Northern Flicker — Photo by Uschi Carpenter
Resplendant Quetzal — Photo by Sophie Osborn
About WORDS FOR BIRDS
After years of working as a wildlife biologist helping birds through her field and policy work, Sophie Osborn now harnesses the power of words to raise awareness about threats to birds and to inspire conservation actions for birds. Sophie’s writings focus on bird natural history. With her signature storytelling style, Sophie seeks to enlighten and to entertain readers, as well as to motivate individuals to take action on behalf of birds.
Sophie and her beloved border collies, Tarn and Rowan, on Bear Creek in Montana. Photo by Lisa Koitzsch.
About Sophie A. H. Osborn
Sophie Osborn is a wildlife biologist, conservationist, and author. She received her B. A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her M. S. degree from the University of Montana. Sophie’s wildlife work has included the study and conservation of more than a dozen bird species in the Americas. She contributed to reintroduction efforts for several endangered birds, including as the field manager for the California Condor Recovery Program in Arizona. Her first book, Condors in Canyon Country, won numerous national and regional awards, including the 2007 National Outdoor Book Award for Nature and the Environment. Reviewers for the American Birding Association (ABA) chose her second book, Feather Trails: A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds, as their favorite bird book of 2024. Sophie also co-edited the short-story anthology Wild Work: Adventures of Women Field Biologists (publication date: Sep 1, 2026). Finally, she has written articles for Bird Conservation, BirdWatching, Birding, Wyoming Wildlife, and Sojourns magazines, and writes the Words for Birds blog on Substack.
Words for Birds Logo
Designed by Kira A. Cassidy, the Words for Birds logo includes a few of the birds with which Sophie has worked or about which she has written.
Kira is a wolf biologist, writer, and artist extraordinaire. She received her M.S. degree from the University of Minnesota, and has studied wolves in Yellowstone National Park and on Ellesmere Island. Kira works as a Research Associate for the Yellowstone Wolf Project, and lives in Gardiner, Montana, where she also paints phenomenal portraits of birds and other wildlife. She did the artwork for the anthology that Sophie co-edited, Wild Work: Adventures of Women Field Biologists, and contributed two stories.
Great Gray Owl — Photo by Uschi Carpenter
Uschi Photography
Uschi Carpenter is a nature, fine arts, and adventure photographer who lives in Missoula, Montana. Uschi is inspired by the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains and was trained by some of Montana’s finest master photography teachers. She has kindly allowed Words for Birds to use some of her luminous bird photos (those containing her watermark) to help promote the beauty of birds and the importance of bird conservation. To see more, please visit: https://www.uschiphotography.com/