Compact Guide to North Carolina Birds [Paperback]

Curtis G. Smalling (Author), Gregory Kennedy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2006

This easy-to-use field guide will help even the novice birder identify the species encountered in backyards and along wilderness trails across North Carolina. Over 80 different birds are featured, complete with color illustrations, photographs of eggs, and extensive natural history. The author is the mountain area biologist for the Audubon Society in North Carolina and a life-long birder.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

CURTIS SMALLING has a B.Sc. in biology and an MA in Appalachian studies. He is a lifelong birder who works as mountain area biologist for Audubon North Carolina. Curtis is the founder of the Mountain Avian Research Initiative and Ecos of the Blue Ridge, an eco-tourism company leading walks and school field trips. He resides in Boone, North Carolina, with his wife of 23 years, Mary, and their three children. GREGORY KENNEDY has been an active naturalist and adventurer since he was a young boy. He is the author of many books on natural history and has produced film and television work on environmental issues and indigenous concerns in southeast Asia, New Guinea, South and Central America and the high Arctic. His involvement in numerous research projects around the world range from studies in the upper canopy of tropical and temperate rain forests to deep water marine investigations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Lone Pine Publishing; Compact edition (March 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9768200030
• ISBN-13: 978-9768200037
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,132,605 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Book, Fantastic Illustrations, But Left One Important Bird Out!, April 28, 2006

By 

Pruitt Hall (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Compact Guide to North Carolina Birds (Paperback)

This is a very handy little book to have with you in the field during your bird watching times. Extremely high quality binding, water-resistant cover, pages are cut (rounded at top) nicely...all in all, an extremely well made book that is equal to the task of being outdoors with you while bird watching.

The illustrations are drop-dead gorgeous. Not Sibley 'illustratively' so, but for field work, and likely for the intended audience more than adequate. Cross-reference and quick search colors, though busy, is very nice, too.

I have but two quibbles with the book, one minor and one major. The minor one is that the amount of space they use for descriptions and notes on the bird is very, very sparse. I know, again, it's not a Sibley, but I would like at least more than a sentance or two. Small quibble.

What's not a small quibble is the oversight of leaving out the American Goldfinch, completely. This one I simply cannot understand. The authors state early on that they're highlighting some of North Carolina's '...most noteworthy birds..' and living in North Carolina, with five feeders, I think I've seen a ratio of about 50/50 in bird population at my feeders....and that's 50% American Goldfinch and 50% everything else!

I'm impressed with the book, overall. Certainly the quality of it is a nice touch. The lack of putting in the Goldfinch is still a mystery and one I think would give the intended audience an idea that the species isn't prevalent in the Carolinas and that just isn't the case.

Other than that, an excellent book for the beginner or a good addition to a seasoned Carolina birders bookcase.