I think most birders are going to see this book sooner or later. Fifty Places to Go Birding Before You Die is going to find a prominent spot at the neighborhood Borders or Barnes and Noble, and your non-birding family members and friends will buy you a copy as a gift. Its author, Chris Santella, has had success with the format, having also written Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, Fifty Places to Play Golf Before You Die, and Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die. I am reminded of the series of books “For Dummies,” and also of the sad truth that in our country any successful idea will get repeated and copied well beyond reason.
I don’t think Santella is a birder, though he doesn’t pretend to be one. Instead he interviews a rather random assortment of experts about places they like to go birding. Some really are experts – Dr. Pamela C. Rasmussen suggests areas in India, a region of her expertise, and Kenn Kaufmann and David Sibley are also interviewed, choosing areas in Ecuador and Spain, respectively. But the red flags were raised when I read that the Cape May “expert” was a book editor from New York, no doubt a colleague of the author. The Cape May chapter has the World Series of Birding as its focus, though the “expert” admits to never having actually participated in the event. Delaware Bay is mistakenly referenced as the Chesapeake Bay at one point, and the peak of raptor migration is listed as October and November; excuse me, but what about September? Not only is this chapter inaccurate, it’s not even very enticing. If I didn’t know anything about Cape May, I wouldn’t want to visit after reading this.
A number of experts are professional tour guides, and the always too-brief “If You Go” section of those chapters simply promotes their tours. These are thinly disguised advertisements. The selection of destinations seems completely random. Some effort was made to include areas all around the globe (though Antarctica is omitted), and there’s no arguing that all of the included places would be fun to visit, but this wouldn’t be any birder’s “top fifty” list. In the Iceland chapter, the expert is even quoted as saying the chosen location, “May not be the most fabulous place in Iceland to find a ton of different bird species, but it’s a great place to hike and has spectacular scenery.” I love to hike and see great scenery, but why should those qualities place a location on this list?
It seems clear that this book was slapped together by a non-birder without much effort to check the facts. Not many birders are going to buy this book for themselves. It is a pretty book, however, with many nice photos, and the gimmicky title will get the book noticed. When you receive it as a gift you’ll no doubt spend a little time glancing through it. You may even discover some cool places you didn’t know about — But then it will find its way to a shelf (or the basket of books and magazines in the bathroom) and be quickly forgotten.
Quick now, somebody write the next one: Fifty Birds to See Before You Die. Get the right photos and you’re sure to sell a bunch.
Santella, Chris. Fifty Places to Go Birding Before You Die: Birding Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations. New York, Stewart, Tabori & Chang. 222 pages, $24.95 hardcover. ISBN: 978-1-58479-629-9.