In this excerpt from her recently published book, Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay, Julie Zickefoose shares one of the many lessons the young, orphaned Jemima taught her: No one needs to teach a jay how to be a jay. Buy the book at Redstart Birding.com »

The sighting of a hardy little chickadee is sure to brighten even the coldest winter day. Bird ID guru Alvaro Jaramillo distinguishes between North America’s five most-common chickadee species and tells where to find them.

Those who ask Al Batt about the absence of meadowlarks are given possible reasons why they don’t see them as often as they once did and told where they might still find them. But he can easily find special meadowlarks in his memories.