Asked about his forthcoming book, Anthony replied," Having worked myself up from The Observers Book of Birds and pawnshop opera glasses to Swarovski ELs (and abject poverty) it is has been a cathartic experience to survey a life directed by birdwatching. Looking back and writing about what happened has given me a chance to don rose-coloured binoculars and make sure that, with the passage of time and the onset of a failing memory, truth did not get in the way of a good story. The book is about the moments that punctuated days either in the company of birds or in the company of a class of humanity that both Darwin and Linnaeus overlooked - Homo orno, the birdwatcher. Somewhere in the middle of it all is a deeper meaning - expressed best by Mrs McGeehan who observed the process from the sidelines and has charted, in several pithy epistles, my descent into a Life of Birds."
"Combining anecdote, scientific theory and practical experience the Sound Approach to birding is a step-by-step guide through tone, pitch, rhythm, reading sonagrams, acoustics, and using sounds to age and sex birds." -- Back cover.
Rocky Mountain National Park is a destination for birders from around the world. No other locale offers such ready access to the pristine high-elevation habitat required by species such as White-tailed Ptarmigan, Brown-capped Rosy Finch, Blue Grouse, Gray Jay, Black Swift, Northern Pygmy-owl, Three-toed Woodpecker, Williamson's Sapsucker, Band-tailed Pigeon, and Pine Grosbeak. In Birding Rocky Mountain National Park, author Scott Roederer takes you on a tour of the Park's best birding areas. In great detail, he describes where to find the most sought-after birds of the montane forests and alpine tundra. From when to go to where to park, he'll lead you to specific places to find White-tailed Ptarmigan on Trail Ridge Road and to an out-of-the-way part of the Park where Black Swifts are regularly sighted roadside. He'll show you how to make the most of an all-too-short vacation by telling you where to find the best birding for the most species. Join him on a world-class birding adventure to Rocky Mountain National Park.
Become a better birder with brief portraits of 200 top North American birds. This friendly, relatable book is a celebration of the art, science, and delights of bird-watching. How to Know the Birds introduces a new, holistic approach to bird-watching, by noting how behaviors, settings, and seasonal cycles connect with shape, song, color, gender, age distinctions, and other features traditionally used to identify species. With short essays on 200 observable species, expert author Ted Floyd guides us through a year of becoming a better birder, each species representing another useful lesson: from explaining scientific nomenclature to noting how plumage changes with age, from chronicling migration patterns to noting hatchling habits. Dozens of endearing pencil sketches accompany Floyd's charming prose, making this book a unique blend of narrative and field guide. A pleasure for birders of all ages, this witty book promises solid lessons for the beginner and smiles of recognition for the seasoned nature lover.
The essential companion to any birder's field guide Birdwatching is for everyone. No other outdoor pursuit yields so much knowledge of nature’s ways with so little effort—if one knows what to look for. Birding for Beginners opens the world of birding to the novice in this complete guide to getting the most out of birding. This updated edition includes a new chapter on birding online and features detailed chapters on equipment, identification techniques, birding “by ear,” where to view birds, field guides, optics, and other essentials to get the beginner quickly into the field to identify birds. Especially valuable are chapters on bird behaviors such as feeding, flight, courting and breeding, nesting, and migration—informing the beginner not only about what kind of bird is on the other end of the binoculars, but what it is up to as well.
From the renowned author of the New York Times best seller The Sibley Guide to Birds, a comprehensive, beautifully illustrated guide to identifying birds in the field. Sibley's Birding Basics is an essential companion for birders of all skill and experience levels. With Sibley as your guide, learn how to interpret what the feathers, the anatomical structure, the sounds of a bird tell you. When you know the clues that show you why there’s no such thing as, for example, “just a duck” birding will be more fun, and more meaningful. An essential addition to the Sibley shelf! The Sibley Guide to Birds and The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior are both universally acclaimed as the new standard source of species information. And now David Sibley, America’s premier birder and best-known bird artist, turns his attention to the general characteristics that influence the appearance of all birds, unlocking the clues to their identity. In 200 beautifully rendered illustrations and 16 essays, this scientifically precise volume distills the essence of Sibley’s own experience and skills, providing a solid introduction to “naming” the birds. Birding Basics reviews how one can get started as a birder—the equipment necessary, where and when to go birding, and perhaps most important, the essential things to look for when birds appear in the field—as well as the basic concepts of bird identification and the variations that can change the appearance of a bird over time or in different settings. Sibley also provides critical information on the aspects of avian life that differ from species to species: feathers (color, arrangement, shape, molt), behavior and habitat, and sounds.
Meet the ladies: a flock of smart, affectionate, highly individualistic chickens who visit their favorite neighbors, devise different ways to hide from foxes, and mob the author like she's a rock star. In these pages you'll also meet Maya and Zuni, two orphaned baby hummingbirds who hatched from eggs the size of navy beans, and who are little more than air bubbles fringed with feathers. Their lives hang precariously in the balance-but with human help, they may one day conquer the sky. Snowball is a cockatoo whose dance video went viral on YouTube and who's now teaching schoolchildren how to dance. You'll meet Harris's hawks named Fire and Smoke. And you'll come to know and love a host of other avian characters who will change your mind forever about who birds really are. Each of these birds shows a different and utterly surprising aspect of what makes a bird a bird-and these are the lessons of Birdology: that birds are far stranger, more wondrous, and at the same time more like us than we might have dared to imagine. In Birdology, beloved author of The Good Good Pig Sy Montgomery explores the essence of the otherworldly creatures we see every day. By way of her adventures with seven birds-wild, tame, exotic, and common-she weaves new scientific insights and narrative to reveal seven kernels of bird wisdom. The first lesson of Birdology is that, no matter how common they are, Birds Are Individuals, as each of Montgomery's distinctive Ladies clearly shows. In the leech-infested rain forest of Queensland, you'll come face to face with a cassowary-a 150-pound, man-tall, flightless bird with a helmet of bone on its head and a slashing razor-like toenail with which it (occasionally) eviscerates people-proof that Birds Are Dinosaurs. You'll learn from hawks that Birds Are Fierce; from pigeons, how Birds Find Their Way Home; from parrots, what it means that Birds Can Talk; and from 50,000 crows who moved into a small city's downtown, that Birds Are Everywhere. They are the winged aliens who surround us. Birdology explains just how very "other" birds are: Their hearts look like those of crocodiles. They are covered with modified scales, which are called feathers. Their bones are hollow. Their bodies are permeated with extensive air sacs. They have no hands. They give birth to eggs. Yet despite birds' and humans' disparate evolutionary paths, we share emotional and intellectual abilities that allow us to communicate and even form deep bonds. When we begin to comprehend who birds really are, we deepen our capacity to approach, understand, and love these otherworldly creatures. And this, ultimately, is the priceless lesson of Birdology: it communicates a heartfelt fascination and awe for birds and restores our connection to these complex, mysterious fellow creatures
