For the Birds

His best-selling Guide made David Allen Sibley America's most famous birder. Can he turn millions of followers into conservationists?

New York City's Central Park may be surrounded by skyscrapers and enveloped in smog, but it is still a paradise for bird watchers. The May migration brings flocks of exotic species to this urban oasis--avian counterparts to the out-of-towners who crowd Times Square and Broadway. The high point is "Warbler Week," the perfect time for 15 bird lovers from the National Audubon Society to go on an early-morning expedition with David Allen Sibley, 39, author of the best-selling Sibley Guide to Birds (Knopf; $35) and, since the death of Roger Tory Peterson five years ago, America's most famous birder.

Leading the...

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