Reviews (3)

Stunning Photos!
Of course, everyone loves the feisty, peppy hummingbird with it's glorious colors.This book shows details that the average birdwatcher never sees.The close up photos, some in action sequence, are a delight and there are pictures even showing the nests made of cobwebs, feathers and lichens.
Unbelievable photography
This book conains the most amazing photography imaginable (the authors' companion book Hummingbirds of the Caribbean is just as wonderful).Dazzling colors and awesome stopped-action shots. I can't imagine how it was done.

Highest praise
The wife and husband team of Esther and Robert Tyrrell logged over 30,000 miles of travel to photograph and document the 16 species of North American hummingbirds.Using his own special high-speed strobe techniques, Roberthas photographed the tiny colorful birds in a variety of activities flying,perching, and nesting.The book contains over 200 amazing photographs,reproduced in dazzling color.In her text, Esther has culled informationfrom hundreds of sources and provides a comprehensive and well-writtenoverview of the birds' anatomy and behaviors.A must for any bird lover! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Hummingbirds    4. Individual Species Of Birds    5. Nature / Field Guide Books    6. Nature/Ecology    7. North America    8. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (6)

Extremely informative, with excellent photography
I though this was an excellent resource for identifying hawks in flight. The photos are very informative, and attractive as well. The guide is, in my opinion, very comprehensive and extremely well written.

Hawks from Every Angle
A super-useful reference guide that goes well with HAWKS IN FLIGHT -- and actually I would probably look at this one first. Photographs and text both contain a lot of helpful information to assist in raptor identification -- though the "pitfalls" shots make it clear that not every bird will be identifiable.
another mistitled hawk book
If you're looking for a book that covers all the raptors that regularly occur in North America, forget it. A more honest title would've been 'Raptors of Northeastern Hawkwatch Sites.' Even then, northeastern hawkwatchers won't find Harris' Hawk in the book. The raptors Liguori does cover are done well, by and large, and I was particularly impressed with the treatments of both Harlan's Hawk and the Northern Harrier. But if you live in the West, as I do, you'll find the book less useful than the title suggests. Get yourself a Clark and Wheeler--it'll serve you much better. I'm looking forward to that frabjous day when hawkwatchers will escape their eastern bias, and discover that we have hawks in the West too. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds & Birdwatching - General    2. Falconiformes    3. Flight    4. Identification    5. Life Sciences - Zoology - Ornithology    6. Nature    7. Nature / Field Guide Books    8. Nature/Ecology    9. North America    10. Pictorial works    11. Biological Sciences    12. Birds & birdwatching    13. Birds (ornithology)    14. Birds and Natural History    15. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (14)

excellent for beginning and intermediate birders
The alphabetical indexing is excellent for those who have not mastered the taxanomic order as found in most lists and books.The presentation of the song before the identification is useful in honing ones ears.Would like it to be longer than the ~110 species presented.

By far the best bird song training & reviewguide
This is an outstanding CD for learning bird songs.Each song starts with the bird song and then the narrator describes the song and provides a short phrase or description that aids you with identifying it, followed again with the essence of the song.This format allows you to quiz yourself.I bought my first copy two years ago and have bought 5 more to give to friends since then.Everyone has commented that its a great guide.I own several other guides including Birding by Ear and More Birding by Ear and this is by far my favorite.

Highly recommended & exactly what I was looking for.
The CD arrived in the mail yesterday, and I've listened to it once all the way through.The bird songs were recorded in Wisconsin and I live in Connecticut, and I recognized most of the songs as ones I had heard near my house, so it seems that birds selected for inclusion on the CD are widespread enough to make the CD useful for most of the eastern US.
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Subjects:  1. Birds & Birdwatching - General    2. Life Sciences - Zoology - Ornithology    3. Nature    4. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Reference    7. Audio Adult: Other    8. Birds & Birdwatching    9. Birdsongs    10. Identification    11. Midwest    12. Nature / Field Guide Books    13. North America    14. Northeastern states   

