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Roger Tory Peterson

Virginia Marie Peterson

A Peterson Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides) Paperback – April 4, 2002

by Roger Tory Peterson (Author, Editor), Virginia Marie Peterson (Editor)

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Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern & Central North America, Seventh Edition (Peterson Field Guides)
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Roger Tory Peterson had already made his mark with his innovative field guide when he conducted DDT research during World War II. His friend and fellow naturalist Rachel Carson built on these efforts and eventually wrote Silent Spring, a landmark text that, along with Peterson’s field guide, jump-started the modern environmental movement.
By combining the tireless observation of a scientist with the imaginative skills of an artist and writer, Peterson created a field guide that Robert Bateman, in his foreword to the fifth edition, says was the doorway for millions of people into the wonderland of natural history. The Peterson Identification System has been used in the more than fifty books that make up the Peterson Field Guide series. Peterson’s magnum opus, now in its fifth edition, created the trail for countless field guides to follow. They are still following year by year, but his is the standard by which all other field guides are judged.
On the morning of July 28, 1996, Roger Peterson was painting his final bird plate. He died peacefully in his sleep later that day. It is fitting that his final work—a culmination of more than sixty years of observing, painting, and writing—should be this one, a revision of the guide that started his legacy.

Print length

456 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date

April 4, 2002
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0395740460
ISBN-13

978-0395740460
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

ROGER TORY PETERSON, one of the world’s greatest naturalists, received every major award for ornithology, natural science, and conservation as well as numerous honorary degrees, medals, and citations, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Peterson Identification System has been called the greatest invention since binoculars.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

CHIMNEY SWIFT Chaetura pelagica Common 551?2" (1214 cm) Like a cigar with wings. A blackish swallowlike bird with long, slightly curved, stiff wings and stubby tail. It appears to beat its wings not in unison but alternately (actually this is an illusion); effect is more batlike, unlike skimming of swallows. They seem to fairly twinkle, gliding between spurts, holding wings bowed in a crescent. Voice: Loud, rapid, ticking or twittering notes. Range: S. Canada to Gulf of Mexico. Winters in Peru. Habitat: Open sky, especially over cities, towns; nests and roosts in chimneys (originally in large hollow trees and cliff crevices). Text copyright © 2002 by the Marital Trust B u/a Roger Tory Peterson and the Estate of Virginia Peterson. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.

Product details

Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Fifth edition (April 4, 2002)
Language : English
Paperback : 456 pages
ISBN-10 : 0395740460
ISBN-13 : 978-0395740460
Item Weight : 1.43 pounds
Dimensions : 5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #186,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews:
213 ratings

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1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Bob-a-rama

The definitive guide.

Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

The definitive guide. Fortunately they finally added mini maps on the same page as the bird descriptions so you don't have to flip to the back to see if the bird comes to your area or not. That makes difficult identifications easier, especially for someone like me who isn't hard-core in the birdwatching world. I just like to get out in the wild and know what I'm seeing.

4 people found this helpful

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April S

Our Favorite Bird Book

Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2021

Verified Purchase

We gave our original one to one of our grandsons. Amazingly at less than 2 years old, he loves to look at it and learn bird names. This copy is our home's replacement.

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Amazon Customer

Excellent Field Guide for Beginner to Intermediate Birder

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2002

Verified Purchase

This is the last Field Guide done by the great Roger Tory Peterson before his passing in 1996. Most of the plates have been reworked and many redrawn. He was working on the last plate (on Flycatchers) the day he died.

This remains probably the best Field guide for beginner to intermediate birders in the eastern US (and Canada). The illustrations and the helpfull arrows (the "Peterson System") pointing out essential ID points. His verbal descriptions often bring the birds to life, such as his now famous decriptions of Sanderlings and Swifts, and the verbal descriptions of bird songs and calls remain the best of any guide. This remains one of my favourtie Field Guides and is often the one that accompanies me out in the field. The National Geographic Guide may be a slightly more suitable choice for the advanced birder, though birders of all levels would be delighted with this guide.

A welcome change in this edition is the addition of small "thumbnail" maps on the opposite page to the illustration thus removing one of the main criticisms of previous editions. The larger maps remain in the back, still done by Mrs Peterson with help from Paul Lehman. One negative is the slight increase in size (the pages are a little bigger) making the book slightly less pocketable.

Overall an excellent Field guide, which while not reaching the exaltred heights recently set by Mullarney et al in their superb European guide, is the final effort by the man who essentially started it all.

66 people found this helpful

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SuziCQ

Beautiful and Useful

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2011

Verified Purchase

An excellent field guide! Our family refers to it often! This book has beautiful, faithfully executed illustrations. It is well-organized and is a perfect take-along size. It appears to be quite exhaustive as it hasn't yet failed to help us identify any bird within it's geographical area when we've used it for identification. It's also informative and interesting to just browse or read. Of special interest is the forward in the book, even if you usually skip those, in this case you shouldn't, it speaks of the life, work, and character of the [now-deceased] author and illustrator, Dr. Roger Tory Peterson. It's a moving glimpse into the the life and work of this dedicated man.

3 people found this helpful

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Dr. F.

Great book to ID bird species in East US

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2016

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I had a small book on birds that I used to get pretty good at IDing the visitors to my feeders, suet and seed mix thrown on ground. However, there were some birds who came by that I still had a hard time recognizing definitively. Hence, I ordered this book and it has been very useful in expanding my knowledge of birds on the East coast. It is chock full of info, although there are so many birds described, the details on any one are not abundant. The best thing is to use book to make ID and then direct to Internet search for more details on a specific species when the interested is peaked. In short, for a broad, quick ID manual, this is very good; I recommend it!

2 people found this helpful

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StitchingNut

The is the best bird guide book I've ever seen or owned!

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2004

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I own a few bird books but this is the best and most handy one to identify a bird I'm not familar with. I love the arrows pointing to the areas for quick identification. It shows me what I should be looking for and sure helps when the bird won't stand still. The book is so light, I can have it on hand at all times. I even have it next to me in my own backyard. If you want a book to start out a new hobby of identifying birds, this is the one to get. Then start collecting from there. In fact, I'm considering buying another one for my car for spir-of-the-moment identification away from home and leave one at home for the backyard.

16 people found this helpful

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Pebble K.

Great purchase

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book updates my older edition. It is nice that it has small maps that show the locations next to the description (along with the ones on the back). Also, in comparing the maps you can see the change of bird locations. Very interesting and helpful. I'm very happy I purchased this book.

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D. Klaiber

Beautiful pictures!

Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2019

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Comprehensive and comfortable to carry around and use.

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