This is a book, in two volumes, about the natural history of all of the 450+ species of birds that have ever been positively documented in Essex County, Massachusetts through 2022. The author has given the history for all species and the breeding biology of the species that breed in the county, and from there has gone on to write whatever seems particularly notable or interesting about the bird in question: taxonomy, songs and calls, behavioral characteristics, etc. A complete update of Charles Wendell Townsend's 1905 and 1920 The Birds of Essex County, Massachusetts, this is a book to treasure, to read bit by bit as your circumstances dictate. It contains a comprehensive introduction, a checklist of the county’s birds, and an extensive bibliography at the end of volume 2.
Jim is generously donating the proceeds from the book to Essex County Greenbelt. Greenbelt protects natural land and working farms across Essex County forever, helping to conserve healthy ecosystems, clean water, local food supplies, scenic landscapes and free, accessible places for all to benefit from nature.