Editorial Review

A favorite of birdwatchers (especially those who prefer photographs to illustrations), this field guide, revised for 2000, accounts for the 544 bird species that live in the region west of the Great Plains. The clearly printed color photographs capture birds at rest and in flight; preceded by black-and-white silhouettes, the plates are organized by visually based, intuitive categories--"hawk-like birds," "pigeon-like birds," and "perching birds," for example--that make on-the-fly identification a fairly simple matter. The images are matched by clearly written text that describes a given bird, gives an approximation of its voice, and details its habitat, range, nests, and behavior. Sized to fit in a jacket or backpack pocket, this is a valuable companion for any birding outing in the region. Read more

Reviews (10)

species misidentified
I regret that I cannot recommend this book because it contains easily caught errors.
North American birds, West.
If your going to be stuffing your field guide into your pocket, glove box, daypack or backpack, the "turtleback" binding used by Audubon is perfect. Personally, I don't use it that way. When I encounter a species I cannot identify, I take notes (usually of the mental variety) -- size, color and markings, habitat, song, feeding habit and so forth -- and identify it when I return home. So far as I can recall, the Audubon guide has yet to fail me, although one has to admit that sometimes all the guidebooks in the world aren't going to resolve the identity of some distant LBJ (little brown job). I have another guidebook that supposedly focuses more narrowly on 'local' birds (San Diego area) but I strongly prefer the more thorough and useful Audubon volume. The photos, drawings and range maps are all generally excellent.
Do not leave home without it!
We purchased our first Field Guide almost twenty years ago when my eldest son was in the fifth grade and during spring break his class had a contest to see which student could identify the most species. It just happened that week we packed our family in the car and drove from the deserts of Idaho, through eastern Oregon and the Mahuer National Bird Sanctuary to the Oregon coast.If my memory serves me right, we identified nearly a hundred species of birds.This started a twenty-year love affair with our Field Guide to North American Birds.We were hooked.So much so, after losing my book, I immediately purchased another one.To his day, my Field Guide and binoculars are by our dinning room window.Each spring and summer we try to identify new species to our area.Hey, birding a great hobby and it does not cost a lot of money. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Birds & Birdwatching - Guides    3. Identification    4. Individual Species Of Birds    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. North America    9. Reference    10. West (U.S.)    11. Birds (ornithology)    12. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (4)

Best guide for identifying shorebirds
This book covers all of the shorebirds of the world with 1700 full-color paintings. There are lots of general tips on identifying shorebirds, and each bird is covered extensively. When I first picked up the book at an ABA Teen Birder convention in Colorado, a birder near me said "You have to buy that! Look at the Dunlin page!" Well, the Dunlin page is indeed a good example of this guide's excellence! There are 28 paintings on the page covering the different plumages of the bird and how it looks in flight and from different positions. The text on the adjacent page gives brief descriptions of the bird in each of those plumages and a world range map. It also redirects you to the all-text section of the book that has extensive information on identification, voice, habits, moments, description, age/sex, races, and measurements of the bird. I definitely recommend this book to any birder interested in the identification of shorebirds!

It's a truly wonderful book
I have purchased this book some five years back in a local book exhibition. Text is accurate especially for one who is interested in bird hunting. But the real feast is the breathtaking illustrations made by thesingle artist himself. His painstaking artwork for eachspecies,male&female, juvenile upperwings, lower wings are really fine.Only minus aspect is if the book would have been little bigger theillustrations would have also become bigger.

It's a truly wonderful book
I have purchased this book some five years back in a local book exhibition. Text is accurate especially for one who is interested in bird hunting. But the real feast is the breathtaking illustrstions made by thesingle artist himself. His painstaking artwork for each species,male&female, juvenile upperwings, lower wings are really fine. Onlyminus aspect is if the book would have been little bigger the illustrationswould have also become bigger. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Birds & Birdwatching    3. Identification    4. Nature / Field Guide Books    5. Ornithology +    6. Shore birds   

Reviews (2)

Indispensible for the serious birder
This book is one of my favorite birding books. I am reticent to call it a field guide because it is so much more than that. Incredible amounts of information on all the sparrows. Great range maps AND descriptions of migration and vagrancy (can I hope to see this bird in my area?), and all the other natural history and behavior information you'd expect. Beautiful plates showing ALL the different plumages, primary and basic, male, female and juvenal. And it's not just a wealth of information, it's a beautiful book, well written and a delight to own.

