Book News

National Audubon Society Birds of North America
by National Audubon Society

From Knopf:

Developed by the creators of the best-selling Audubon field guides, this handsome volume is the result of a collaboration among leading scientists, scholars, taxonomic and field experts, photo editors, and designers. An indispensable reference, it covers more than 800 species, with over 3,500 full-color photographs of birds in their natural habitat, often with four or five images of each species. For ease of use, the book includes a glossary, an index, and a ribbon marker, and is arranged according to the American Ornithological Society’s latest Checklist of North and Middle American Birds–with birds sorted by taxonomic orders and grouped by family, so that related species are presented together. Range maps, reflecting the impact of climate change, accompany nearly every entry, along with a physical description and information on voice, nesting, habitat, and similar species. This guide also includes an important new category on conservation status and essays by leading scholars in each field who provide holistic insights into the world of birds. Whether trying to determine which owl is interrupting your dinner or successfully identifying all of the warblers that arrive in spring, readers will come to rely on this work of remarkable breadth, depth, and elegance. It is a must-have reference for the library of any birder, and is poised to become the number one guide in the field.

This book is not simply a new edition of the National Audubon Society field guide (the ones with the vinyl covers) – it has been completely overhauled and is a new guide altogether. This guide is much improved from its forebears; for example, it is organized taxonomically (instead of by color!). However, it still has some issues, which I will detail in my upcoming review.

National Audubon Society Birds of North America
by National Audubon Society
Flexicover; 912 pages
Knopf; April 6, 2021
ISBN: 9780525655671
$49.95

Buy from Buteo Books
(based in the U.S.)

Buy from NHBS
(based in the U.K.)

Birds of Maine
by Peter D. Vickery

From Princeton University Press:

The first comprehensive overview of Maine’s incredibly rich birdlife in more than seven decades, Birds of Maine is a detailed account of all 464 species recorded in the Pine Tree State. It is also a thoroughly researched, accessible portrait of a region undergoing rapid changes, with southern birds pushing north, northern birds expanding south, and once-absent natives like Atlantic Puffins brought back by innovative conservation techniques pioneered in Maine.

Written by the late Peter Vickery in cooperation with a team of leading ornithologists, this guide offers a detailed look at the state’s dynamic avifauna―from the Wild Turkey to the Arctic Tern―with information on migration patterns and timing, current status and changes in bird abundance and distribution, and how Maine’s geography and shifting climate mold its birdlife. It delves into the conservation status for Maine’s birds, as well as the state’s unusually textured ornithological history, involving such famous names as John James Audubon and Theodore Roosevelt, and home-grown experts like Cordelia Stanwood and Ralph Palmer. Sidebars explore diverse topics, including the Old Sow whirlpool that draws multitudes of seabirds and the famed Monhegan Island, a mecca for migrant birds.

Gorgeously illustrated with watercolors by Lars Jonsson and scores of line drawings by Barry Van Dusen, Birds of Maine is a remarkable guide that birders will rely on for decades to come.

I just got my hands on this book, and, in the immortal words of Neo, “whoa”. This book is very much in keeping with those classic, old state ornithologies: huge, detailed, and gorgeously illustrated. Please note that this is a reference book, not a field guide, and does not illustrate most species. Still, I can’t imagine anyone who spends significant time birding in Maine that wouldn’t benefit from a copy. And at this price, it’s a hands-down bargain.

Birds of Maine
by Peter D. Vickery
Hardcover; 664 pages
Princeton University Press; November 3, 2020
ISBN: 9780691193199
$45.00

Buy from Buteo Books
(based in the U.S.)

Buy from NHBS
(based in the U.K.)

A Vulture Landscape: Twelve months in Extremadura
by Ian Parsons

From Whittles Publishing:

A Vulture Landscape is more than just a book about vultures, in the same way that these majestic flyers are more than just birds. Vultures are a crucial part of many of the world’s ecosystems, and without these specialist environmental cleansers the ecosystems wouldn’t work properly. A calendar year in the lives of these gargantuan raptors is explored as they live, breed, feed and fly with effortless ease across the skies of the vulture landscape that is Extremadura in central Spain.

There are four species of vulture in Europe, and a fifth that is becoming more of a regular visitor as its own global population plummets. The serious conservation issues faced on a day-to-day basis by these species, and their relatives spread across the globe, are explored, issues that in many cases threaten their very survival. However, this book is a celebration of the vulture and the landscape in which it reigns.

