In For the Birds: An Artist's Aviary, artist and conservationist Alex Beard celebrates birds around the world and how "birds are there to remind us of the natural world, to pique our curiosity, and free us from the mundane." While his paintings are as varied as the birds they depict, Beard uses distinctive techniques throughout--bold swirls and strokes to form the attachment point of a tucked wing on a goldfinch and the plumage spreading from the neck of a colorful nicobar pigeon. Birds are grouped ornithologically and artistically, and each section opens with a simple poem, like one about the company of a woodpecker on a forest walk. Illustrations presented against a stark background are interspersed with two-page spreads and nods to Beard's artistic process--such as swatches of color above a half-page confusion of guinea fowl, and a brief meditation on loons that ties memories of childhood summers to Beard's travels as an adult. This vibrant collection is full of life and movement, and is a true celebration of the world's avian inhabitants. --Kristen Coates, editor and freelance reviewer