A readable, useable, technical guide.
Sparrows. Yippee. But if you want to learn them, this is the book.Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds & Birdwatching - General    2. Birds & Birdwatching - Guides    3. Nature    4. Nature / Field Guide Books    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Biological Sciences    7. Birds and Natural History    8. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    9. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Subjects:  1. Birds & Birdwatching - General    2. Nature    3. Nature / Field Guide Books    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Biological Sciences    6. Birds & birdwatching    7. Birds (ornithology)    8. Birds and Natural History    9. East Africa    10. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (1)

Great Resource
This book is an excellent resource for learning about what to feed most birds that will visit your garden.There are also ideas and instructions on how to build birdfeeders - from simple to more complex.A must-have for anyone who enjoys back-yard birdwatching. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds & Birdwatching - General    2. Nature    3. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching    4. Nature / Field Guide Books    5. Pets / Birds    6. Bird Watching    7. Birds    8. Birds & Birdwatching    9. Pets   

Reviews (4)

Darling!
This is based on a true story.Margarete, who considered herself a typical grandmother, ran across a downed baby bird in her flower patch.She tried to put the bird back in the nest as a helpful soul, but that didn't work.She tried several times, describing her attempts to reach the nest by roof and ladder like a gymnastics move - remember, this is a grandmother.Each time she completed the task only to find the bird back in the flower patch down below.When she decided to raise the bird herself, it was of course only going to be temporary. Amazing!
It is the heartwarming story of a lady and her bird. Brings tears to the eyes!Superbly written! A great biography for any one who even remotely likes animals!

Bravo!
Heartwarming story about a remarkable woman and the wild bird that captivated her heart. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Nature / Field Guide Books    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Starlings    6. Starlings as pets    7. Nature / General   

Editorial Review

The literature of bird watching is full of memoirs set in out-of-the-way, rural locales, but few are set in the heart of big cities such as New York, where Read more

Reviews (20)

Repeated Enjoyment
Every year goes by and this simple tale becomes more treasured and heartwarming.I have given dozens of copies of this book to friends, birders and non interested alike.Everyone is grateful for the inspiration that this unusual piece of nature brings.
Purchased this book in protest against Pale Male's eviction
As a New Yorker, I hadn't really paid much attention to Pale Male before this unfortunate state of affairs. There was somethingshockingly callous and arrogant in the way the board of 927 Fifth Avenue destroyed this magnificent bird's home. I hope the hawks will eventually get their nest back.
Enchanting
As I write this at the very end of 2004, a red-tailed hawk drama has hit the press: The nest of a minor celebrity, Pale Male, the hero of the non-fictional "Red Tails in Love," had his nest summarily and probably illegally removed from the tony 5th Avenue address where he has nested for many a year.
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Subjects:  1. Bird watching    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Essays    4. Individual Species Of Birds    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. New York    9. New York (State)    10. Red-tailed hawk    11. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (2)

this is not a field guide
I read the other review and was deceived. The other reviewer made it sound like a field guide comparing it to Peterson.NO!!!!There are a total of 45 color plates covering less than 500 of the about 1500 Brazilian birds and some of these plates are black and white.

Birds in Brazil
Birds in Brazil is a big book, beautifully produced on quality paper.It is exhaustive but never exhausting on the topic of Brazilian birds .The color illustrations are beautiful, but unfortunately they are separate from the text about the birds.That is the book's only fault.The text is in smooth and enticing English, and where the same birds are to be found migrating to the United States, the information is quite comparable in completion and interest to the American field guides of Roger T. Peterson.That leads me to believe that the information about birds that we don't experience will be equally accurate.This book is captivating and well worth the price.It is a coffee-table style book that we will be proud to use and to display. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Brazil    4. Conservation    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Ornithology    9. Biological Sciences    10. Birds & birdwatching    11. Birds (ornithology)    12. Birds and Natural History    13. Latin American Studies    14. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching    15. Reference works   

Reviews (8)

An enjoyable read
A pleasant book with great insights into the lives of hummingbirds. Though not technical, there's plenty of information I've never read elsewhere. A great book for the casual observer, for someone who has a feeder, to get to know the birds better. Heidcamp certainly shows an unparalleled degree of devotion to these tiny creatures. This is just a book to sit back and enjoy. The photography, too, is spectacular.