Using the latest science, his keen eye and his passion for the birds themselves, the author takes the reader on a journey, introducing readers to the vultures, their lives and their landscape. Along the way, much of the other wonderful wildlife of the vulture landscape, from exotic Bee-eaters and bewitching Montagu’s Harriers to rutting Red Stags, are included. Ian explains how watching vultures is not only addictive, but that it can often lead to vulture gazing, surely the most relaxing form of bird watching there is!

With his fine descriptions, readers can enter the world of the vulture, get to know these brilliant birds, learn how they control diseases, why some species have bald necks and how they have mastered the art of flying without expending any energy. The author has spent several years living permanently in Extremadura and now splits his time between his native county of Devon and his beloved vulture landscape, where he leads bird tours introducing people to the birds and the area he clearly loves.

This book has been sitting next to my spot on the couch for a while, waiting for me to check it out in preparation for this post. I intended to read just the first chapter to get an idea of the book. I’ve now read three, and won’t be stopping. Parsons writes about this landscape and these birds so passionately and evocatively, it is such a joy to read. This is easily recommended to anyone who enjoys reading about birds.

A Vulture Landscape: Twelve months in Extremadura
by Ian Parsons
Paperback; 141 pages
Whittles Publishing; January 14, 2021
ISBN: 9781849954570
$23.95

Celebrating Birds: An Interactive Field Guide Featuring Art from Wingspan
by Natalia Rojas and Ana Maria Martinez

From Harper Design:

A gorgeously illustrated and interactive full-color guide to more than 181 birds of North America, based on the bestselling board game, Wingspan.

Praised for its gorgeous illustrations, accurate portrayal of bird habitats, and its gameplay, the bird-focused board game Wingspan has become an international sensation, available in a dozen languages and selling more than 200,000 copies its first year. Celebrating Birds is the ultimate companion to the game for fans, as well as a beautiful and in-depth field guide for avian and nature enthusiasts.

In addition to large-size representations of each bird and the most up-to-date bird descriptions provided by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Celebrating Birds includes a step-by-step guide that can be used to take the game into the real world. Players can collect points based on the birds, nests, and various habitat and feeding clues they find outside.

Artists and best friends Natalia Rojas and Ana Maria Martinez collaborated to create the beautiful depictions featured in the original Wingspan board game. Celebrating Birds features larger illustrations of the 170 North American birds from the game, plus eleven exciting new birds.

With Celebrating Birds, players and amateur naturalists can discover details about many of the birds currently at risk for extinction. As the number of birds in the United States and Canada has declined precipitously, Celebrating Birds is a fun way to raise awareness, educate, encourage activism, and provide resources on some of the most important ecological issues facing us today.

This book is born out of Wingspan, an extremely popular and highly-rated board game. I haven’t played the game myself, but it’s one that I would love to try out. The game uses cards for various birds, illustrated with some beautiful artwork. That art is reproduced in this book, in a much larger, easier-to-appreciate size. Accompanying the art is some basic information about the bird, pulled from Cornell’s All About Birds. This book is perfect for players of the game who would like to learn more about these birds and who may be interested in seeing them in real life.

Celebrating Birds: An Interactive Field Guide Featuring Art from Wingspan
by Natalia Rojas and Ana Maria Martinez
Hardcover; 352 pages
Harper Design; April 6, 2021
ISBN: 9780063045743
$29.99

Casual Birding in Trinidad & Tobago: Introducing More Than 175 of T&T’s Common and Iconic Birds
by Faraaz Abdool

From Faraaz Abdool:

Perfect for anyone who has ever seen a bird before, this book is designed to awaken wonder and excitement about the feathered friends that we see on a daily basis. It is an invitation to stop and take a minute or two to give more than simply a passing glance at the masters of the air. It is encouragement to explore; to see and experience new sights and sounds, all within the twin island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, the richest in the Caribbean in terms of biodiversity, a unique place that almost 1.4 million people are fortunate to call home.

With more than 500 full-colour photographs, relaxed descriptions and accounts based on a fine mix of historical data and personal experience, this book strikes the ideal balance between a good read and a handy reference.

Available on Amazon as a Kindle eBook or paperback hardcopy (though that version is expensive!), this book’s goal is to spark an interest of birds in the residents of Trinidad and Tobago. As such, it provides an introduction to birds in general, birding, and a selection of T&T’s common birds. The photographs are gorgeous and the information presented is perfect for such an audience.

Visitors to the islands who are interested in nature, but not necessarily hard-core birders, would also profit from it. If you are visiting primarily for birding, though the information here may be interesting and helpful, you would still need one of the full field guides available.

