The Unfeathered Bird Katrina van Grouw 304 pp. | 10 x 12 Princeton University Press | 2012 The Unfeathered Bird is a new release from Princeton University Press that takes a very different look at birds. This large format book (read: perfect for a coffee table) has over 385 drawings of 200 species showing the anatomy of birds that they … Read More
Review- Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Pennsylvania
[dc]M[/dc]y first field job was working as a point counter for the Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Pennsylvania. Not only did this give me a huge boost in my birding by ear skills, it also introduced me to the Pennsylvania birding community and was instrumental in starting my involvement in ornithology in PA. I ended working for three years … Read More
Review: How to Be a Better Birder
Have you ever wanted a book to go beyond a field guide and tell you how to find birds? This book does exactly that. With a huge variety of field guides on the market today, there is little problem finding a way to identify the birds that we see in the field. But how does a new birder learn to … Read More
Review: Birding Hot Spots of Central New Mexico
[dc]M[/dc]y first impression on skimming through Judy Liddell and Barbara Hussey’s ‘Birding Hot Spots of Central New Mexico” was of a very modern book to birding the area. While many regional guides focus heavily on habitat descriptions and broader generalizations, this guide focuses much more on getting you to a good spot for birding and telling you what to look … Read More
Review: Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast, A Natural History
[dc]T[/dc]here is no doubt about it. Spring is upon us in all of its glorious proliferation. Trees are leafing-out, yards are being mowed, and spring migrants are winging their way back to us in earnest. Frankly, I’m a bit worried about warblering season, as the unseasonably early tree leaves will make the little buggers impossible to see. (And let’s be … Read More
Review: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Mammals
Alright birders, let’s take a break from spring migration (if that’s even possible) and challenge your other-nature knowledge. Do you know the defining features of a mammal? Sure, the average person could provide the correct – if not complete – answer of “they have hair.” But I know second-graders who can do that. A more knowledgeable person might add “they … Read More
Review: Birds of India
I know they say you should never judge a book by its cover, but when I first opened the box and saw Birds of India: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and The Maldives (Second Edition), my initial reaction was wow. The shiny black cover with the stunning Indian Pitta makes this one of the most attractive field guide covers … Read More
Review: Birds of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire
Birds of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire by Bart de Boer, Eric Newton & Robin Restall introduced me to the avian life of an area I had never paid attention to before. If you are not familiar with these islands, they are off the north coast of Venezuela in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea. The islands arose from the … Read More
Review: Cotingas and Manakins
I was very excited to get my hands on the newly released Cotingas and Manakins by Guy M. Kirwan and Graeme Green. Some of my favorite birds that I saw during a trip to Costa Rica in 2004 were Long-tailed Manakin and Snowy Cotinga. Snowy Cotinga’s are neat because, of course, they are all white which is a pretty unusual … Read More
Review: Audubon Birds, now with more eBird
Audubon Birds – A Field Guide to North American Birds v1.9 $19.99 from the Green Mountain Digital A new version of Audubon Birds: A field guide to North American Birds was just recently released and I’ve now had some time to use it and check out the new features. The main part of the app is the field guide. What sets … Read More