Identification:
Always found as a pair. Male: 6' 2", brown-haired, blue-eyed. Female: 5' 5", blond -haired, green-eyed. Immature plumage unknown. Age to maturity, still to be determined.

Courtship:
Pair bonding took place 20 years ago at Massachusetts Audubon Society when Lillian enrolled in a course on Bird Behavior taught by Don.

Habitat:
Found in a variety of outdoor habitats throughout the U.S., always found near lots of birds. Sometimes found indoors sitting at computers.

Other Behavior:
Constantly wear binoculars and can be seen looking at birds and nature. Also can be seen photographing birds. Migrates in winter from Massachusetts to Florida. Returns in spring to Massachusetts. Associates with canine species (Pembroke Welsh corgi, Daisy).

Biography:
Don and Lillian Stokes are the nation's most prominent and widely respected authorities on birds and have been called America's "first couple" of birdwatching. They have written 23 books on birds and nature, including such bestsellers as Stokes Field Guide to Birds, Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds, and Stokes Birdfeeder Book, and have sold about 4 million copies. They have also produced Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs: Eastern Region, with Lang Elliot, and Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs: Western Region, with Kevin Colver.

For 20 years they have been teaching people all across the nation about birds and nature, and have written for all of the major nature publications. Don and Lillian are popular lecturers and are often keynote speakers at bird festivals and events throughout the country. They are members of numerous bird clubs and ornithological organizations. In addition to their writing they are active bird photographers.

Their mutual love of birds is what brought them together in the first place. Both were introduced to nature as children and that attachment blossomed as adults. Don began a career as a nature writer. Lillian studied raptors and was an avid hawkwatcher before she met Don. Fortuitously, Lillian decided to enroll in a class on Bird Behavior at Massachusetts Audubon Society. The instructor turned out to be Don Stokes. The rest is history.

Don and Lillian have expanded their endeavors beyond publishing to include a television career. In 1997 they created, co-produced, and hosted the first country's first birdwatching television series on PBS, BirdWatch with Don and Lillian Stokes, which was seen on over 300 PBS stations. They have gone on to create a brand new national, weekly, public television series called Stokes Birds At Home, which begins a new season in January 2001.

Don and Lillian live in Massachusetts in summer and Sanibel, Florida in winter. In Masachusetts they have created a 5-acre bird sanctuary that has attracted over 140 bird species, 36 of which nested there. They have large perennial bird gardens, an open meadow with nesting bluebirds and tree swallows, wetlands and mixed woodlands. Their beautiful garden has been featured on Good Morning America and written up numerous times in the Boston Globe and other publications. A portion of each episode of Stokes Birds At Home will be filmed on their property.