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
Results 1-5 of 77
... winter . DISTRIBUTION : Breeds as three separate populations — western , midcontinent , and eastern - in coastal arctic ( and subarctic ) regions from nw . Greenland to Wrangel I. ( Russia ) . Winters in pockets from s . B.C. to cen ...
... winter in North America are found breeding from Baffin I. to Siberia. (A separate population breeds throughout the Queen Elizabeth Is. and n. Greenland and winters in Ireland.) Never found far from the coast (in the breeding season) ...
... winter range, where singles often occur). Allows approach to within a dozen feet. Commonly found in small tight-packed groups of 10 to 50. (In the Pacific, rafts numbering several hundred birds are possible.) Lone birds associate with ...
... winter, is a comical braying chant—as if a duck were singing opera: “ah, ahna-lee,” or “ah, ah, ahna-lee.” May be repeated several times. Females make a low atonal grunt or quack, “urk, urk urk.” Bufflehead,. Bucephala. albeola. Duckling.
... winter, found in small flocks (3–50 birds) that do not mix with other divers (except Barrow's Goldeneye). In open ... winter, when flushed, females often make a short, low, huffing pant, “arrh, arrh.” Barrow's. Goldeneye,. Bucephala.
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 |