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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... fall to the bird's flight. Example: many woodpeckers. BOUNCY OR BOUNDING: There is a regular, mostly even, rise and fall to the bird's flight, with deep oscillations. Example: American Goldfinch. JERKY: Bird flight characterized by ...
... fall from late August to late October . Wanders in summer and fall , so may turn up well north of its normal range . VI : 3 . DESCRIPTION : A duck of a different color - the only native tawny orange duck in the United States . Medium ...
... fall of the tide . In winter , feeds during the low tide cycle on beaches , rocky shores , and mud flats by reaching below the water's surface or walking in shallow water and picking . In spring , grazes on and roots for salt - tolerant ...
... fall, the migration is very constricted and wholly over land; in spring, some birds return via a coastal route to ... fall. Spring migration from late January to early June, with peak between March and early May); fall from late August ...
... fall migration, on the East Coast, is late September into November. In the West, fall migration is extremely protracted, with males first appearing in coastal wintering areas in early June and some females and immatures not reaching ...
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 |