Customer Reviews

Bird Tracks & Sign : A Guide to North American Species

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This is a guide to identifying bird families or individual species by clues they leave behind of their presence. The title may appear, at first glance, to be a typo. It is not. As the authors explain on the first page: "Sign refers to all the possible signs of their passing: sign of feeding, gathering material for nesting, the nests or cavity holes themselves, pellets, droppings, feathers lost during molt, or kill sites."

This book appears to be packed with too much information for a beginner to digest. But its actually quite good for anyone who is interested in birds and would use such a book more than once or twice. The information is organized by types of sign - tracks, feathers, feeding signs, droppings, nests and roosts, etc., rather than by species. This allows you to read about whichever subject you're interested in and to take in the basics behind, say, interpreting signs of feeding, rather than getting bogged down by details specific to a certain species.

Due to the nature of the topic, the squeamish may not enjoy all the pictures. However, the pictures are certainly not as gruesome as they could have been.

In the introduction, one of the authors writes: "real tracking is bigger than one lifetime. Tracking, as our ancestors knew it, was a body of knowledge handed down from generation to generation. Each person added to this knowledge..." The authors clearly see themselves as a continuation if this process, referring to and giving credit to other excellent books, such a Rezendes' "Tracking and the Art of Seeing".

To my knowledge, this is the only book like this specific to birds. I feel this would be an excellent gift idea for that hard-to-buy-for bird watcher.

petervtamas@mail.com

As a tracker, I find this book to be an invaluable reference. I have long thought that there was a need for this type of book as bird tracks have not been the focus of past tracking books. I find the illustrations and photos clearly laid out and easy to use to see details. There are sections on feathers, nests, feeding signs, skulls, scat, and more. I highly recommend this book to all trackers and naturalists and anyone who wants to be more aware of the world of nature around them. No other skill can give you that awareness of the natural world. This book will help you on your way to being a better tracker.

I'm a beginner birder and tracker - When I first saw this book, I thought, fat chance, I probably can't even identify the birds' feathers or tracks because I'm still so new to the birding and tracking worlds. Still, I kept it around just in case - and when I found a feather or a track, I'd look up it in the book. It would take me less than a few minutes to discover the owner of the feather and tracks! That's thanks to the handy quick reference chart on the inside cover of the book! I now know I can go out and have fun with this book!

I have been an educator for 17 years and have followed over the years the growing concern of our childrens lack of attention (ADD; ADHD etc..), the failures of education itself to ignite passion within students, and the rather alarming growth of cynicism toward the future within these young people whom we teach. This all sits side-by-side with our cultures diisconnect to the natural world, where more and more time is spent in front of electronic media, and little time spent within forms of human interaction that have been part of our species evolutionary development. Animal Tracking, one of the most ancient of skills, is emerging on the scientific, as well as educational scenes, with a renewal of promise to not only enhance and develop that human birthright(and capacity)called awareness, but is an excellent means for reconnecting us to the natural world. Mark Elboch's book on Bird Track and Sign (as well as his soon to be released Animal Track and Sign) is a wealth of information. It will set the standard for the Art and Science of Tracking, Ecology and Human Awareness Training. If your looking for an aid to reconnecting to the natural world, or if you would love to develop the capacity for sharing the natural world with your children - buy this book, bend the pages often, and be prepared to be opened to the mystery waiting for you just outside your door!

Call me cynical but in the last twenty years I have seen field guide publishers recylce the same old info over and over again, just adding a new tabulature or color photos. The text is minimal and always leaves me wanting more.

Not so with this book! Mark and Eleanor have created something that goes well beyond any field guide currently on the market concerning birds! This stuff is new and never before seen except for experienced birders in the field. It is easy to use, fun to use and it will help anyone learn more about birds, their habits and sign. The photography is stunning as well.

I cannot over-recommend this book. Go get it, now!

Ricardo Sierra

Mark Elbroch's and Elanor Marks "Bird Tracks and Sign" is a gem.

No self-accliamed naturalist, tracker, birder, or nature educator should be without a well-worn copy in years to come.

This book fills a niche long absent from teh worlds of animal tracking and birding. What a wondrous blend of dazzlig photographs, informative text, and practical information.

I really got excited when I saw this reviewed in National Wildlife magazine. I often see bird tracks or even a nest when out walking but didn't know how to translate that into useful information. This book clues me in on the bird that matches those signs.
The author, a renowned tracker, spent 14 months, 12 hours a day studying bird tracks, scats, nests, feeding signs and roosts plus collected information from museums for this book.
Users of this guide may also want to try:
-Flattened Fauna: A Field Guide to Common Animals of Roads, Streeets and Highways
-Scats and Tracks of the Southeast (also guides for other areas)
-A Field Guide to Desert Holes
-A Key-Guide to Mammal Skulls and Lower Jaws
-That Gunk on Your Car (insects)
Bird lovers now have another tool to identify birds.

As a naturalist and tracker, there are many books I go to but only a few that get that soft patina from constant use. Every household should have this book. The photographs are excellent and the text concise. Do not be overwhelmed by its size. Just leave it out where you can pick it up over a cup of coffee, and slowly it will become that good friend you wish you had who knows everything about bird sign in the woods.

Good for the field biologist. Has good illustrations and signs for most all birds in the US.

This was the first book I purchased by Mark Elbroch, recommended by a bird class instructor. I was not disappointed! Seldom does a book live up to its description; this one went way beyond. Beautifully put together, this book is simply outstanding.