Silly little book about silly little birds. I giggled a few times and will probably look at some of these birds in the wild and laugh.

A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever

This was a really funny and silly book.

Having read his other two books (The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America and The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of the Whole Stupid World), I felt it was a great addition to his series of books on birds.

Matt has a great way of writing humor and I was constantly finding myself laughing throughout the book.

This one, I especially enjoyed his funny naming of the birds, as well as giving them a rating on various qualities of annoyance or questionable traits.

I would very much recommend reading this book if you are interested in having a laugh while still learning about common orinthological terms and birds.

Check it out!

4.8/5

proceed with caution! not so much because of the cursing, but because i almost ruptured a lung from how hard i laughed at this book.

i went in fairly ambivalent about most birds but willing to have my mind changed. Matt Kracht (and the fantastic narrator, Patrick Lawlor) has gotten me completely onside as a hater of the most useless, pathetic birds the world has to offer. i’ll be using the PIGs (Psycho Impact Groups), BUMMR (Bird Universal Mathematics, Modeling and Ranking) system and the, frankly revolutionary, FUKR (Framework for Universal Karmic Ratings) system to dutifully categorize all my local shithead birds.

if you’ve ever felt your bird insults were lacking, then this is the book for you. my bird insult repertoire has never been more robust!

A Dumb Birds Field Guide To the Worst Birds Ever, is the third book in The Dumb Birds series by Matt Krachtt instead of focusing on certain regions, in this book the author focuses on everywhere from Asia to Australia America and the Europe. He talks about all types of birds the reasons they’re annoying the way they like to impress others and he even rates them on everything from dumbness likability and even taste. What they get rated on changes from bird to bird or section to section in the rating system really makes no sense but only adds to the lol moments included in this funny but informational book. He talks about all kinds of birds from big old ostriches to itty-bitty hummingbirds to the tiny woodpecker only found in Scotland to those who like to dive bomb in those who can’t fly at all. He really did a great job picking the narrator for these books because OMG the super sarcastic and hilarious Patrick Lawler gave another awesome performance. I love these books and this is a fast fun read and I would definitely suggest you get the audiobook because as I said the sarcasm of the narrator makes it that much funnier. I do want to say however throughout the whole book I was laughing along but for some reason I felt so bad for the dumb ostrich. shame on you Mr. Kracht… Lol! if you love humorous books and only have a passing fascination with birds you should still definitely get this book I highly recommend it and totally loved it! Can’t wait for the next one. #NetGalley, #TantorAudio, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview,#MattKracht,#ADumbBirdsFieldGuideToTheWorstBirdsEver,

Unfortunately, this book was a flop for me. Right from the start, the author bombards the reader with foul language, including the use of GD. While I don’t usually shy away from books with strong language, this one felt excessive.

Beyond that, I didn’t find the book funny as intended—the tone came across as more condescending than humorous. It just didn’t click with me, and I ended up DNFing early on. I can see how this might appeal to others, but I don’t think this author’s style is for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Tantor Audio, for the opportunity to listen and review this advanced copy.

A hilarious book!! The audiobook narrator delivers every single word with perfect comedic timing. Unfortunately, as a non-native English speaker with little interest in birds, I had to look up most of the birds once we got to the descriptions, so a physical copy of the book with pictures would have been better for me. Nevertheless, highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review!

As a birding enthusiast, I was entertained by this audio book. I am glad I got it on audio since the narrator was very talented on making the jokes land. Not sure if it would be the same if I had read it. I give this book a 3.5/5 stars

A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever by Matt Kracht is narrated by Patrick Lawlor to hilarious effect.

This guide will give you the scoop on the absolute WORST birds. You'll get info on their appearance, where they live, what weird noises they make, what they eat (and in some cases what eats them), you'll even get a so-so avian anatomy lesson and learn way more than you ever wanted to know about bird feet!

We'll learn about birds from all over the world... but they won't be categorized by region, no. That would be far too easy. In this guide, our feathered frenemies are grouped in accordance with *checks notes* "their primary effect on the human psyche" which is fancy talk for how much and in what way they annoy the author.

Once in their proper groups, the birds are ranked using Kracht's Bird Universal Mathematical Modeling and Ranking system or BUMMR. The absolute inconsistency of the BUMMR ratings was kind of spectacular.

I laughed a lot, I learned some cool sh*t, I was excited that Another Hummingbird was included. They are my very favorite birds!

I highly recommend this audiobook if you're in need of a good laugh and not opposed to learning a little something about the natural world in the process.

This book by Matt Kracht is hysterical although I listened to the audio book, I'd recommend reading the actual book because there are illustrations I obviously couldn't see. Patrick Lawlor is an absolute star reading this book. He gets indignant, furious and disgustingly descriptive over birds abilities to hide or fly away just as you've lined up the perfect photo and how they 'crap' indiscriminately on cars and decks, eating garbage, singing constantly and some birds propensity to use other birds nest to lay their eggs so they don't have the work of raising their own, eating baby birds along with a pretty strange diet. These are just a few examples in the book. Its a short book but filled with so much information I'm not apt to forget
The book was certainly full of " fowl" language which for the most part didn't bother me until he used G** damn so often. Just find another curse word. There are plenty to be had. I learned a great deal about birds and I'm not certain that's Mr. Krachts purpose. Make it funny and you remember more.
Mr. Krachts uses a BUMMER rating. As an example: Magnolia Bungler. Common name Magnolia Warbler: brains, not applicable; looks, too much yellow; construction skills 0.3; all that warbling -14.0; bird watchability-13.7. Every bird has this rating and also a Star rating, how they mate, lay their eggs, where their territory is. Lots of information.
I was given this book by Negalley for my honest review. Thank you.

