Re: reference book

Andy Rabin (andyrab@wam.umd.edu)
Fri, 22 Jan 1999 12:34:49 -0500 (EST) 

   Joe,

    You will surely want to hear from others with more experience about
this, but I'll add in my two cents.  I've found that for the more
difficult species- sparrows, shorebirds, etc., the best books are those
that are specific to that 'family' of birds.  They give you plenty of
information regarding identification, probably more than you'll ever need
in a lot of cases.  One drawback is that they're usually too heavy to be 
field guides.  They're more like reference books.  Still, if you can
remember the field marks you saw, you can check them out when you get
home.  Or, you can leave the books in the car.  Studying them beforehand
helps me too.  I don't know if there is a single field guide that  could
serve as a satisfactory supplement to the NGeo Guide.

Below are some of the books I've used and/or seen others use and/or have
had recommended to me.  I'm sure everyone has their favorites and will be
glad to plug them for you.

_Photographic Guide to Hawks of North America_ - Clark and Wheeler (great
photos, if nothing else)
_Peterson's Guide to Hawks_ - Clark and Wheeler
_Hawks in Flight_ - Pete Dunne (good for hawks that look like tiny specks
in the sky)
_Peterson's guide to Warblers_ - Jon Dunn
_Guide to Identification and Natural History of the Sparrows of the US and
Canada_ - James Rising
_Shorebirds_ - Hayman, Marchant, Prater
_Gulls_ - Peter Grant

The titles and spellings might not be exactly right, but they're pretty
darn close.  I'd like to know if anyone else has ID books they find
especially helpful and informative.

Andy Rabin
Gaithersburg, MD
andyrab@wam.umd.edu



On Thu, 21 Jan 1999, Joseph j Halpin wrote:

> I have the Naional Geographic Guide;  what is a good book as a supplement
> to this guide?  I seem to have particular problems with sparrows, raptors
> and gulls or maybe I should say any species where the differences are not
> standout obvious.  I like the Peterson's guides because they have the
> pointers.  Are there other guides which are particularily useful as
> supplements to the NG?
> 
> Thanks,
> Joe Halpin
> Silver Spring, MD
> email: halpinj @juno.com
> 
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