Birds of Texas: A Field GuideThere are certain pilgrimages that must be made by the serious North American birder: Santa Ana in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Hawk Mountain, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Delaware Bay, the Everglades, High Island, Point Reyes, and Big Bend, to name a few. It is no accident that many of these ornithological shrines are located in Texas, which has the most diverse avifauna in North America north of Mexico. Texas comes by this enormous diversity honestly, with rugged mountains, vast deserts, lush semi-tropical woodlands, prairies, bayous, cedar brakes, thorn forests, and one of the richest temperate migration corridors in the world located along the western Gulf Coast. Birds of Texas: A Field Guide provides an introduction and ready access to this spectacular variety. The text provides detailed information on identification, habitat preferences, voice, seasonal occurrence, abundance, and distribution. Maps show precisely where in the state the bird can be found. Photos of the bird in the field put the species in the proper visual context for identification; in fact, the photos for over half of the 622 species were taken in Texas. Texas is a unique region of the hemisphere, and its birdlife is an important part of what makes it special. This book will be useful to the beginner and the experienced birder alike. |
Contents
3 | |
11 | |
13 | |
15 | |
Family Diomedeidae Albatrosses | 17 |
StormPetrels | 19 |
Family Phaethontidae Tropicbirds | 20 |
Pelicans | 22 |
Family Tytonidae BarnOwls | 127 |
Family Caprimulgidae Goatsuckers | 132 |
Family Apodidae Swifts | 135 |
Hummingbirds | 137 |
Family Trogonidae Trogons | 143 |
Family Alcedinidae Kingfishers | 144 |
Family Picidae Woodpeckers | 145 |
Family Tyrannidae Flycatchers and Kingbirds | 150 |
Cormorants | 23 |
Anhingas | 24 |
Frigatebirds | 25 |
Family Ardeidae Herons Egrets and Bitterns | 26 |
Ibises and Spoonbills | 31 |
Storks | 32 |
Family Phoenicopteridae Flamingos | 33 |
Family Anatidae Ducks Geese and Swans | 34 |
Family Cathartidae Vultures | 52 |
Hawks Kites and Eagles | 53 |
Caracaras and Falcons | 65 |
Family Cracidae Chachalacas | 69 |
Family Rallidae Rails Gallinules and Coots | 73 |
Limpkins | 77 |
Family Burhinidae Thickknees | 78 |
Plovers | 79 |
Oystercatchers | 82 |
Stilts and Avocets | 83 |
Jacanas | 84 |
Jaegers Gulls and Terns | 100 |
Family Columbidae Doves and Pigeons | 117 |
Family Psittacidae Parrots and Parakeets | 122 |
Family Cuculidae Cuckoos Roadrunners and Anis | 125 |
Larks | 161 |
Swallows and Martins | 162 |
Jays Crows and Ravens | 165 |
Chickadees and Titmice | 169 |
Verdin | 171 |
Nuthatches | 172 |
Creepers | 173 |
Wrens | 174 |
Dippers | 177 |
Kinglets Gnatcatchers and Thrushes | 178 |
Thrashers and Mockingbirds | 185 |
Pipits | 188 |
Waxwings | 189 |
SilkyFlycatchers | 190 |
Shrikes | 191 |
Starlings | 192 |
Wood Warblers Tanagers Sparrows Blackbirds Orioles and Emberizine Finches | 197 |
Old World Finches | 248 |
House Sparrows | 252 |
Photographers | 255 |
References | 263 |
267 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Apr.-May areas band base bays belly bill bird blue body boreal breast breeding range brownish buff buffy California Canada central central Mexico cheek coast coastal Common Common summer resident coverts crown dark brown east eastern third face Family feathers Female fields flanks flight Flycatcher forehead forest gray grayish green Gull Habitat Habits Hawk head Immature lacks lakes legs locally lower mainly male marshes Mexico mottled mountains nape neck North America northern notes orange pale Panama Panhandle patch permanent resident phrases plain portions prairie rare regions rump rusty savanna scrub sides Similar species Song South Texas southern southern Mexico southwestern Sparrow streaked stripe tail temperate Tern Texas thorn forest throat throughout Trans-Pecos transient tropical U.S. south uncommon Vireo Voice Warbler West Indies western whistled white wing whitish wing bars winter resident woodlands World yellow yellowish