The Shorebird Guide (Turtleback)

by Michael O'Brien (Author), Richard Crossley (Author), Kevin Karlson (Author) "Shorebirds are a varied group of wading birds in the order Charadriiformes, which also includes skuas, jaegers, gulls, terns, skimmers, and alcids..." (more)
Key Phrases: Atlantic Coast, South America, North America (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Birding by impression: an all-new, holistic approach to identifying shorebirds.

Join the experts in this revolutionary approach to bird identification. Experienced birders use the most easily observed characteristics — size, structure, behavior, and general color patterns — to identify birds even before looking carefully at plumage details. Now birders at all levels can learn how to identify shorebirds quickly and simply. This guide includes more than 870 stunning color photographs, starting with a general impression of the species and progressing to more detailed images of the bird throughout its life cycle. Quiz questions in the captions will engage and challenge all birders and help them benefit from this simplified, commonsense approach to identification.

Product Details

• Turtleback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (April 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618432949
• ISBN-13: 978-0618432943
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,410 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #65 in	Books > Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Ornithology
  #99 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Birdwatching

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bird Book that is a Breed Apart, June 9, 2006

By	J. Clark (Fairfax, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Shorebird Guide is a different kind of bird guide. It tackles a traditionally difficult subject in a unique way that makes identifying Shorebirds seem (almost) easy. The book is split into two sections: the first is a color photographic guide to each species; the second is a text write-up of standard field-guide information as well as behavioral details and such for each species.

Each species gets several pages of beautiful color photographs. Each photograph shows the species under discussion in a real world setting and has a short but info packed caption. The photographs progress from juvenile birds through adults (breeding and non-breeding). Many of the photographs contain more than one bird and more than one species. Some of the captions pose questions to the reader (answers in the back). Working out the answers to these questions is a good test of your skills.

The philosophy behind this book is that of GISS (general impression of size and shape) or gestalt. This means that the identification of a bird is worked out, not by plumage details or colorations as with a typical field guide, but instead by the overall impression of the bird. This is an especially useful tool with Shorebirds.

In conclusion, this is an amazing bird book and one that every birder needs to have in their library. It will definitely make you a better birder.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent but quirky guide., November 9, 2006

By	Weatherbird (Hawaii) - See all my reviews

If you are a real shorebird enthusiast, or simply enjoy looking at great bird photographs, this would be a great book for you. If you want a straightforward reference for field identification, this may not be the book for you.

The book has two main sections: Species Photos (with copious identification notes and range maps, and Species Accounts. The photo section is subdivided into "Domestic Species" and ""Rarities and Regional Specialties". The photos in the book are wonderful, so it is fun to look through even if you are not trying to learn anything. Many of the photos are excellent for learning how to identify particular species and many others help to illustrate particular behaviors. Other photos are beautiful, but not very useful for illustrating identification features or behavior.

The text is also excellent. Although the authors profess to use a holistic approach to identification, there is plenty of attention to specific details. For example, in the notes for the White-rumped Sandpiper: "all plumages may show unique reddish or brownish base to lower mandible". Many photos show multiple species and there are little quizzes mixed in with the identification notes.

I often carry this book in my car when I'm out birding, but the book would be rather large and heavy to carry in the field. I dislike the separate sections for "Domestic Species" and ""Rarities and Regional Specialties". It would be much easier to compart similar species (like Wilson's Snipe and Common Snipe) if the photos for the two species were adjacent to eachother. I find the quizzes are fun, but they may not be to everyone's taste. Taking quizzes would be fine for home, but the quizzes might just get in the way if you were trying to use this bood in the field. This is a great book, but if you want a straigtforward reference for shorebird identification better suited for carrying in the field, you might prefer "Shorebirds of North America: The Photographic Guide" by Dennis Paulson.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is indeed THE guide to shorebirds, February 22, 2007

By	Grant McCreary "birderslibrary dot com" (GA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is perhaps the best bird family guide that I've seen. It is definitely the best identification guide to this difficult group of birds.
The book focuses more on size and shape rather than plumage. Therefore, the photos aren't like other guides. They are not all uniformly sized super close-up shots of a single bird. Instead they are sized to better emphasize certain characteristics. They often show multiple birds of different species so as to give a better comparison of size, shape, and plumage.

One of the best features of the guide is the questions in some captions. Most species have at least one question in one of their photo captions. The questions ask the reader to do such things as identify some of the species in the photo, or to pick out one particular species among all the birds present. The answers are contained in an appendix in the back. These questions force the reader to apply the knowledge and techniques imparted by the authors and look more critically and actively at the photograph.

I can't recommend this book enough.