This is so dumb but that is the point. I actually learned a lot from this book though. I laughed a lot. This was great.

Although I loved the narrator of this short audiobook, I did not like the book itself very much. There was too little actual information in it to satisfy those interested in birds and the snark was funny for the first two examples, but then became repetitive in my opinion.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Do you like to birdwatch, but roll your eyes at the seemingly superior-to-you watchers? Or maybe you hate birds, but have no way discern which stupid bird is worse than the other...? Maybe just in the mood for something to tickle your funny bone?

Never fear, Matt Kracht is here for you with A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever.

As a newbie to bird watching, I found Kracht's other guides to be highly entertaining and actually quite useful for my bird knowledge recall. This guide was no different, with the hilarity, absurdism notched even further up the dial, breaking down THE WORST birds with an unmatched rating system. I think the key to Kracht's success is that, he takes what some may see as a mundane activity, but opens the door to a broad audience with his memorable descriptions and fantastic insults (yes, for me, this is a total win). The imagery that comes with Kracht's descriptions in unmatched, and I'd love to see some Audubon-esque merch with Kracht's descriptions ASAP :)

This audiobook was a delight with the author also assuming narration duties--and Kracht's sarcasm and pacing make this a low-barrier, easy read--and one you can jump in an out of chapters, or finish in a sitting. At 1x, the book clocks in at around the 4 hour mark, but if you're like me, you'll appreciate that the book is still an easy listen at 1.5-2.0x listening speeds.

Hilarious, surprisingly informative--I sure do love when we make learning fun. Even about goddamn birds,

Thanks NetGalley and Chronicle Books for this ARC Audiobook.


This one had me actually LOLing as I filled the bird feeders around my home.

This is a fun avian compendium that is the perfect bathroom read for any blue-collar household. Although I only listened to the audiobook, I can imagine the physical book hopefully had photos included, and would likely be just as enjoyable, if not more, than the audio version.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by Matt Kracht. Well done!

Recommended to lovers of satire, non-fiction and fiction alike, and avian enthusiasts in general.

(I received this ALC via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you.)

Highly entertaining and lighthearted book about birds. I listened to the Audiobook and, while that was entertaining I definitely feel like I only read half of the book. The birds that I knew what they looked like in my head were a lot more entertaining than the birds I did not. I will be picking up the book so that I can see the pictures of these birds.

Overall, this was enjoyable. I don't know that I would recommend the audiobook version but not for any negative reason about the narrator or the book. I just think this is a book that is better enjoyed as a hard copy so you can see the birds being referenced!

Having birds myself, I can confirm that they are definitely assholes. Patrick Lawlor's narration brought Matt Kracht's A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever to life, and, although this wasn't a typical book, it was intriguing. Not only was this educational, but it was absolutely hilarious and spot-on. If you ever need a quick laugh after a hard day, this book is for you. I plan on purchasing the physical book, which will be perfect on my coffee table.

I appreciate Tantor Studio and NetGalley for the ARC of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

I was hoping to learn some from this quick audiobook, but I don't know if audio was the best format for it. There were a lot of quick facts that were hard to keep track of. Also, I didn't like Kracht's humor. It just came across grumpy and like he hated birds and hated writing this book. Maybe this one just wasn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook. I had already read and enjoyed the print version a lot, so I was excited about this. The topic is obviously hilarious and I love the sly observations about birds and how awful they are. Birds are beautiful and interesting, and this is all in good fun.
It turns out that I actually enjoy the audiobook more than the print version, because the narrator is so hilariously sarcastic. I decided that I'm going to listen to this when I'm tired or annoyed, because it's a guaranteed laugh.

Do not listen to this audiobook in public if you don’t want to be arrested for disturbing the peace. It made me laugh out loud. It is a very short, hilarious and informative read about some of the birds that the author finds especially annoying. I wasn’t sure that this was for me, considering I love animals and kept wondering whether he really, really meant it when the author said he hates birds. Obviously, this should be taken with a grain of salt. I loved how he describes the birds’ behavior and habits. It is not a scientific book but it does teach you a thing or two. Patrick Lawlor is the perfect narrator. He is very funny and really sounds annoyed. I enjoyed this so much, that I have already downloaded the previous two volumes. I highly recommend it to bird lovers, people with a funny bone and anyone who doesn’t mind “fowl” language.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Tantor Audio.

This is the first book in this series that I've read, and I have to say, it's convinced me to track the others down, because this was just pure, hilarious delight! An audiobook might not be the most practical way to use this book, if you're actually looking to use it for bird watching, but listening to it was a delightful experience - I found myself perpetually smiling and even laughed out loud more than a few times.

I imagine this as a cantankerous curmudgeon-type's way to trick you into becoming an enthusiastic bird watcher. Hate is not the opposite of love, after all...something the two have in common, in fact, is obsession, as this book clearly demonstrates.

I think this volume is also a good test on another universal cliche here: is all press good press? In this case, I would argue that yes, this silly yet informative book about some of the most annoying and ridiculous birds of the world will make you more aware of the sounds drifting through your window. It may even pique your interest enough to peek out at the source of the cacophony.

This was funny!

I had a really great time with this audiobook and was surprised to find my self laughing to while listening to this book. The narrator was fantastic and brought so much humour to Matt Kracht's witty writing. The best way I could describe the experience is, I felt like I was listening to an older brother talk about his annoying younger siblings.
I need the physical book now so I can re read this and highlight my favourite lines!
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!