Bill Thompson III is the editor of Bird Watcher's Digest. His most recent book is "The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America". He is also the author of Bird Watching For Dummies, and author of 18 different state bird watching books in the Bird Watching: A Year-Round Guide series from Cool Springs Press. He was the lead author for Identify Yourself: The 50 Most Common Birding Identification Challenges published by Houghton Mifflin. He was the editor of All Things Reconsidered: My Birding Adventures by Roger Tory Peterson. He writes the Bill of the Birds blog and creates regular a podcast for bird watchers called This Birding Life. He is an avid birder and musician and travels widely performing, speaking, leading field trips, and consulting on ecotourism for birding festivals and nature events around the world. In 2008 Bill was awarded a Service Citizen Award from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for his contributions in making the National Wildlife Refuge system more bird and birder-friendly. He was also awarded the Robert Ridgway Award for Excellence in Ornithological Publications from the American Birding Association.