(Published in Sept. 2004)

Books Appeal to All Species of Birders
Selling more bird books means picking the right selection and setting up the right displays
By Scott and Ann Springer

Birders love books. The more their interest grows in the hobby, the more their book shelf becomes cluttered with regional bird guides and how-to books on topics such as attracting hummingbirds and building a more space-effective feeder.

Books can add an educational element to any wild bird shop, but books can also take up a lot of shelf space. "Every store decides for themselves how much space it is able to give to books," says Rob Blackhurst, owner of Backyard Birds in Salt Lake City, Utah. "There are the major books on birding that every shop should have, and from there it depends on how specific a shop wants to get."

Since space is at a premium, retailers can maximize space and sales by knowing what books are available and what their customers want to buy. Certainly, choices in wildbird books abound.

"I've been a professional naturalist for 25 years and there used to only be a couple of books on the market," says John Schaust, chief naturalist for Wild Bird Unlimited in Carmel, Ind. "Now there is a plethora of books available."

Selecting Books, Books, and More Books
If your store has limited square footage, you should stick to the basics. "The most essential book is a field guide," says Amy Hooper, editor of Wild Bird magazine of Bowtie Inc. in Irvine, Calif. Field guides are small, simplified, and easy-to-use manuals for bird beginners that may be specific to a region of the country. "A field guide in hand is essential for quickly identifying an unfamiliar species," Hooper says.

Not all of your bird-watching customers are beginners, of course. You must carry a wide selection of books to accommodate more skilled hobbyists, too. "Books benefit all birders," Hooper says. "They share information that we cannot gather through our own birding experiences and prepare us for outings by showing what the likely-to-be-seen species look like."

Be sure you know which birds are native to your store's area so you can stock books that match your region. One of the worst mistakes you can make is to load up on too many general wildbird books and miss out on customers looking for resources on a specific bird.

"Experienced birders who have been attracting Purple Martins and have been feeding birds for years would want a Purple Martins book," says Emily Hiatt, public relations coordinator at Hiatt Manufacturing in Winona, Minn. "Customers with experience in feeding know which birds come to their area, and it is important to them to get that extra level."

Blackhurst says his most popular guide is one that highlights birds found in his home state of Utah. "We sell dozens in a month," he says. "In our store, the majority of people are buying books to increase their knowledge about birding and to give them more information about what they are seeing."

As much as birding can be an addictive and competitive hobby, book buying can be so also. "It's exciting for people to see birds come to their feeder and the excitement is in finding out what birds they are," Hiatt says. "It's fun to learn, and having the book is a natural addition to that."

Know Your Customer Base
It is important to know your customer base well. "There are books aimed at children and books written for adults who have been birding for years," Hooper says. "The degree of focus and amount of detail in these books varies incredibly and accommodates birders of all ages and skill."

Many beginner guides, especially those for children, are color-coded to make finding a red-winged bird on a backyard bird bath easier to locate for a young customer. "Every page has lots of pictures and it sticks with the main birds rather than getting into species that look alike," Hiatt says. "If you flip to the red section, it shows all of the birds that are red in color."

Bird enthusiasts are always looking for new converts to their hobby, and some may be shopping in your store for gifts for friends. "We sell a lot of books as gifts," Blackhurst says. Blackhurst offers gift wrapping to his customers as an added way to boost sales. "Our customers love it," he says.

Retailers may order kits from the manufacturer or package beginners guides with feeders to create an easy-to-give gift. "We provide the feeders, seed, accessories and books," Hiatt says. "Anyone who is getting into the hobby can go home that day and know they can start attracting birds right away."

Get the Word Out
Whether your store is roomy or restricted in space, your wildbird books should be well displayed to guarantee superior sales and aesthetics. "The display that will catch the most interest is well-organized," Blackhurst says. "You should have some books with the cover facing out so it is appealing to look at."

Because Blackhurst is short on space, he is diligent in keeping his staff up to date on what books are in stock on the store's shelves. "We always have recommendations of books depending on what their needs are," Blackhurst says.

Paul Wright recommends freeing up your space with flexible wall shelving. "We can expand it as things come out and contract it due to lack of sales of certain items," says Wright, the owner of Wild Bird Center in Akron, Ohio. Wright has tried traditional shelving methods "but you are so inflexible when you are locked down to a confined area," he says.

Expandable shelves also make it easier on customers' eyes. "A store is not like a library where you are looking for titles," Wright says. "These books are very colorful and when you see the cover it attracts more people than trying to look at the spine, where you just see the title."

Publishing companies may also provide shelving or display items to help boost sales. Hiatt Publishing offers a compact shelving unit that hangs on the side of a shelf or on a wall. "The books are compact and it displays them nicely," Hiatt says.

Small, educational items and books may be used in displays at the register where they can fit in a small space. "We carry flashcard-type items, trail guides, and laminated pocket guides that fold accordion-style that people can take hiking," says Blackhurst.

Wright prefers to display a favorite book by a local author near the register where it is within arm's reach of would-be buyers. "We can talk to our customers about it and say, ‘This is so and so and she's from Akron and she has written this book and it is good reading,'" he says.

Remember that book buying is a natural next step to bird watching. "It's a peaceful thing to be able to sit at your table in the morning to look out and see birds in your yard," Wright says. "It starts off with just looking, then you get a book to see what bird it is, then you get more interested in that bird, then you need a better book, and then you get binoculars to see the bird better. It's a domino effect."

Scott and Ann Springer are freelance writers living in Southern California.