Ultimate Guide to Hummingbirds will ignite your curiosity and immerse you in the world of these tiny marvels. Everyone knows and loves these energetic little fliers. Experience the magic yourself with this must-have book! Find out exactly what makes them tick, including how they hover and fly backwards, the intriguing way they consume nectar and how to keep them coming back to your yard year after year with the right plant picks and top-notch feeding tips. CHAPTERS 1. Hummingbird Basics & Beyond 2. Feeding 101 3. Create a Winning Hummingbird-Friendly Habitat 4. Best Plant Picks 5. Beyond the Backyard 6. Hummingbird Tales 7. Ask the Experts 8. DIY Projects
Covering 31 North American species, with more than 250 color photos and 33 maps, this is the most comprehensive field guide to hummingbirds. Introductory chapters cover the natural history of hummingbirds, ways to attract and feed them, and major hot spots in the United States and Canada for observing these fascinating birds. The 31 color plates illustrate 28 species, 7 hybrid combinations, 3 forms of albinism, and 4 species of sphinx moths often mistaken for hummingbirds. Species accounts provide in-depth information on plumage, molt, songs and calls, wing sounds, similar species, behavior, habitat, distribution, taxonomy, and conservation concerns. Detailed range maps show breeding, non-breeding, and year-round distribution, migration routes, and records outside expected areas of occurrence.
Attract amazing hummingbirds to your backyard! With this comprehensive, beautifully illustrated guide, you'll find it easy to attract these tiny jewel-like birds to your own yard. With this comprehensive, beautifully illustrated guide, you'll find it easy to attract these tiny, jewel-like birds to your own yard. The Stokes Hummingbird Book provides all the information you need to bring hummingbirds up close, identify them, and understand their fascinating and varied behavior. The book includes: Range maps and full-color photographs to help you identify and locate hummingbirds Information on how to select the proper feeders, what to use in them, when to put them up, and when to take them down Advice on what flowers to plant to attract hummingbirds in your part of the country Amazing facts about hummingbirds, such as how fast they fly and how much they weigh Guidelines for photographing hummingbirds Complete information on hummingbird behavior, including flight displays, breeding habits, and feeding A special section on attracting orioles, with photographs and behavior guides for each of the eight species found in North America A resource list for hummingbird supplies
Attracting birds to your backyard just got a little easier. This publication, brought to you by the editors of Birds & Blooms magazine, shows you how! Filled with expert ideas for creating your own bustling backyard bird haven, it shows the top foods preferred by your favorite winged visitors, how to create a safe environment they’ll want to nest in and the very best plants you can grow tokeep them coming back year after year. You’ll find what you need to know to identify and enjoy your feathered friends, including a field guide of the most common backyard birds, tips for recognizing their unique and beautiful songs and specific field marks, photography how-tos and must-have gear for birders. Plus, plan your next trip to a bird-watching hot spot with travel info and insights for locations around the country. Enjoy one full chapter of “Ask the Experts,” which includes tips and advice on some of the most sought-after answers to common queries about bird feeding, behaviors and more from experts Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman.
A fascinating reference guide to nature's "jewels in flight." Often called "jewels in flight" due to their brilliant plumage, the tiny hummingbird is a welcome friend in gardens and on patios everywhere. These fascinating little avians have long captured our imagination with their spectacular beauty and magical ability to hover in midair. Discover these remarkable little birds in the Complete Book of Hummingbirds by Tony Tilford. This is the ultimate reference guide to hummingbirds, featuring a comprehensive overview of the birds' biology, evolution, behavior, breeding, and migration patterns. You'll be awestruck by the amazing updated collection of full-color photographs depicting hummingbirds in flight and at rest in the Gallery of Hummingbirds. Learn how to attract hungry hummingbirds to your garden! Discover the kinds of plants and flowers that they love to visit, and how to create artificial feeding stations by making your own hummingbird food. From Woodnymphs and Mountain-Gems to Plovercrests and Hillstars, this thorough book describes all the hummingbirds of the world, and includes a helpful reference section, complete with a glossary and recommended websites for further reading.
This book is the first ever, comprehensive photographic guide to the identification of all 24 species of hummingbirds to be seen as breeders or vagrants in North America. For all their startling colors, the speed of hummingbird flight and the often drab coloration of females and immatures make this group especially difficult to deal with in the field. The simple field marks are often poorly lit, hard to spot, or simply not shown by any particular individual under observation. But accurate identification of these popular and beautiful birds brings both real satisfaction and a welcome challenge to most birders. Steve Howell, a well-known and respected bird tour leader and author, has made a particular study of the finer points of hummingbird recognition and has specially chosen over 200 stunning photographs to complement the information given in his text. Some species feature as many as 14 photographs each. A detailed introduction covers the basics of hummingbird anatomy and plumage variation, allowing the observer to effectively focus on points that are of value in the field. New field marks are provided and old myths dispelled in this ground breaking and essential new guide. Key Features? Contains up to 14 full-color photos for each species, with detailed photo captions Detailed introduction covers fundamentals of hummingbird identification, including discussions of anatomy, plumage variation, and molt Comprehensive species accounts describe all plumages, compare similar species in depth, and discuss voice, displays, behavior, geographic range, and seasonal distribution Emphasizes difficult to identify plumages, such as females and immatures Features 200 stunning photos picked specifically to show identification criteria
Describes nineteen different bird families with advice on ways to attract each family with nesting sights, shrub cover, and a variety of specific plant suggestions.
An account of Squeak, a young ruby-throated hummingbird, chronicles the bird's rescue, its daily activities and behavior, its growth to maturity in the author's indoor garden, and its eventual release back into the wild.
A pocket-size, brilliantly colorful, simple-to-use guide tohummingbirds, containing dozens of full-color photographs that enable readers of all ages to identify the most common species; range maps; tips on attracting hummingbirds, information on habitat needs, life cycle, food preferences; and much more.
In this invitingly-written book, June Osborne paints a fully detailed portrait of perhaps the best-known hummingbird in the United States, the ruby-throat. There is no mistaking a hummingbird. Even people who hardly know a robin from a sparrow recognize that flash of iridescent feathers and the distinctive hovering flight. So popular have “hummers” become that even casual birdwatchers now travel great distances to hummingbird hot spots to see masses of birds in their annual migrations. Drawing from her own birdwatching experiences, June Osborne offers an “up close and personal” look at a female ruby-throat building her nest and rearing young, as well as an account of a day in the life of a male ruby-throat and stories of the hummers’ migrations between their summer breeding grounds in the United States and Canada and their winter homes in Mexico and Central America. In addition to this life history, Osborne recounts early hummingbird sightings and tells how the bird received its common and scientific names. After an overview of hummingbirds’ distinctive ways of feeding, flying, and conserving energy, she offers a detailed description of the ruby-throat that will help you tell females from males, immature birds from adults, and ruby-throats from similar species. Osborne also takes you on a visit to the “Hummer/Bird Celebration!” at Rockport, reviews hummingbird banding programs, and explains how to attract hummingbirds to your yard or apartment balcony.