Beautiful and informative
This is a marvelous little book: both captivating narrative and very informative. I've been a great fan of hummingbirds since visiting the aviary at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tuscon. The author has done a marvelous job of telling us what its like to have a hummingbird in the house on a daily basis. And how lucky Squeak was to find Ms. Heidcamp--some things just seem to happen for a reason. An adorable, heartwarming story
If you like birds in the least bit, you should enjoy this cute story about the tiny but spunky Squeak, the young, male hummingbird whom the author rescues from the frost and keeps in her sun room all winter long.Ms. Heidcamp should be extremely proud that she was able to make such a positive difference in the life of a creature whose species she was already following with a notebook and a passion.Her knowledge of flowers that attract hummingbirds is amazing.So, too, is her ability to stock her sun room with healthy, flowering specimens, ensure the availability of nutritional supplements and patiently regulate both the light and the temperature in the room, all so that Squeak would have what he needed to thrive.Her color photos are beautiful and perfectly illustrate the narrative.I just hope that Ms. Heidcamp someday writes a sequel so we can learnabout Squeak's fate upon leaving his winter home and doting host. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Birds & Birdwatching - General    4. Essays    5. Heidcamp, Arnette    6. Hummingbirds as pets    7. Nature    8. Nature / Field Guide Books    9. New York (State)    10. Ruby-throated hummingbird    11. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    12. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (8)

The solace of song
David Rothenberg's lovely book, WHY BIRDS SING: A Journey Through
Uninspiring
With such an inspiring subject this should have been great book, but it's not.Reading this book was like watching a lava lamp - moving (turning pages) but going nowhere.I only read 40 pages before I couldn't bring myself to pick it up again.Good writing grabs you and compels you to continue - this doesn't. Singing birds are inspiring - this book isn't.The CD that came with it closed the lid on the coffin for me.The birds aren't allowed to star here but the author himself. He fails to communicate with the birds who provide great motifs for improvisation - only recall one time on the CD where the author generated a musical idea based on the bird songs.The book and CD are pretentious.

Tuneful, if not an aria.
In this slightly meandering but sincere book, musician and philosopher Rothenberg shows us that there are qualities to birdsong that transcend what science can tell us. Part of that transcendence is their emotional involvement with their songs, and Rothenberg can be counted among earlier authorities--including Len Howard, Charles Hartshorne, and Alexander Skutch--who believe that birds enjoy singing. His enthusiasm is most apparent when the discussion turns to music, and as an amateur musician I also enjoyed perusing the musical scores and sonograms of various feathered songsters.
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Subjects:  1. Bird Behavior    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. General    4. Life Sciences - Zoology - Ornithology    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Science    9. Birds & birdwatching   

Subjects:  1. Birds & Birdwatching - General    2. Nature    3. Nature / Field Guide Books    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Biological Sciences    6. Birds & birdwatching    7. Birds (ornithology)    8. Birds and Natural History    9. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Subjects:  1. Bald eagle    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Individual Species Of Birds    4. Nature    5. Nature / Field Guide Books    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Pictorial works    8. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    9. Photography / Nature & Wildlife   

Reviews (6)

Shorebirds of North America by Dennis Paulson
Shorebirds of North America is a keeper! Absolutely stunning pictures showing virtually every bird in flight as well as on the ground in a multitude of plumages. The interesting, informative, well written descriptions make this a better arm-chair book, than field book.
Great Reference for Birders
The book covers 94 species of shorebirds for North America including familiar species and rarities.
No Herons, ducks or anything other than Sandpiper-like birds...
I was thinking this book would cover everything that you would typically find near salt water and marshes, like Herons, Ducks, Widgeons, Loons, Geese, Gulls, etc.It only covers a very narrow range of sandpiper, plover and stints.
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Subjects:  1. Birds & Birdwatching - General    2. Birds & Birdwatching - Guides    3. Identification    4. Life Sciences - Zoology - Ornithology    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. North America    9. Pictorial works    10. Pictorical works    11. Shore birds    12. Antiques & Collectibles / General    13. Biological Sciences    14. Birds & birdwatching    15. Birds and Natural History   

Reviews (10)

