Having spent parts of my life in the worlds of academic biochemistry, the medical device business, and ornithology, I know only too well how much those who dwell in these fields love to use jargon. In some cases, the jargon provides a more succinct way to describe an observation (it is easier to say that the Common Nighthawk is largely crepuscular than to say it is most active in the twilight of evening and early morning). On the other hand, if you saw a Bald Eagle steal a fish from an Osprey, you are just showing off if you insist, in polite conversation, on saying that the eagle kleptoparasitized the Osprey. Use of such terms can create a barrier to those just getting interested in birds and ornithology. Leahy’s earlier tomes, The Birdwatcher’s Companion (1982) and The Birdwatcher’s Companion to North American Birdlife (2004), provided a source for those of all levels of interest to translate our ornithological jargon into plain English. These books also provided a fairly exhaustive treatment of many aspects of the field, including the history and personalities that shaped ornithology in North America. In many ways, one can consider Birdpedia a “sampler” from those larger books. Indeed, in his preface Leahy refers to this book as a “teaser,” with the intent to turn a “nagging curiosity into a compelling fascination … with the natural world.” In this sense, the target reader is likely someone who birds and is becoming more interested in understanding the world of birds more broadly and deeply