A Guide to Bird Behavior, Volume 2 (Stokes Nature Guides) (Paperback)

by Donald Stokes (Author), Lillian Stokes (Author) "THE KILLDEER'S SCIENTIFIC NAME, VOCIFERUS, IS WELL CHOSEN SINCE this bird spends long stretches of its breeding period giving its Kideah-calls..." (more)
Key Phrases: Territory Type, Breeding Eggs, Courtship Main (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.; 1st edition (January 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316817295
• ISBN-13: 978-0316817295
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #515,140 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed behavior information on 25 common birds., April 22, 1999

By A Customer

The Stokes have produced a book describing the behavior of 25 birds. The catagories of information include: visual displays, auditory displays, territory, courtship, nest-building, breeding, plumage, seasonal movement, and behavior at the bird feeder. The 25 birds covered in this book include: Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Mourning dove, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood Pewee, Barn Swallow, Tufted Titmouse, White-brested Nuthatch, Marsh Wren, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow Warbler, Eastern Meadowlark, Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Rose-brested Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Rufous-sided Twohee, Chipping Sparrow, and Field Sparrow. This is not a bird identification book and the illustrations are not in color. Bird Behavior is a facinating book about why birds do the things they do. Donald and Lillian Stokes have provided a new way to look at birds.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Information to Better Understand Your Feathered Friends, February 7, 2003

By	mirasreviews (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

The Stokes Guides to Bird Behavior are great little references for backyard bird-watching. You may have to wander a little further than your backyard to observe some of these species, but the birds in your neighborhood are probably in one of the three Stokes volumes. Each Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior features 25 common North American bird species. For each species, the authors explain visual displays, auditory displays, territory courtship, nest-building, breeding, plumage and seasonal movement, and provide a calendar so that you can clearly see when these behaviors occur. I wouldn't take any generalizations about bird behavior too seriously because many birds are very individual, and their behaviors and social customs vary accordingly. But these books will give you a good basis for understanding and predicting the behavior of your avian neighbors. You'll enjoy watching your little feathered friends all the more with the added understanding the Stokes Guides provide.

My one complaint about these books is that the bird species are not in any particular order, and neither are they indexed. If you look at the table of contents you will see that the species are not in alphabetical or any other order, and there is no sense to which birds are in which volume or where they are placed in the book. In other words, you have to read through the entire list of 25 species in the table of contents, in each book, to locate the species you want. I have no explanation for this, and I made an index for the books myself to save me from the frustration involved every time I want to look up a species. That is the reason I gave the book(s) 4 stars instead of 5.

In Volume Two: Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Downey Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood Pewee, Barn Swallow, Tufted Titmouse, White-Breasted Nuthatch, Marsh Wren, Brown Thrasher, Wood Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow Warbler, Eastern Meadowlark, Brown-Headed Cowbird, Northern Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Rufous-Sided Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, and Field Sparrow.