Introduction. Wide-angle birding: be the bird, see the bird ; Becoming a "good birder": understanding the basics ; Birding mentors ; Why birding is cool -- Waterbirds. Loons ; Swans ; Mallard and monochromatic "mallards" ; White herons -- Coastal birds. Eiders ; Brachyramphus murrelets ; Pacific cormorants -- Seabirds. Sulids: northern gannet and boobies ; Tropical terns ; Atlantic gadflies -- Large shorebirds. Curlews ; Godwits -- Skulkers. Marsh sparrows ; Small wrens (troglodytes and cistothorus) -- Birds of forest and edge. Accipiters ; American rosefinches -- Aerial insectivores. Swifts -- Night birds. Screech-owls: an "otus" and the megascops ; Nighthawks -- Open-country birds. Yellow-bellied kingbirds ; Black corvids: crows and ravens ; Pipits ; Longspurs ; Cowbirds.
Summary:
"Reveals the techniques expert birders use to identify a wide array of bird species in the field ... Featuring hundreds of ... photos and composite plates throughout, this book simplifies identification by organizing the birds you see into groupings and offering strategies specifically tailored to each group. Skill-building focuses not just on traditional elements such as plumage, but also on creating a context around each bird, including habitat, behavior, and taxonomy"--Page 4 of cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.