Happy National Audubon Day! Today, we’re celebrating the birds and the bugs of the world, as well as the important part they play in ecosystems big and small.

Honoring ornithologist and painter John James Audubon, Audubon Day is dedicated to promoting bird conservation efforts. In turn, this includes the protection of insects and larvae, their most vital food source!

The following books are all wonderful titles for learning about birds, bugs, and the conservation of both. Take today to learn a little bit about the critters in your backyard, and how you and your young readers can help them to thrive.

Extreme Birdwatching: Measuring Change on a Galápagos Island by Loree Griffin Burns, illus. by Jamie Green

What’s Inside A Bird’s Nest?: And Other Questions About Nature & Life Cycles by Rachel Ignotofsky

Because of a Bee by Lola M. Schaefer, illus. by Frenci Sanna

Factology: Birds by Button Books

Buzz: A Family Guide to Bugs and Bees and How to Spot Them by Richard “Bugman” Jones, illus. by Sara Boccaccini Meadows

Odd Bugs: Meet Nature’s Weirdest Insects by Laura Gehl, illus. by Gareth Lucas

Big thanks to MIT Kids Press, Candlewick Press, Dragonfly Books, Random House Children’s Books, Chronicle Kids, Button Books, Magic Cat Publishing, ABRAMS Appleseed, and ABRAMS Kids for copies of these books!