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Sparrow Loves Birds
Author and ornithologist Murry Burgess is helping kids get outside.
© Courtesy of Murry Burgess
From an early age, urban ornithologist Murry Burgess loved to draw and tell stories – and that passion stayed with her as her love for birds grew as well. The joy Murry found in both art and science inspired her to write the children’s book Sparrow Loves Birds. The story follows the adventures of a curious 5-year-old girl named Sparrow as she meets her neighborhood birds. The book includes a field guide so that birders of all ages can learn to identify birds, too.
BirdNote®
Sparrow Loves Birds
Written by Ariana Remmel
This is BirdNote.
Growing up, Murry Burgess loved to read, draw and tell stories — and that passion stayed with her as her love for birds grew too. Now as an urban ornithologist, Murry wants to inspire a new generation to connect with nature.
Murry Burgess: I had a couple of books about animals, but I didn't have anything that represented who I was as a person. I'm a Black woman and I wanted to create something that encourages diverse groups of people that they can also do these activities, and just getting children into the path that I was kind of getting into.
So she wrote a children’s book about a little girl named Sparrow.
Murry Burgess: Sparrow is a super curious 5-year-old. She lives in a suburban kind of neighborhood and she loves to go outside and color and look at all of the birds and nature around her.
In her whimsical backyard adventures, Sparrow meets birds that many folks will be familiar with like mockingbirds…
[Northern Mockingbird]
…cardinals…
[Northern Cardinal]
…and, of course, sparrows!
[House Sparrows]
The book, called Sparrow Loves Birds, also includes a short field guide for birders of all ages.
Murry Burgess: I wanted to include some like tips and tricks for getting people started and wanted it to be as simple as they can just bring the book that they already have and go outside with no other equipment necessary.
Murry hopes Sparrow will encourage families to get outside and enjoy birds together wherever they are. You can learn more at our website, BirdNote dot org. I’m Jonese Franklin.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. House Sparrow ML211312851 recorded by Jay McGowan. Northern Mockingbird ML166628 recorded by Robert Bethel. Northern Cardinal ML100764 recorded by Wil Hershberger.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2025 BirdNote November 2025
Narrator: Jonese Franklin
ID# BurgessM-01-2025-11-28 BurgessM-01
Jonese Franklin
Narrator
Ariana Remmel
WriterSights & Sounds
