He's illustrated hundreds of book covers, including a great many Star Trek novels.
Unfortunately, in recent years, the publisher seems to have moved away from original art like Birdsong's and now prefers what appears to be photomanipulations.
Take a look at the Star Trek shelf the next time you visit a mainstream book retailer, and you'll see what I mean. I don't like these new covers; they feel cheap and rushed. I much prefer Birdsong's painstaking acrylics—they perfectly capture the likeness of the actors, but they have a glowing softness about them that just feels nicer than the grit and grain of the photos.
I suppose that, contra to what I said earlier about book-to-film adaptation covers, I don't necessarily object to seeing actors on the cover of a book. After all, in a novelization, the TV show has already informed me what the characters look like, and it's simply not possible to form a mental image of Jean-Luc Picard that isn't Sir Patrick Stewart. All I ask is that the designer put a little effort into it.
