Warblers of the Americas: An Identification Guide [Hardcover]

David Quinn (Author), David Beadle (Author), Jon Curson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 1994

The first comprhensive guide to all 116 species found in North, Cenral, and South America.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Beadle grew up in Kent, England, where he had no interest in the natural world until he was gripped by an obsession with birds in his late teens. It was while working at a bird observatory that David became interested in moths, an interest that soon grew to an all-consuming passion. He now lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his wife and son, and he has photographed more than 2,000 species of moths in that province alone.

In addition to his work with moths, David has contributed to over thirty books and countless journals, including New World Warblers and A Field Guide to the Birds of Chile.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 262 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (September 23, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395709989
• ISBN-13: 978-0395709986
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,003,126 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great identification reference but with weak range maps, July 14, 2008

By 

Soleglad (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Warblers of the Americas: An Identification Guide (Hardcover)

Basics: 1994, hardcover, 252 pages, 36 color plates of all 116 species, range maps

This is a reference book covering all 116 species of the New World warblers: Parulidae. Those people with an interest in warblers or who need to research the finer taxonomic/subspecies/geographic aspects of these birds will find this book to be very informative.

The 36 color plates are illustrated very well. They cover multiple subspecies as well as plumage differences between genders, ages, and breeding/non-breeding. I like the larger size of the subjects with most of them 50-60% of life size. The US and Canada breeding species are illustrated with slightly smaller drawings than are the more southern warblers.

The strategic placement of the birds (mostly in taxonomic order) places the similar species together. The plate with the Tennessee/Orange-crowned/Nashville Warblers effectively shows why some birders become frustrated in the fall. The Yellow Warbler plate shows 14 different plumages for the three distinct Yellow, Mangrove, and Golden groups. Another nice feature found in the text are scores of b&w drawings of the warbler's fanned tail feathers. These do a great job of detailing the pattern often needed to properly identify the race, gender, or age.

Adjacent to the plates are the respective range maps and text. This concise text gives brief descriptions of the various plumages illustrated. A quick note is also given for the geographic locations.

The last half of the book contains a larger account for each bird, ranging from 1-5 pages for each. The informative, reseached text covers identification, description, geographic variation, voice, habitat, breeding, status, seasonal movements, moult, and physical measurements. I find the most useful information to revolve around the discussion of the various subspecies and the seasonal plumages. For a more detailed description of just the US warblers, the Field Guide to Warblers of North America by Dunn is recommended.

The range maps are the weakest aspect of this book. They provide general outlines of only the continents or islands. These outlines are often too vague to pinpoint the location of the bird's range. The inclusion of the country and US state boundaries would have been immensely helpful. Also, a broad swath of land is shown in the map for many birds with very restricted ranges. Although the Gray-headed Warbler has a very restricted range in a small spot of northern Venezuela, the map shows the northern half of South America through Panama. This produces a tiny, green, pencil-tip sized dot to represent the limited range of this rare bird. It's small enough that an arrow is needed to point your attention to it. This pattern of using too large of a multi-continent coverage is too common, requiring the same use of an arrow for several birds. A map showing half of the USA down through all of South America is used to display the Rufous-Capped Warbler range which includes only Mexico south to Colombia. Three different colors denote seasonal presence.

This is a great reference and research book to be used before and after your birding excursion. Use it as an at-home identification guide and not as a field guide.

I've listed several related books below...
1) A Field Guide to Warblers of North America by Dunn
2) The Warblers of America by Griscom
3) Wood Warblers' World by Harrison
4) Warblers of the Great Lakes Region and Eastern North America by Earley
5) Life Histories of North American Wood Warblers: Vol 1-2 by Bent
6) Warblers of North America by Chapman

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice and helpful, November 9, 2006

By 

Gerald Dumoulin (Quebec,Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Warblers of the Americas: An Identification Guide (Hardcover)

250pages: lot of information , Nice book (hardcover) , A few hundreds of nice illustrations (no photos) inside 36 plates. All the Americas Warblers : 116 species . Conclusion : very satisfied .