Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion: A Comprehensive Resource for Identifying North American BirdsFrom the award-winning birder and author of Birds of Prey, an authoritative, information-packed guide to distinguishing North American birds. In this book, bursting with more information than any field guide could hold, the well-known author and birder Pete Dunne introduces readers to the “Cape May School of Birding.” It's an approach to identification that gives equal or more weight to a bird's structure and shape and the observer's overall impression (often called GISS, for General Impression of Size and Shape) than to specific field marks. After determining the most likely possibilities by considering such factors as habitat and season, the birder uses characteristics such as size, shape, color, behavior, flight pattern, and vocalizations to identify a bird. The book provides an arsenal of additional hints and helpful clues to guide a birder when, even after a review of a field guide, the identification still hangs in the balance. This supplement to field guides shares the knowledge and skills that expert birders bring to identification challenges. Birding should be an enjoyable pursuit for beginners and experts alike, and Pete Dunne combines a unique playfulness with the work of identification. Readers will delight in his nicknames for birds, from the Grinning Loon and Clearly the Bathtub Duck to Bronx Petrel and Chicken Garnished with a Slice of Mango and a Dollop of Raspberry Sherbet. |
From inside the book
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... bright orange bill, black party mask across the face, and swollen black nob at the base of the bill. Immatures are overall dingy or dusky, with grayish pink bills. The posture, the thick neck and head showing a prominent forehead, and ...
... bright white speculum that is obvious in flight and usually winks through the folded wing when the bird is sitting . BEHAVIOR : A Social duck ; in winter , usually found in small ( 6-20 ) homogeneous groups ( males and females are ...
... bright white (or dull) sides, and well-scuffed (or unscuffed) face draw your eye. Once you find a candidate, be warned—but be assured too—that if there are other minority scaup in the flock, chances are that the one next to your ...
... bright yellow or lime green bill augmented by a lime green blush across the nape is also distinctive. Adult females have grayish brown bodies with narrow black barring (which makes them look striped) and pale-tipped gray bills ...
... bright reddish orange bills, and prominent, seemingly painted-on white chin patches, look like overly made-up dowagers. The demarcation between the dark head and pale neck is abrupt and distinctive. At a distance, the female's head ...
Contents
LOONS | |
ALBATROSSES | |
STORMPETRELS | |
PELICANS | |
HERONS EGRETS AND IBIS | |
STORKS VULTURES AND FLAMINGOS | |
RAILS COOTS LIMPKIN AND CRANES | |
SHOREBIRDSPLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS | |
SKUAS AND JAEGERS | |
TERNS AND SKIMMER | |
ALCIDSAUKS MURRES AND PUFFINS | |
Other editions - View all
Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion: A Comprehensive Resource for ... Pete Dunne No preview available - 2013 |