About the Author:

 Jim Burns is an outdoor writer/photographer based in Scottsdale, Arizona. He graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in English literature and became hooked on birding while backpacking with his wife, Deva, trying to place proper labels on the birds they were seeing along the trail.

Along the trail toward his goal of seeing all of North America's bird species, he became involved with bird photography as a means of slowing down, observing more carefully, and learning bird behavior. Jim's articles and photographs have appeared in Birder's World, Birding, Outdoor Photography, and Valley Nature. His previous book, North American Owls: Journey through a Shadowed World, was published by Willow Creek Press in 2004. He writes a regular birding column, Bird Is a Verb, for the Arizona Republic. Jim also writes photo quizzes and leads field trips for the Maricopa Audubon Society in Phoenix and has developed an education program on North American owls for elementary school students. His most recent photographic project was the Audubon Arizona 2008 calendar. He says that his fascination with and stories about owls are limitless, so he is currently at work on another book of his owl experiences. "It is mandatory that those of us who love nature pay it forward to the uninitiated so that future generations may experience and love it as we do:”