Massive Monograph of All the World's Parrots.
There have been 7 editions of this landmark work by Joseph Forshaw and William Cooper that I know of, all of which are out of print. Shopping for a copy of "Parrots of the World" on the secondary market can be confusing. The book was originally published in 1973 and had 584 pages. Landsdowne Press was the Australian publisher (ISBN 0701800240), and Doubleday was the US publisher (ISBN 0385056281). In 1977, TFH Publications, with the cooperation of Doubleday, published another edition that is distinguished by not having a dust jacket (ISBN 0876669593). The cover artwork is part of the slick, white cover. Ease of locating and identifying the illustrations was improved. A year later, in 1978, TFH further improved upon the book by expanding the indices. The 1978 edition has the same ISBN and cover art as the 1977 edition, but says"Improved 1978 Edition" on the cover. A "Revised Second Edition" with 616 pages came in 1980 (ISBN 0701806907) from Eastview Editions. A "Revised Third Edition" was published by Avian Publications in 1989 (ISBN 0701828005). The 3rd edition has 672 pages and includes new plates illustrating differences in the plumage of mature and immature birds. Second and third editions were also published in Australia, and perhaps the UK, with different publishers and ISBNs. In 2000, a "Limited Edition", still with 672 pages, was published by Avian books. All of the editions (not including the foreign editions) have different cover art. All have dust jackets except the 1977 and 1978 editions.
The quintessential parrot reference
It's unfortunate that this book is out of print, as it's a parrot fanatic's ultimate reference to parrots in the wild. Beautifully illustrated with full-color plates, it covers every known species of parrot, and some that are sadly extinct since its printing. It provides information on all aspects of psittacines in the wild as far as they are known, from size to range to breeding habits to habitat, but it's really the illustrations that make this book so valuable. If you're at all interested in wild parrots, this book is among the best.

Note the size!
If you are a collector of books on parrots, and simply must have them all, then by all means get this book.Otherwise, beware, this is a large book that does not fit on an average height bookshelf!It also has the look and feel of an older book, compared to some of the many fancy guides that have come out in recent years. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds & Birdwatching - General    2. Nature / Field Guide Books    3. Nature/Ecology    4. Birds & birdwatching   

Subjects:  1. Biodiversity conservation    2. Biological diversity conservat    3. Birds    4. Birds & Birdwatching - General    5. Conservation    6. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    7. Environmental Science    8. Life Sciences - Genetics & Genomics    9. Nature    10. Nature / Field Guide Books    11. Nature/Ecology    12. Wildlife    13. Birds, Protection of    14. Conservation of wildlife & habitats    15. Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection   

Reviews (1)

Oft Quoted; Seldom Read
I'm a bit surprised to be the first reviewer of this classic. When I began my career in Wildlife Management over 30 years ago I was surprised at how many people quoted this work, but admitted to have not actually read it. I had read it in graduate school and was amazed at how prescient Leopold had been. He accurately predicted where Wildlife Management would go in the future and what would be necessary for success. (As a side note, Leopold used the two word term `Wild Life' meaning plants, animals, the soil; i.e. ecosystems. The term was changed to one word by the Wisconsin Legislature and defined as certain animals only.)
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Subjects:  1. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    2. Game and game-birds    3. Nature    4. Nature / Field Guide Books    5. Wildlife Management    6. Animal husbandry    7. Management of land & natural resources   

Reviews (2)

Wow, what a great find
I recently aquired this book and inside, you'll find a sintilating selection of latin names and meanings of all the animals you study and love.Things that make common sense and others that will blow your mind.Things that you have to memorize for classes become easy when you read their meanings and roots.Excellent for trying to remember the scientific names of all animals.From parrots to lizards to gerbils, you'll find it all here.Big book!

A Plethora of Information for Anyone in Love with Zoology
I first saw this book in my high school library about 2 years ago.Assoon as I laid eyes on it, I knew that I had to get it.Now a sophomore incollege, for as long as I can remember, Zoology for me was the mostinteresting thing to study.But there was always this obstacle of notbeing able to fully participate in the "-ology" of the"zoa," if you will, due to me not understanding most of the Latinlanguage.One thing I will say about this book, is that not only does itremove this hinderance, but it also showed me how many english words havetheir roots in Latin, the most common ones in my opinion being dent=teeth,pod=foot and derm=skin.Anyway, I can go on forever, but I'll stop here.If you are interested in Animals, this book is definitely for you!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. General    3. Life Sciences - Zoology - General    4. Mammals    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nomenclature    8. Reference    9. Reptiles    10. Science    11. Taxonomic Zoology    12. Vertebrates    13. Taxonomy & systematics    14. Zoology & animal sciences