Some spectacular birds turn the people who see them into birders. Others have a power even beyond that. Their unexpected appearance, special attributes, or sheer rarity attract birders to chase them, often forsaking all else. Sometimes the birders get their bird. Just as often, they miss. Succeed or fail, every birder gets a tale to tell. Come listen as Eli Knapp shares excerpts from his new book, The Delightful Horror of Family Birding. You’ll find out how birds teach us, inspire us, and best of all—become stories to share.

Eli J. Knapp, PhD, has had a fascination with wildlife ever since obsessively counting deer on his bus rides to school every morning as a kid.  His wildlife interests have put him into kayaks, hot air balloons, dilapidated land rovers, and many pairs of hiking boots in search of new species and experiences.  When not watching birds, Eli teaches courses in conservation biology, wildlife behavior, human ecology, and Swahili where he is a tenured professor of intercultural studies and biology at Houghton College, in western New York.  Each spring he takes 20-30 students to East Africa where he directs an annual study abroad semester.  His research interests spawn out of a three-year stint living in Serengeti National Park, where he studied the coexistence of people and wildlife around protected areas.  Eli now enjoys sharing nature with his wife and three children, and has chronicled his adventures in his first book: The Delightful Horror of Family Birding: Sharing Nature with the Next Generation (Torrey House Press)