Customer Reviews

Warblers of the Great Lakes Region and Eastern North America

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4 star:		(1)
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Knowledgeably and accessibly written by Chris G. Earley (an interpretive naturalist who regularly teaches bird identification workshops), Warblers Of The Great Lakes Region & Eastern North America is a superbly organized and presented ornithology field guide which packed from cover to cover with brilliant color photographs of various warblers, including separate photographs to show seasonal, gender, and juvenile versus adult variations in species plumage. Basic information about each species is provided with a strong slant toward concerning how to identify and distinguish it from similar species. Simply put, Warblers Of The Great Lakes Region & Eastern North America is a "must-have" for those birdwatchers with a special interest in tracking, sighting, and recognizing Upper Midwest and Eastern North American warblers.

Basics: 2003, hardcover, 131 pages, 245 color photos of 44 species, range maps

This is a good, easy to use, compact guide for anyone wanting to learn or to practice the warblers found in the eastern US and Canada. The book is straight forward, offers quick easy descriptions, and excellent photographs for each bird. Although the book focuses on the eastern warblers, some photos are included for the infrequent stragglers from the West.

The 245 color photos do a superb job of showing each bird in multiple photos. At least 3-7 photos are shown for each bird, except for the western species and a couple of the eastern birds (Worm-eating and Kirtland's), which receive only one or two photos. An additional bonus is the inclusion of 5 photos of hybrids between Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers (2 Lawrence's and 3 Brewster's).

A few other nice additions are found in the back of the book. A table presents 9 different characteristics that help to differentiate the two waterthrushes. Two other tables do the same for 11 of the fall-plumaged warblers. Lastly, 29 smaller photos at the back focus on comparing the confusing plumages of the fall warblers. And, 35 photos show the colorful spring plumages.

The text for each bird does its best to simply present the key identification notes. Brief sections with concise information are offered for each of the male and female spring plumages, the male and female autumn and, where relevant, the first fall plumage. Additional notes are sometimes offered for the voice or for other behavioral comments.

The range maps use a standard template showing all of North and South America. Red depicts the summer range while yellow denotes winter; orange is for the year-round resident. It's good to see the outlines of each US state and of the countries since this provides better reference.

Although this book might be a little too introductory for the experienced birder, the photos will still be appreciated. This book might not contain anything not already found in the complete US field guides but it does present the information a little more simply and with a greater reliance on good photos for the birders who want to focus on just these birds during the short migration periods. -- (written by Soleglad at Avian Review or Avian Books, October 2008)

I've listed several related books below...
1) A Field Guide to Warblers of North America by Dunn/Garrett
2) Chasing Warblers by Thornton
3) The Warblers of America: A Popular Account of The Wood Warblers as they occur in the Western Hemisphere by Griscom
4) The Warblers of North America by Chapman
5) Warblers of the Americas: An Identification Guide by Curson et al.
6) Wood Warblers' World by Harrison
7) The golden-cheeked warbler: A bioecological study by Pulich
8) Kirtland's Warbler: The Natural History of an Endangered Species by Walkinshaw
9) The Kirtland's Warbler by Mayfield
10) Life Histories of the North American Wood Warblers: Part 1: Vol. I & II by Bent

Very heplful feld guide for a very challanging subject. I found it very useful. It will be a great addition to my birding field tools.

What birder owns just ONE field guide? The more, the better, and each book has its purpose. I routinely look at Chris Earley's collection (four books--warblers, sparrows, hawks/owls, and waterfowl) to pore over seasonal status charts found in the beginning of each book, and the cheat sheets and handy comparison picture charts located in the back of each book. The seasonal status charts are based on birds found/migrating through Point Pelee, Canada. I live close enough (MI) to utilize that data--it has helped on many an occasion to zero in on which bird might be in my neck of the woods on any given month. Likewise, the cheat sheets and comparison pictures will help narrow down confusing look-alike birds, particularly sparrows and warblers which can be difficult to identify. Are these all you need in your birding book collection? No, but they offer invaluable information I can't find in other field guides, or at least not in handy chart form. Best of all, they can be bought dirt-cheap, so all four really belong in every Eastern birder's collection of books.