Birding by impression : a different approach to knowing and identifying birds
Kevin Karlson (Author), Dale A. Rosselet (Author), Roger Tory Peterson Institute (Issuing body), National Wildlife Federation (Issuing body)
"Birding is an extremely rewarding and fun hobby, but some situations can be frustrating or unsuccessful because of a variety of challenging viewing conditions. This guide to identifying birds offers the holistic "birding by impression" method, which not only helps with these difficult conditions, but also develops an efficient mental identification process using left- and right-brain skills. It begins with a conscious assessment of a bird's unchanging physical characteristics, including general size, body shape, structural features (bill, legs, neck, and wings), and behavior. Using this approach, birders can quickly assess all birds and distinguish new and uncommon species from familiar ones. They can then examine more detailed field marks to fine-tune the identification. Rather than a traditional field guide, this book presents an interactive how-to approach to a more complete identification process." -- Provided by publisher
Field guides
1 online resource (309 p.).
9780547527864, 0547527861
1162602203
Foreword by Pete Dunne
Preface
INTRODUCTION
How to use this book
The problem and the solution
BBI: The why and how
BBI basics
Sample field ID scenarios using the BBI approach
ACCOUNTS
Ducks, geese, and swans
Grouse, quails, ptarmigans, wild turkey, ring-necked pheasant, plain chachalaca, and partridges
Loons and grebes
Albatrosses, Northern fulmar, petrels, shearwaters, storm-petrels, alcids, tropicbirds, magnificent frigatebird, boobies, Northern gannet, cormorants, anhinga, and pelicans
Herons, egrets, ibises, wood stork, roseate spoonbill, bitterns, flamingos, cranes, and limpkin
Rails, gallinules, and American coot
Raptors
Shorebirds
Gulls, jaegers, and skuas
Terns and black skimmer
Pigeons and doves
Cuckoos, greater roadrunner, and anis
Owls, nightjars, and nighthawks
Hummingbirds and swifts
Kingfishers
Woodpeckers, nuthatches, and brown creeper
Tyrant flycatchers
Shrikes and vireos
Jays, crows, and ravens
Swallows and purple martin
Chickadees, titmice, verdin, and bushtit
Wrens
Larks, pipits, and wagtails
American dipper and wrentit
Gnatcatchers and kinglets
Bluebirds, Townsend's solitaire, and Northern wheatear
Thrushes
Mockingbirds, gray catbird, and thrashers
Phainopepla, waxwings, European starling, and common myna
Warblers
Tanagers, Northern cardinal, and pyrrhuloxia
Grosbeaks and buntings
Dickcissel and white-collared seedeater
Towhees, sparrows, longspurs, and buntings
Meadowlarks, bobolink, cowbirds, grackles, blackbirds, and orioles
Finches and Old World sparrows
Acknowledgments
Appendix
Photographer credits
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Description based upon print version of record