Pete Dunne on Bird Watching: The How-to, Where-to, and When-to of Birding [Paperback]

Pete Dunne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 21, 2003

Pete Dunne has taught birding to beginners for years, but he has never found the right book to help them get started. Now the popular birding author identifies the skills and tools available to people with any amount of interest, great or small, in bird watching. Beginning with backyard birding and moving through a quick but comprehensive survey of tools of the trade, Dunne outlines ten basic, simple steps in bird identification that can make a birder out of the most casual of observers. He goes on to show beginning birders how to use their skills to explore new horizons through birding by ear, birding by telescope, and finding and identifying rare or difficult birds. Written in the lively, authoritative style that has made Dunne one of the most popular writers in this field today, Pete Dunne on Bird Watching will inspire in readers both a growing passion for birding and a lifelong respect for the natural world and its inhabitants.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Judging by the great number of field guides in print, bird watching is among the world's most popular avocations. Dunne (Hawks in Flight) takes a new tack, providing novice birders and those thinking of taking up the hobby with a literate and exhaustive beginner's manual. The quirky and often poignant anecdotes sprinkled throughout the book also make for an interesting read for advanced birders. From the backyard to field trips and guided tours, the author provides valuable information that would take years of in-the-field effort to obtain. Dunne's advice on binocular design, specifications and uses is easy to understand, despite the technical data. There are also helpful suggestions on proper clothing and footwear, which take into account terrain, season and climate. The author explains such esoterica as why birders should never wear white as well as the finer points of proper bird-watching etiquette. There is an important section discussing a range of field guides and how to use them based on the essential keys to bird identification found in these compendiums. Additionally, this birding primer details the best sites for viewing particular species; where to find more information on bird watching; and how to move beyond the initial level of this fascinating pastime into the more sublime reaches of advanced birding. 100 b&w photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

To anyone with a modicum of interest in finding and identifying birds, Dunne is a well-known name. Director of the Cape May Bird Observatory in New Jersey and author of seven books on birding and numerous columns and articles for birding magazines, he is an articulate spokesman for the birds and those who pursue them. This new how-to book on the art and science of bird watching distills years of Dunne's experience and brings together hundreds of tidbits from his published columns. He describes how to attract more birds to the yard by feeding, landscaping, and providing water, then he moves on to the tools needed to see and identify the new additions to the yard, discussing binoculars and field guides and how to choose the best ones. The next chapters cover the fundamentals of birding. Birding ethics and the responsibilities of birders are covered in the final chapter. Scattered sidebars written by other birding experts offer insider's insights. Dunne has an affable, knowledgeable, and conversational writing style that entertains as it educates. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (March 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395906865
• ISBN-13: 978-0395906866
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #489,621 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

PETE DUNNE is the author of many books, including Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion, Pete Dunne on Bird Watching, and most recently Prairie Spring, the first in a four-book series on the seasons. He is the vice president of the New Jersey Audubon Society and director of its Cape May Bird Observatory.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful for beginners -- buy this before anything else!, June 23, 2003

By 

Ed (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pete Dunne on Bird Watching: The How-to, Where-to, and When-to of Birding (Paperback)

Pete Dunne does a wonderful job introducing the reader to the world of birding. He starts with the basics: field guides and binoculars, and explains how to choose among the various ones out there (there are so many that a beginner can easily become overwhelmed). As a beginner, I know that he saved me a lot of time and money on these two issues alone. Dunne then moves on to more advanced topics, such as basic birding techniques, where to go birding, and birding organizations. Inspirational anecdotes from his experience and other birders are peppered throughout, easing the reader into a specialized field while maintaining that natural curiousity about birds that all of us have.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for beginners, September 8, 2003

By 

rah101 (Hampton, NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pete Dunne on Bird Watching: The How-to, Where-to, and When-to of Birding (Paperback)

I have both this book and "Sibley's Birding Basics." I think that Dunne's book is better for the beginner. It is written in a MUCH more engaging style, is not nearly as technical (e.g. in details of bird taxonomy), and has a lot more practical advice.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Birding for Beginners, February 12, 2005

By 

Jonah Cohen (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pete Dunne on Bird Watching: The How-to, Where-to, and When-to of Birding (Paperback)

Veteran birder Pete Dunne has written a book that is an excellent introduction to the popular hobby. As one who's been doing it for a little less than a year, I found his book very helpful.

The various chapters cover useful topics, including: how to select your binoculars (and what those numbers on them mean); what to wear - and not to wear - while looking for birds; how to set up a feeder and make your own back yard more attractive to birds; protecting birds from threats ranging from cats to glass; finding a good field guide; organizations and events; the basics of identifying birds; plus some interesting stories from the field, care of Dunne and other experienced bird watchers. There's a lot of helpful information, that will make a nascent birder feel less clueless.

A few things that might have made it better: there's little info on ornithology itself - Dunne frequently mentions various types of birds as examples, but you may have no idea what he's talking about. When discussing the all-important field marks, for example, there are some (black and white) photos, but more of them (and perhaps illustrations) might have made his points more clear. For instance, showing the difference between the different tail shapes would have been useful. Also, while he mentions many species and family, there's not even a basic rundown of the different types of birds - so if you don't know a sparrow from a warbler, some of his text seems meaningless.

Note also that this is not a field guide (nor does it claim to be) so you'll need something else to help you identify the birds you see.

Combined with a couple of other books like a good field guide (the Peterson guides seem to be the gold standard) and a basic text on ornithology (David Sibley's books get high marks from many) and Dunne's book on birding techniques, and you should be ready to go.