Re: reference book

William Leigh (tern@visuallink.com)
Fri, 22 Jan 1999 18:13:50 -0800


Joe,

    There are so many great reference books out there on birds that it
behooves one to prioritize. Which group of birds do you wish to learn first
? What group of birds will you have access to on a frequent basis e.t.c.
Buying more field guides is one way to go, but it appears you already own my
two favorites.  The  following is a list of   three of my favorite  books
which deal in depth with a particular group of birds  i.e. gulls, warblers
e.t.c...
1. Warblers of the Americas -Jon Curson, David Quinn , illustrated by David
D Beadle.
2.  The Sparrows of the United States and Canada - By James D Rising ,
illustrated D. D. Beadle
3.  Hawks in flight - by Pete Dunne,  David Sibley, and Clay Sutton
          Both the first and  second books on this list have the same
illustrator.... and he is extremely good....
The color plates in both of these books are,  for me, works of art.  Both
books are filled with reams of info
on their respective subjects.  I found my skills immediately improved after
purchasing and reading
these two books.  Pete Dunne's book is slightly different in scope and
presentation.  In fact it diverges
completely from typical field guides/ reference books in that it's emphasis
is on the "gestalt" of a given
species and not the traditional field marks used to separate one raptor from
another.  Training oneself
to see the overall giz of a bird,  noting behavior and silhouette, flight
style e.t.c. is extremely useful and lessons
which can and should be applied to study of other classes of birds.

William


p.s. Buteo Books has an excellent selection and the owner is a dedicated
birder and has given me  excellent advice/suggestions  e.t.c. .  Phone:
1-800-722-2460

-----Original Message-----
From: Joseph j Halpin <halpinj@Juno.com>
To: MDOSPREY@ARI.Net <MDOSPREY@ARI.Net>
Date: Friday, January 22, 1999 8:04 AM
Subject: reference book


>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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