Extremely Accurate Birds

Have you ever taken areallygood look at the bottom half of a bird? At long last, this birding guide from esteemed birder andNew Yorkercartoonist Tommy Siegel (author ofCandy Hearts) reveals the truth about the powerful legs and shapely rear ends that power our feathered friends to the skies! There's a reason brilliant naturalists from Audubon to Sibley have relied on illustration to bring birds to life on the page: Birds move remarkably fast and are often obscured by foliage; it would be nearly impossible to photograph them.

But birding enthusiast and comic artist Tommy Siegel noticed a theme in these artists' guides: Their renderings focustoo heavily on birds' wings and plumage while reducing their lower limbs to simple sticks. Could birds reallyachieve such varied feats of athleticism and migratory endurance if they had such rudimentary legs? Now, Tommy is poised to revolutionize the field of ornithology with his interpretation of how birds' beautiful legs and posteriors must truly appear (based on educated