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Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song [Hardcover]

Les Beletsky , Jon L. Dunn
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (262 customer reviews)


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Kindle Edition with Audio/Video $32.00  
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Book Description

September 21, 2006
Drawing from the collection of the world-renowned Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Bird Songs presents the most notable North American birds—including the rediscovered Ivory-billed Woodpecker—in a stunning new format. Renowned bird biologist Les Beletsky provides a succinct description of each of the 250 birds profiled, with an emphasis on their distinctive songs. Lavish full-color illustrations accompany each account, while a sleek, built-in digital audio player holds 250 corresponding songs and calls. In his foreword, North American bird expert and distinguished natural historian Jon L. Dunn shares insights gained from a lifetime of passionate study. Complete with the most up-to-date and scientifically accurate information, Bird Songs is the first book to capture the enchantment of these beautiful birds in words, pictures, and song. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, located in Ithaca, New York, is a nonprofit institution focused on birds and whose mission is to interpret and conserve the earth's biological diversity through research. The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab is the major source of sound recordings of birds for research, education, conservation, the media, and commercial products.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Drawing from the collection of the world-renowned Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Bird Songs presents the most notable North American birds—including the rediscovered Ivory-billed Woodpecker—in a stunning new format. Renowned bird biologist Les Beletsky provides a succinct description of each of the 250 birds profiled, with an emphasis on their distinctive songs. Lavish full-color illustrations accompany each account, while a sleek, built-in digital audio player holds 250 corresponding songs and calls. In his foreword, North American bird expert and distinguished natural historian Jon L. Dunn shares insights gained from a lifetime of passionate study. Complete with the most up-to-date and scientifically accurate information, Bird Songs is the first book to capture the enchantment of these beautiful birds in words, pictures, and song. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, located in Ithaca, New York, is a nonprofit institution focused on birds and whose mission is to interpret and conserve the earth's biological diversity through research. The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab is the major source of sound recordings of birds for research, education, conservation, the media, and commercial products.

From Booklist

Here are splendid color illustrations of 250 species of birds, some showing only the male and others showing both the male and female. Drawing from the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the book is divided into four parts: seabirds, shorebirds, and water birds; forest birds; woodland birds; and open-country birds. With each illustration is a description of the bird's range in the U.S and Canada and its ecology and behavior. The profiles emphasize the birds' vocalizations--both songs and calls--which can be heard on an audio component that comes with the book. By using this digital audio technology, readers will be able to relate the songs and calls to the birds' appearances. Beletsky, a notable bird biologist, has written a fascinating book that will aid bird-watchers. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Chronicle Books; 1ST edition (September 21, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1932855416
  • ISBN-13: 978-1932855418
  • Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 10.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (262 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Les Beletsky is a professional wildlife biologist and former university biology teacher. Prior to taking up full-time writing, he conducted many years of field research into the ecology and behavior of birds, publishing many scientific reports and two technical books on birds. An avid global birder and ecotraveler, he has visited numerous sites in the Americas, Africa, Asia and in the Australian region. He currently makes his home in Seattle, Washington.

Customer Reviews

Love this book and really enjoy listening to all the bird sounds. bren-duh  |  78 reviewers made a similar statement
I purchased this book for my 3 year old grandson for Christmas. upstate new york  |  58 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
191 of 195 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Amazing September 28, 2006
Format:Hardcover
Perhaps I am not the best person to review the quality and accuracy of the songs in this book/audio player (I would leave that to Rick Johnson of Osprey Ridge Studios who created the Hearbirds Course on CD available at [..] but as the former publisher of Waite Group Press [..] I must say that this is one of the most innovative and fun to use products to appear in book publishing in a long time.

The way its put together is really creative - the electronic device glued strongly to the back cover is available at all times as you turn the pages. The system is minimalist which is its real charm. - a rocker switch increments an odometer like counter up or down. The number is keyed to the number on the bird page. In the middle of the rocker is a push button that starts the song playing. One more button controls the volume. That's it!

The illustrations are very nice, soft watercolors, unlike the hard edged and brighter drawings found in traditional field guides like those from Peterson and National Geographic. The descriptive text about each bird is short and to the point, my only complaint is that its gray color is not easy to read on older eyes. Yet that is minor compared to the enjoyment I got just turning the pages and pushing the button.

