Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 11:50:37 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Fred Pierce Subject: Re: First Winter White-crowned Sparrow In-Reply-To: <007d01c3ee52$41fe2710$1be7fea9@gatewayuqhz1vh> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I feel moved to put in a plug for the "Watching Sparrows" video here. Although it certainly doesn't replace a guide (and I agree about Sibley & Peterson), I think it's a great motivator. Studying field guide plates can be a bit tedious after a while, whereas seeing them moving about, singing etc. makes one want to go look for them and try a bit harder to tell them apart. My sparrow id'ing is still pretty pathetic, but I think the video helped increase my awareness, prompted me to try a bit harder, and made it a bit more fun. Wondering if there's a DVD yet. The Hawk & Shorebird DVD's are pretty neat, since besides skipping around, they have practice quizzes. Sure beats shooting and skinning them. fdp Those poor Weaver Finches - never any respect -------------------------------------------------------------------- Fred Pierce (DNRC)- fpierce@avialantic.com Mid-Atlantic Aviation on the Web - http://www.avialantic.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- > -----Original Message----- > From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM]On > Behalf Of bonnie and john > Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2004 8:46 AM > To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM > Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] First Winter White-crowned Sparrow > > > >I've been using an Audobon bird id book, and I couldn't really > match it to > anything in the book. > > I'd suggest a different guide (if you are using the Audubon guide > with the green cover and the photos?) > I find Sibley's guide to Eastern Bird is the best for sparrows > followed by Peterson's and Robbin's. > The National Geo is (my personal opinion only) TERRIBLE for sparrows. > > Is there an easier way to identify Sparrows? > > Sparrows can be very easy to indentify! It's just a matter of > narrowing your choices down to knowing what to expect- when, where and > in what habitat. > Practice, practice and more practice. I suggest finding good sparrow > habitat and visiting it every day! > > A book specifically about them? > > Both of the books by Rising are great sparrow books but I'd start > with Sibley first. > > A website? > > I'd be interesetd in that! > > I'm just getting over a prejudiced view that they're all the same > and they're pests. > > Please!! There is the Weaver Finch which is commonly and > mistakenly called a "sparrow". It is certainly NOT one and should > never be included in the same group as our marvelous native sparrows. > > Bonnie Ott > Howard County Field Trip Chair > Ellicott City, MD > > ====================================================================== > = > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= > ---------------------------------------------------- > This message has been processed by Firetrust Benign. > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================