A Field Guide to Warblers of North America (Peterson Field Guide Series) (Paperback)

by Kimball Garrett (Author), Jon Dunn (Author), Sue A. Tackett (Editor), Roger Tory Peterson (Editor), Larry O. Rosche (Editor), Thomas R. Schultz (Illustrator), Cynthia House (Illustrator) "North American warblers, or wood-warblers, have long captivated birders with their diversity, bright plumages, sprightly behavior, and spectacular migrations..." (more)
Key Phrases: first fall female, first fall male, first spring female, Gulf Coast, North America, New England (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Peterson Field Guides series has added another weapon to its considerable arsenal of bird-identification guidebooks: a field guide devoted solely to the warblers of North America. Warblers, those small, sprightly, colorful songbirds that move north through the continent for the breeding season, have always delighted and simultaneously frustrated birders around the country. This field guide won't cure any cases of "warbler neck"--a condition brought on by extensive peering into the treetops--but it will help you to better decide just which species has your craned-neck attention. With color plates (including the "Peterson System" of arrows indicating important field marks), photographs, distribution maps, and textual information on species description, habitat, behavior, song, plumage variations, and migration patterns, this is an essential resource for birders.

Review
"The Peterson Field Guides series has added another weapon to its considerable arsenal of bird-identification guidebooks: a field guide devoted solely to the warblers of North America. Warblers, those small, sprightly, colorful songbirds that move north through the continent for the breeding season, have always delighted and simultaneously frustrated birders around the country. This field guide won't cure any cases of "warbler neck"--a condition brought on by extensive peering into the treetops--but it will help you to better decide just which species has your craned-neck attention. With color plates (including the "Peterson System" of arrows indicating important field marks), photographs, distribution maps, and textual information on species description, habitat, behavior, song, plumage variations, and migration patterns, this is an essential resource for birders." -- Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (September 24, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395783216
• ISBN-13: 978-0395783214
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #157,108 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Combines the best elements of field and academic bird books., March 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Field Guide to Warblers of North America (Peterson Field Guide Series) (Hardcover)

The latest addition to the revered Peterson field guide series, A Field Guide to Warblers of North America by Jon L Dunn and Kimball L Garrett is a benchmark in American birding literature. At 660 pages, heavy enough to make your hand cramp up while holding it, this work might be described as a hybrid: too thick and wordy to be a field guide, too clearly written to be an ornithological manual. "Warblers" has combined the best elements of field and academic books; thirty-two excellent plates by Thomas R Schultz and Cindy House which are supplemented with photos, and detailed information on plumages, provide years worth of learning opportunities even for the advanced birder. Discussions of subspecific variations, molt sequences, taxonomic relationships and population and conservation status, along with references for further reading, allow birders to go beyond field identification to an expansive understanding of North America's wood warblers. Even for those warbler-depauperate corners of the country, such as the Pacific Northwest, where eight species of warblers is a good day's haul, this is a worthy investment. Warblers is written by and for information junkies. When you want to check range maps that are larger in scale and more accurate than any seen in field guides of the past, or illustrations and text of Townsend's/Hermit hybrids you'll go for this book. When you want to "really" know something about Yellow Warblers you'll set aside an hour and a half to digest this book's twenty-two pages describing it's plumages, habitats, vocalizations, etc. The range of the plates is no less mind-boggling than the text. The plate illustrating the Orange-crowned Warbler has ten full-body illustrations and two head-only illustrations: adult males of four races, four first-fall male and female variations, and two juveniles of different races. Yellow-rumped Warblers are given their own plate with twelve full illustrations and five partials to show gender, age and race differences. I've always thought that some of the best information in bird books is in the preface, introduction and appendixes. Many people skip over these portions when appraising a work but a thorough read of the introduction gives one the framework in which to understand much of what follows. The appendixes and various "add-ons" at the end of the book suggest ways in which you can further explore the subject if you're interested. The introduction to Warblers discusses characteristics of the warbler genera, speciation and hybridization, geographical variation, plumages and molts, habitats, foraging habits, vocalizations, breeding biology, migration and conservation issues. The appendixes contain a glossary with a separate section for geographical terms, useful for a book which goes into such detail regarding distribution and a twenty-seven page list of references. Warblers is one of those books that threatens to make a couch birder out of you. Don't be too tempted though; buy this book and study it well, but use that information in the real world outside your four walls, and bring what you see with your own eyes together with the knowledge you've gleaned from Warblers. Your understanding and appreciation of this diverse and fascinating family will be richer for it.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Second to None!, October 16, 2001

By	David A. Brinkman "gwwarb" (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

Several years ago, while watching the bird feeders at Muskatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in Seymour, Indiana, I heard a voice behind me pointing out that there were two races of White-crowned Sparrow at the feeder. He went into detail about the subtle differences between the two. At first I thought to myself, who is this guy? Later, I realized that it was Jon Dunn! I have had a high respect for him ever since.
Years later, he was the guest speaker at our bird club meeting. He presented some of the plates from his, at the time, upcoming new field guide to warblers. I fell in love with the plates from the very start. Thomas R. Shultz and Cindy House did a remarkable job, and the detail that was carefully gathered from museum specimens is second to none. I knew from the beginning that I had to have this new field guide and I couldn't wait until it appeared on the shelves.
When I bought my copy of the finished product, it was even more than I expected. Aside from the detailed plates making fall and female warbler identification easier, the text is filled with information on virtually every aspect of life history of each species, with cross-references that will aid any serious researcher. More than just a field guide for identification purposes, this book belongs on the shelf of beginners and experts alike who share a passion for warblers.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource for the serious birder..., February 10, 1999

By	Luke Cole ([e-mail]) (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Field Guide to Warblers of North America (Peterson Field Guide Series) (Hardcover)

Dunn & Garrett have put together an exhaustive and educational treatment of warblers found in North America. It is guaranteed to be the standard text covering this family of birds. Its plates are beautiful and instructive, its text thorough and useful. Plates 31 and 32, which give show the undersides of the tails of all North American warblers, are worth the price of the book alone. If you are a serious birder or a backyard birdwatcher, you won't be disappointed to have this book around.