When I was at borders a crowd formed around me as they heard the bird calls - many thought a hawk had been trapped in the building. I highly recommend this book (and the price is right).
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127 of 134 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars So much potential, so poorly realized January 6, 2007
Format:Hardcover
Reviewing "Bird Songs" is a bit like reviewing a talking horse. It's so amazing to hear it talk, one overlooks what it is saying.

The songs are wonderful; accessing them is a travesty.

There are two components to this item, the book and the player. The player is a solid state device glued to the back cover of the book. The 250 bird songs in the player are known to the player only by a reference number (1 to 250), which is shown in the player's LCD window.

To hear a song, one touches the play button once to awaken the device, then, by depressing an up or down key, you scroll to the reference number of the desired song. Pressing Play then plays a recorded snippet of the selected bird's song. In short, to hear a song, one must first know its number, and then one must find it.

And herein lies the first major flaw. It is a royal pain to find the reference number of a song. The book has a miserable index, organized alphabetically by common name, that only gives the page number of a bird. One must then go to the page to find the (different) reference number for the song. There is no simple way to relate page numbers to song numbers. And the index itself is difficult to use, as it is not only organized only by common name, but there is no grouping of similar species, so a Marsh Wren is under M and a Canyon Wren is under C. If you want to look up Loon, better look under C for Common Loon. All in tiny, light type. Arrrgh.

Once one has the reference number, the second flaw becomes obvious. Player scrolling acts much like setting a digital clock, first scrolling slowly, then quickly. The numbers wrap around, so one can get to say, 249, from 1 by going backwards. Thus, theoretically, one should never have to scroll more than 125 numbers. It takes a minimum of 15 seconds to scroll 125 numbers. Be prepared to spend a lot of time fiddling with the scroll buttons.

The book. Well, the pictures are nice. The organization is bizarre, by habitat, and there are no range maps, just vague descriptions. But you aren't buying this item for the book.

The songs themselves are fascinating. The recording of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker is almost worth the price by itself. And, the Amazon price is very reasonable.
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96 of 104 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars What a cool book! November 16, 2006
Format:Hardcover
As a (very) amateur birder, I am continually frustrated by hearing birds I can't see and not having a clue as to what that bird might be. This neat book links the description, the drawing AND the sound!

I think it would be an aid to more accomplished birders who try to describe bird calls to others, a joy to children just learning about birds and a help to the avian-challenged rest of us.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars WOULD NOT WORK ON MY WINDOWS OR ANDROID SYSTEMS.
I TRIED MY BEST TO GET THIS BOOK TO REPRODUCE THE BIRD SONGS AS NOTED. ON ALL MY PLATFORMS, IT SAID THAT IT WOULD NOT WORK ON THAT PLATFORM. I'D LIKE MY MONEY BACK, PLEASE.
Published 21 days ago by Thomas L. Jewitt
3.0 out of 5 stars Gave up trying to learn songs by CDThe computer is more helpful.
What would be more helpful is a site with random songs that you identify. I tried a number of different CD's.
Published 25 days ago by lorraine fechtig
5.0 out of 5 stars Product is great when it works, this one is broken.
Each time I push a button for the bird sounds, it cuts off in the middle of the sound. We have one, so I know how it should work, but this one is faulty. Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. Carling
4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of fun
It's wonderful to be able to put a sound with the illustration of the bird. I and my family are enjoying this book immensely.
Published 1 month ago by Shawn Holland
3.0 out of 5 stars No audio on my Kindle
I bought the Kindle version of this book for the audio aspect of the book. Unfortunately, the audio/video portion of the book doesn't work with my Kindle Fire. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Terri L Stephenson
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for entertaining a young kid
My daughter loves the bird noises. My dog does not. He is still looking for the birds that he believes are hiding somewhere in the house.
Published 1 month ago by Russell Jumper
5.0 out of 5 stars It's fun to listen to the birds' different calls
The bird calls in the book sound just like the birds in our yard. I really enjoy listening to all the different bird songs and have learned to identify many new birds.
Published 2 months ago by Edie Millen
4.0 out of 5 stars Defective
I have another copy of this book and I love it! The pictures are great and the sounds are clear. Birds sometimes start talking back when I use it outside. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Bobcat
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Nice!
A nice collection of 250 North American Birds with detailed color drawings and information on each species including the bird song number that you use to play it. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Ralph Robbins
5.0 out of 5 stars Accurate sound
Chose this item for a gift. It makes it easy to identify the birds in your yard and we have even used it on hikes. It has beautiful pictures. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Robert F Willis
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