifully illoed.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

1) No awards
2) Ages 6-9
3) Urban Roosts is a cute children's book that describes all the places where birds can be found in the city. The book also explains why the birds rest in these places. Whether it is because of what they eat or to stay warm.
4) I thought this was a really great informational book because it introduces many types of birds. It also explains why and where the birds settle in a certain place. This can be a great book to teach the circle of life because of what the different types of birds prey on.
5) This book can be used in class to introduce the theme of birds. Students can research additional information on these birds as a class assignment.