Casual Birding in Trinidad & Tobago: Introducing More Than 175 of T&T’s Common and Iconic Birds
by Faraaz Abdool
Kindle ebook; 647 pages
Independently published; November 5, 2020
ISBN: 9798698748038

Ageing & Sexing of Migratory East Asian Passerines
by Gabriel Norevik, Magnus Hellström, Dongping Liu, and Bo Petersson

From Avium Förlag:

This generously illustrated handbook covers 62 East Asian passerine species, including many that appear as sought-after vagrants in both Europe and North America. It provides a comprehensive and detailed summary of current knowledge, based on data and photographs of birds in the hand, collected during three years of study in China, primarily at Beidaihe, Hebei province.

The texts are presented in a pedagogical manner and, together with an ample collection of over 1,400 photographs, guide the reader through the process of determining the age and sex of the bird in both autumn and spring. This guide is an essential introduction to the subject for bird ringers in China, and it will also prove indispensable for any birdwatcher with an interest in the ageing and sexing of East Asian passerines.

The title made me think of the venerable Pyle guides, the North American bird bander’s Bible. But while the goal of the book is the same – the identification, including age and sex, of birds in the hand – that’s where the similarities cease. This guide looks more like a coffee-table book than a manual you would throw in your field bag. It’s large, filled with color photography, and even has a ribbon bookmark! Dual text in English and Chinese help explain its size, and add to its usefulness. Anyone ringing (banding) or researching these birds needs a copy. Birders who want to go beyond the detail available in field guides may also want to consider adding it to their library.

Ageing & Sexing of Migratory East Asian Passerines
by Gabriel Norevik, Magnus Hellström, Dongping Liu, and Bo Petersson
Hardcover; 423 pages
Avium Förlag; October, 2020
ISBN: 9789198516579
£94.99

Snowy Owl: A Visual Natural History
by Paul Bannick

From Mountaineers Books:

The Snowy Owl–also known as the Arctic Owl, Snowy White Owl, and White Owl–is one of the most easily identified but least understood owls in the world.

Award-winning author and photographer Paul Bannick delves into the natural history of this owl species, including the latest research, providing readers with comprehensive yet accessible looks at their preferred habitat, hunting and feeding behavior, mating and nesting actions, owlets and fledglings, and more.

This beautiful book follows Bannick’s bestselling titles, The Owl and the Woodpecker and Owl, providing fans with another emotionally rich photographic portfolio and engaging, informative text.

Great Gray Owl: A Visual Natural History
by Paul Bannick

From Mountaineers Books:

The Great Gray Owl–also known as the Phantom of the North, Great, Gray Ghost, and Bearded Owl–is one of the largest owl species and lives in the western mountains and boreal regions of North America.

Award-winning author and photographer Paul Bannick delves into the natural history of this owl species, including the latest research, providing readers with comprehensive yet accessible looks at their preferred habitat, hunting and feeding behavior, mating and nesting actions, owlets and fledglings, and more.

Bannick’s unique and gorgeous owl images are enhanced by additional images of the owls’ habitats and other species that share the Great Gray ecosystems. Throughout each narrative, his time in the field observing and photographing these enigmatic birds comes to life in evocative, experiential passages.

“A Visual Natural History”, indeed! Wow, these books are filled with some amazing photographs. But if you’ve seen either of Bannick’s previous books (Owl and The Owl and the Woodpecker), then this is no surprise. Those books prove that the author is intimately familiar with these birds, so the text here should be just as good as the pictures.

Snowy Owl: A Visual Natural History
by Paul Bannick
Hardcover; 128 pages
Mountaineers Books; October 1, 2020
ISBN: 9781680513158
18.95

Great Gray Owl: A Visual Natural History
by Paul Bannick
Hardcover; 128 pages
Mountaineers Books; October 1, 2020
ISBN: 9781680513356
18.95

Buy from Buteo Books
(based in the U.S.)

Buy from NHBS
(based in the U.K.)

Buy from NHBS
(based in the U.K.)

The Ring Ouzel: A View from the North York Moors
by Vic Fairbrother and Ken Hutchinson

From Whittles Publishing:

Using vivid extracts from field notebooks and profusely illustrated with photographs as well as paintings and sketches by wildlife artist Jonathan Pomroy, the reader is transported to the beautiful North York Moors National Park. We can share in the excitement as the first Ring Ouzels of the year return from their winter quarters in North Africa, witness their courtship displays, the establishment of territories and the female ouzel painstakingly building her nest and laying her eggs.

