It is the holiday gift buying season again, so in addition to promoting our newest travel guidebook 50 States of Great: Road Trip Guide to America, we decided to rank our favorite non-fiction books about wildlife. We did not realize how many we had read until we started researching other lists on the subject, so the competition was stiff. We focused on wildlife, not domesticated wild animals, so we left off three popular books: H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald, The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton, and Wesley the Owl by Stacey O’Brien. Click here to see all our Top 10 lists, including our Top 10 Gifts for National Park Lovers.
10. Lily Pond: Four Years with a Family of Beavers by Hope Ryden (1989)
A personal story that is enhanced by references to scientific studies on beavers
9. Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place by Terry Tempest Williams (1991)
Mostly autobiographical, this beautifully written tome is a love letter to Utah’s Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
8. Red Fox: The Catlike Canine by J. David Henry (1996)
Red foxes live almost everywhere in the U.S. having adapted to a wide variety of environments
7. A Beast the Color of Winter: The Mountain Goat Observed by Douglas H. Chadwick (1983)
North American mountain goats are the subject of this concise volume; Chadwick has also written The Wolverine Way (2010)
6. Heart and Blood: Living with Deer in America by Richard Nelson (1997)
Set mostly in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, this is an interesting perspective on a common mammal
5. Built for Speed: A Year in the Life of Pronghorn by John A. Byers (2003)
This book taught us so much about our backyard neighbors, from their predatory zygotes to their oversized hearts and lungs
4. Birdology: Adventures with Hip Hop Parrots, Cantankerous Cassowaries, Crabby Crows, Peripatetic Pigeons, Hens, Hawks, and Hummingbirds by Sy Montgomery (2010)
The first book we have read by prolific nature writer Sy Montgomery, but certainly not the last
3. The Rise of Wolf 8: Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone’s Underdog by Rick McIntyre (2019)
The first of a series that documents the dramatic lives of the reintroduced wolfpacks of Yellowstone National Park over the decades
2. Watch the Bear: A Half Century with the Brown Bears of Alaska by Derek Stonorov (2023)
One of the best books about bears ever written, it dispels myths based on a lifetime of close observation in Alaska
…and finally our #1 non-fiction book about wildlife:
1. Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds by Bernd Heinrich (1999)
Even if you know a lot about these fascinating and intelligent birds, you will learn something new. The obvious #1 choice for Raven About the Parks!
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Honorable Mentions
North American Tree Squirrels by Michael A. Steele and John L. Koprowski (2003)
Two researchers recount their studies on these frequently seen, but often misunderstood creatures
Wild in Arizona: Photographing Arizona’s Wildlife by Bruce D. Taubert (2016)
Incredible color photographs and expert tips on where to find wildlife in Arizona
Prairie Dogs: A Wildlife Handbook by Kim Long (2002)
A succinct look at this keystone species; we have also read the author’s equally good Squirrels: A Wildlife Handbook
The Social Lives of Animals by Ashley Ward (2022)
A biologist shares her personal experiences with wild animals across the globe
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey (2010)
Well-written and inspirational look at the often-overlooked wildlife that shares our daily existence
The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild by Craig Childs (2007)
Personal encounters with wild animals from the celebrated author of House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest (2007)
A Naturalist in Alaska by Adolph Murie (1961)
Set in Denali National Park, previously on our list of Top 10 Books Set in a National Park
Wildlife Watching in America’s National Parks: A Seasonal Guide by Gary W. Vequist and Daniel S. Licht (2013)
This useful guide was previously in our Top 10 Guidebooks to National Parks
Tracks of the Unseen: Meditations on Alaska Wildlife, Landscape, and Photography by Nick Jans (2000)
Previously in our Top 10 Non-Fiction Books Set in Alaska; Jans’ work is also included in the anthology Wild Moments: Adventures with Animals of the North (2009)
Know someone who loves National Parks? Gift them our travel guidebook A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s 63 National Parks.
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