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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... shape, blatant patterns, behavioral traits, comparisons with similar species, habitat, and the other birds that share this habitat. If you are familiar with one of my earlier books, Hawks in Flight, a field guide cowritten with David ...
... shape ( angular and compact for Common , gangly for Forster's ) , overall color ( gray for Common , frosty white for Forster's ) , habitat ( offshore for Common , tidal marsh creeks and ponds for Forster's ) , and , when it applies ...
... shape, neck length, body shape, leg length, or foot shape) link birds to closely related species; also, because these attributes vary less between the ages and sexes within a species, they are commonly not as variable or transitional as ...
... shape: GISS (General Impression of Size and Structure, pronounced gizz or jizz). GISS is a subjective clue, and its primary usefulness is to alert birders to the possibility that a bird is different or unexpected. It can also be very ...
... Very territorial during the nesting season (and sometimes in winter). The threat posture—with wings raised theatrically over the back and the neck tucked in a tight S curve (the shape you see on merry - go - round swans )
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 |