To hear the song of the Ring Ouzel carrying for a surprising distance across the high moorland in the early morning is one of the many delights of upland Britain. The authors have recorded and analysed both simple and complex songs in their study area and, following comparison with recordings from Scotland, Derbyshire and the Yorkshire Dales, have confirmed the suspected presence of local dialects.

Crucially this book is much more than a remarkable record of twenty years’ fieldwork as it builds on earlier research elsewhere and relates local findings to the results of other current studies in England, Wales and Scotland. As a migrant, the Ring Ouzel faces additional pressures and problems on passage and conditions in their wintering areas in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco are described. The importance of Britain as a stop-over and refuelling area for Fennoscandian birds on passage in Spring and Autumn is stressed. This milestone publication bring the Ring Ouzel into sharp focus for the first time.

I’ve never seen a Ring Ouzel, but I could really get to know them through this book. Lots of photos, along with some beautiful paintings, accompany years’ worth of observations and data. Anyone remotely interested in this cool-looking thrush or this area of Britain should enjoy this.

The Ring Ouzel: A View from the North York Moors
by Vic Fairbrother and Ken Hutchinson
Paperback; 288 pages
Whittles Publishing; September, 2020
ISBN: 9781849954587
$27.95

Understanding Bird Behavior: An Illustrated Guide to What Birds Do and Why
by Wenfei Tong

From Princeton University Press:

Birds are intelligent, sociable creatures that exhibit a wide array of behaviors―from mobbing and mimicking to mating and joint nesting. Why do they behave as they do? Bringing to light the remarkable actions of birds through examples from species around the world, Understanding Bird Behavior presents engaging vignettes about the private lives of birds, all explained in an evolutionary context.

We discover how birds find food, relying on foraging techniques, tools, and thievery. We learn about the courtship rituals through which birds choose, compete for, woo, and win mates; the familial conflicts that crop up among parents, offspring, and siblings; and the stresses and strains of nesting, including territory defense, nepotism, and relationship sabotage. We see how birds respond to threats and danger―through such unique practices as murmurations, specific alarm calls, distraction displays, and antipredator nest design. We also read about how birds change certain behaviors―preening, migration, breeding, and huddling―based on climate. Richly illustrated, this book explores the increasing focus on how individual birds differ in personality and how big data and citizen scientists are helping to add to what we know about them.

Drawing on classic examples and the latest research, Understanding Bird Behavior offers a close-up look at the many ways birds conduct themselves in the wild.

• Compelling insights into bird behavior
• Classic examples and the latest research, including work by citizen scientists
• Fascinating vignettes about the private lives of birds, from finding food and family life, to coping with climate and other threats
• 150 detailed color illustrations and photographs

Short, two-page sections cover a variety of topics related to bird behavior. This arrangement makes it easy to pick up the book and quickly learn about a topic of interest. I also like how it includes examples from around the world. However, it does not have the breadth or depth of the also recently published Peterson Reference Guide to Bird Behavior.

Note: this is published as How to Read a Bird: A Smart Guide to What Birds Do and Why in England by The History Press.

Understanding Bird Behavior: An Illustrated Guide to What Birds Do and Why
by Wenfei Tong
Hardcover; 224 pages
Princeton University Press; September 22, 2020
ISBN: 9780691206004
$27.95

Buy from Buteo Books
(based in the U.S.)

Buy from NHBS
(based in the U.K.)

Peterson Reference Guide to Bird Behavior
by John Kricher

From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

A fascinating look at what birds do and why they do it

Both casual and serious birdwatchers can take their skills to the next level with this detailed consideration of bird behavior. This book makes it possible to move beyond identifying birds to understanding some of the underpinning and meaning to what birds do, how they do it, and why they do it. Written in an easy-to-understand style, with an abundance of photos illustrating the behaviors, the book shows how flight, molt, migration, feeding, predation, social behavior, courtship, and nesting shape birds’ behaviors. Birds are everywhere, and easy to observe; this introduction to elements of bird behavior will connect readers more intimately with these remarkable and beguilingly perceptive animals.

Another fabulous entry in the Peterson Reference Guide series. This year will see more than a few books published on bird behavior, but I would be surprised if any will be an better overall introduction to this topic.

Peterson Reference Guide to Bird Behavior
by John Kricher
Hardcover; 360 pages
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; September 1, 2020
ISBN: 9781328787361
$35.00

Buy from Buteo Books
(based in the U.S.)

Buy from NHBS
(based in the U.K.)