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
... MOVEMENT / MIGRATION : Spring migration from late March to mid - June ; arrives on breeding grounds mid- to late May . Movement to molting / staging areas begins in midsummer ; true migration begins in mid - August . By late September ...
... migration, does not commonly associate with other waterfowl except for a few rare interior migrants that may associate with other geese. MOVEMENT/MIGRATION: Migratory routes are narrowly defined. Atlantic birds move to and from ...
... MOVEMENT / MIGRATION : Spring migration of Alaskan and western Canadian populations occurs from late February to early April ; fall from early October to mid - November . Other populations are mostly resident , although some ...
... migration, homogeneous flocks are the rule. FLIGHT: Longer, more obviously front-heavy than Green-winged Teal ... MOVEMENT/MIGRATION: Except in California and some southern portions of the bird's breeding range, the entire population ...
... MOVEMENT / MIGRATION : Spring migration from March to May ; fall from October to late December . Also makes a post - breeding / molting movement north of breeding areas in July and August . VI : 4 . DESCRIPTION : A bird whose similarity ...
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 |