Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding, Second edition

by Kaufman, Kenn
Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding, Second edition
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Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding, Second edition

by Kaufman, Kenn

Format: Flexi-binding

Code: 13421

Condition: New

Edition: 2nd edition

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Product Details

Field Guide=A guide with illustrations or photographs for identification
Birders can memorize hundreds of details and still not be able to identify birds if they don't really understand what's in front of them.Today birders have access to almost too much information, and their attempts to identify birds can be drowned out by excess detail. The all-new Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding takes a different approach, clarifying the basics and providing a framework for learning about each group. Overall principles of identification are explained in clear language, and ten chapters on specific groups of birds show how these principles can be applied in practice. Anyone with a keen interest in identifying birds will find that this book makes the learning process more effective and enjoyable, and that truly understanding what we see and hear can make birding more fun.

Covers those difficult to differentiate species, with detailed comparisons and identification points, with illustrations by the author.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: (expand / hide)

Acknowledgments 4
Editor's Note: Learning from the Birds 5

1. An Integrated Approach to Field Identification of Birds 6
2. Principles and Pitfalls of Field Identification 18
3. How Birds Are Built: Terminology and Bird Topography 44
4. Plumages, Molt, and Wear: Understanding What You See 74
5. Behavior and Voice: Understanding and Using Them
in Identification 92
6. Identification Beyond the Species Level 106
7. Techniques and Resources for Learning Bird Identification 130
8. Learning to Identify Waterfowl 141
9. The Scaup 160
10. The Winter Loons 168
11. Learning to Identify Seabirds 182
12. Learning to Identify Herons and Egrets 186
13. Learning to Identify the Diurnal Raptors 188
14. The Accipiters 198
15. Learning to Identify Shorebirds 210
16. The Small Calidris Sandpipers 226
17. Learning to Identify Gulls 242
18. Learning to Identify Terns 272
19. The Medium-sized Terns 285
20. The Jaegers 300
21. Learning to Identify Owls 316
22. Learning to Identify Hummingbirds 318
23. The Challenging Small Hummingbirds 330
24. Learning to Identify Woodpeckers 342
25. Learning to Identify Tyrant Flycatchers 344
26. The Empidonax Flycatchers 347
27. Learning to Identify Swallows 388
28. Learning to Identify Warblers 390
29. The Blackpoll Trio 412
30. Learning to Identify Sparrows 419
31. The Spizella Sparrows 434

Photo Credits 441
Index 442

Our Opinion: This new edition adds color illustrations and is completely updated. Though it started out as just an update of the earlier field guide, along the way it turned into a completely new book. Eighty-five percent of the material is new, as is the book's aim, hinted at in the subtitle: Understanding What You See and Hear. Kaufman chose the general family groups that are in the new guide by looking for "situations where there was something useful that could be said about them. There’s no chapter about identifying vireos, for example, because there’s nothing about the vireos as such that makes them different from learning other types of songbirds."


ISBN: 9780547248325

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Year of Publication: 2011

Page Count: 448

Weight: 1.25 lb