The Warbler Guide
$17.97
Pros
- attractive and well laid out. Feels and looks high-quality in the hand.
- lots of great photos that do a good job of conveying the range of variation and plumages
- good views of the birds from all directions
- good information and sonograms for voices
Cons
- thin on natural history. For a book that tries to be comprehensive, that seems to be a big miss.
- less of what I'd hope for from an advanced / modern field guide. Things like molt timing, plumage progression, etc.
- large and not that portable
“…the overall guiding principle of the book, which is to ladle detail onto every page until it is heavy with information. If that makes it hard to page through the book, consider it an invitation to sit down and spend time absorbing the hard-won knowledge on each page. Because there is a wealth of it here: field experience, museum research, observation, inference, all presented with remarkable creativity. (You’ll enjoy thumbing past the mnemonics the authors have invented for each species, some of which attain a haiku-like clarity.)”
Review – New Warbler Guide Practically Sings With Information, Innovation
September 5, 2013
(All About Birds)
Publisher’s Description:
Warblers are among the most challenging birds to identify. They exhibit an array of seasonal plumages and have distinctive yet oft-confused calls and songs. The Warbler Guide enables you to quickly identify any of the 56 species of warblers in the United States and Canada. This groundbreaking guide features more than 1,000 stunning color photos, extensive species accounts with multiple viewing angles, and an entirely new system of vocalization analysis that helps you distinguish songs and calls.
The Warbler Guide revolutionizes birdwatching, making warbler identification easier than ever before. For more information, please see the author videos on the Princeton University Press website.
- Covers all 56 species of warblers in the United States and Canada
- Visual quick finders help you identify warblers from any angle
- Song and call finders make identification easy using a few simple questions
- Uses sonograms to teach a new system of song identification that makes it easier to understand and hear differences between similar species
- Detailed species accounts show multiple views with diagnostic points, direct comparisons of plumage and vocalizations with similar species, and complete aging and sexing descriptions
- New aids to identification include song mnemonics and icons for undertail pattern, color impression, habitat, and behavior
- Includes field exercises, flight shots, general identification strategies, and quizzes
- A complete, page-by-page audio companion to all of the 1,000-plus songs and calls covered by the book is available for purchase and download from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library by using the link at www.TheWarblerGuide.com
Comments
Portability
4.00
Quality
9.00
Features
6.00
Usability
8.00
Completeness
9.00
There is lots to like about this book but I must admit to having mixed feelings about it.