Identify and learn about over two hundred and fifty birds of the Sierra Nevada. From tiniest hummingbirds to condors with nine-foot wingspans; from lower-elevation wrens to the rasping nutcrackers of the High Sierra; from urban House Sparrows to wild water-loving American Dippers, Hansen's Field Guide to the Birds of the Sierra Nevada showcases artist-naturalist Keith Hansen's sixteen-year project to illustrate the birds of the Sierra Nevada. Paired with stunningly detailed portraits is text informed by decades of birding experience--prose that while firmly grounded in expertise will nonetheless delight readers with its whimsy, allusion, and affection. Take the Bufflehead: 'A diminutive and endearing diving duck,' which moves 'with spirited abandon.' Or the 'scrappy and antagonistic' Merlin, 'holding dominion over winter skies, tormenting eagles, hawks, and vultures alike.' The White-tailed Kite is 'angelic in poise, a streamlined bird of unblemished tailoring'; the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher sports a black eye-to-eye brow, imparting a 'Frida Kahlo-like stare.' This book is the field guide companion to the Birds of the Sierra Nevada: Their Natural History, Status, and Distribution, also coauthored by Edward C. Beedy and illustrated by Keith Hansen.