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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... close range, the face of Snow Goose looks ugly. In all populations, but most commonly among birds wintering along the Gulf Coast and lower Mississippi Valley, a certain percentage of dark individuals occur—so-called Blue Geese. Blue ...
... close association with males, greatly simplifying the identification process. When you see a large brown duck swimming close to what is obviously a drake Mallard, the way to frame the identification challenge is not to look at the ...
... close approach. FLIGHT: Long-bodied profile, with a very projecting head and very slender (but not particularly long) wings. Flight is strong and nimble. Often flies in tight flocks that wheel and maneuver well, but is not as recklessly ...
... close to a rocky shoreline, where it dives for shellfish. Forages most often with other Common Eiders, but south of main wintering concentrations is usually found among flocks of scoter around jetties and seawalls. Fairly tame; usually ...
... close to freshwater rivers and streams in coastal Lab. west to Hudson Bay as well as in n. Nfld. and the Gaspe Peninsula. Winters in coastal waters from Nfld. to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. In w. North America, breeds from the Seward ...
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 | |
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Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion: A Comprehensive Resource for ... Pete Dunne No preview available - 2013 |