The Shorebird Guide
$12.86
Pros
- 500 pages covering 47 native and 44 rare or accidental North American shorebirds
- excellent photos of each species and subspecies
- multiple views of ages, plumages in different settings, seasons, and light, birds in different postures
- best shorebird specialty guide for North America
Cons
- photos only
- large for a field guide
- species account separate from photos & maps
“The Shorebird Guide takes its cue from the Cape May School of Birding. Rather than getting hung up on plumage minutia, instructs this guide, observers should focus on giss: “ General Impression of Size and Shape. This is the same holistic style of birding promoted by Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion, another impressive identification asset. While a shorebird’s coloration and patterning may be highly variable, its structure, shape, size, and manner will fluctuate little over its lifetime. Focus on these immutable traits, the authors suggest, and you’ll find more pleasure than pain in future shorebird encounters.”
The Shorebird Guide:
July 10, 2006
Mike (10,000 Birds)
Publisher’s Description:
An all-new holistic approach to identifying shorebirds.
Join the experts in birding by impression, a revolutionary approach to bird identification. Experienced birders use the most easily observed characteristics — size, structure, behavior, and general color patterns — to identify birds even before looking carefully at plumage details. Now birders at all levels can learn how to identify shorebirds quickly and simply. This guide includes more than 870 stunning color photographs, starting with a general impression of the species and progressing to more detailed images of the bird throughout its life cycle. Quiz questions in the captions will engage and challenge all birders and help them benefit from this simplified, commonsense approach to identification.