10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful book with full-page descriptions and photos., October 29, 1999
This review is from: Birding (Nature Company Guides) (Hardcover)
My grandparents bought me this beautiful hardcover book for Christmas. It has full-page narratives and photos of many North American birds, and it has come in very handy as a reference when I see a new bird in my neighborhood.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Birding, June 12, 2007
The first three chapters (83 pages) deserve a top score. The remainder of the book has problems that would barely earn a two on a one-to-five scale. Overall, a three is generous.
The first three chapters are as good a tutorial on birding as you will find anywhere. It begins with a chapter on understanding birds. Some readers may find it dry but should read it anyway. They are probably the same readers that have skipped the front material in every field guide they ever owned. Next comes a section on birding at home. For a beginner living anywhere other than a cave in Manhattan, observing neighborhood birds is a great start. This second chapter then provides ideas for attracting more birds to your backyard. The material on feeders and feeds is excellent and the information on planting and landscaping will get you started.
The third chapter is on actual birding. It is practical and covers all aspects of importance. There isn't any need for birding to be complicated and it should be available to everyone. It is difficult to conceive of a handicap that would preclude a person from enjoying birds. For starters, binoculars and a field guide is all that one needs. Some sort of notepad is a good addition. The book covers these basics, and then expands to a discussion of spotting scopes, birding by ear, photography, and getting more involved in bird study. Conservation should be mandatory in any discussion of birding and this book does not disappoint.
The remainder of the book is a sort of field guide arranged by habitat. The concept seems to be that an inexperienced birder can choose a habitat, look over the book's subsection on that habitat, and be better equipped to identify the birds found there. The problem is that birds do not always respect habitat. Every habitat I have visited has had birds not particularly identified with that habitat. Certainly, a beginning birder will find the order used by most field guides confusing; but it is better to have the hawks together, the sparrows together, etc. than to have them separated.
This "Birdfinder" section has 148 pages, each highlighting a species. Since this is far short of even the common species of the United States, many species are added as adjuncts to a related species or omitted all together. The golden-crowned kinglet becomes a footnote to the ruby-crowned kinglet. The red-breasted nuthatch is added to the white-breasted nuthatch's page, with no mention of the other nuthatches. Woodpeckers are a strange case. Downy woodpeckers get a page in the urban habitat and hairy woodpeckers get a mention on the same page. The rest of the woodpecker clan is represented solely by the acorn woodpecker and the northern flicker in the woodlands habitat.
Another objection is that the Birdfinder section is oriented to eastern birding without admitting that is the case. For example, the eastern phoebe gets a page but the Say's phoebe doesn't get a mention. Meadowlarks are represented by the eastern species, although the western species gets a mention. The same is true of the Baltimore and Bullock's orioles. Bluebirds get a page devoted to the eastern bluebird; the western bluebird gets a mention and a picture, while the mountain bluebird that is dominant in some areas isn't mentioned. Bluebirds are identified in the woodlands habitat; I find all three species more associated with grasslands, although they are cavity nesters.
While teaching a class on birding, I held up this book and said that it included nearly everything I had told them. To cover my conscience in even showing it, I added most of what I have covered in this review.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Overview of Birds, December 24, 2001
This book has a wealth of information about a wide variety of bird topics. It has bird anatomy, songs, how to build a nest box, etc. The main chapter of this book, named 'The Habitat BirdFinder' is a field guide to about 100 of the most commonly seen birds in North America, and isn't in any specific order, but by which habitat it is most likely to be seen in. It is very useful, with a large photograph and colour drawings with text for each bird. The range maps are very clear and easy to use. In the back of the book there is a good selection of other books and resources, including local birding organizations.
If you are looking for a first birding book, to get you started and familiar with birds, then this is a great start.
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