American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America Eastern Region : The Ultimate Photographic Guide

New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley, 2011. — 482 p. ISBN-13: 9780756658670. With its eastern and western volumes, Birds of North America attempts to fill a gap in the North American bird book market. No other work offers, for every North American bird species, the same combination of stunning iconography, including beautiful photographs and precise distribution maps; scientifically accurate and readable accounts of salient characteristics; data on identification, behavior, habitat, voice, social structure, nest construction, breeding season, food, and conservation status; diagrams of flight patterns; statistics of size, wingspan, weight, clutch size, number of broods per year, and lifespan; and geographic information about breeding, wintering, and migration. Furthermore, no other bird book introduces, in such an up-to-date and lavishly illustrated manner, general material about birds: their evolution, classification, anatomy, flight, migration, navigation, courtship, mating, nests, and eggs. Scientific jargon has been avoided, but a glossary identifies concepts that benefit from an explanation. With its user-friendly format, these eastern and western guides to Birds of North America should permit readers either to enjoy studying one species account at a time, or browse to make cross comparisons. Many field guides exist, as well as treatises on groups like gulls, hummingbirds, or sparrows; other books are dictionary-like, or focus on species of conservation concern. However, no bird book today can be called a “handbook,” a concise reference work that can be conveniently carried around. I hope that these books will be useful in this role to all persons interested in birds, whether young or older, enthusiastic birder or beginner. New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley, 2011. — 482 p. ISBN-13: 9780756658670.With its eastern and western volumes, __Birds of North America__ attempts to fill a gap in the North American bird book market.No other work offers, for every North American bird species, the same combination of stunning iconography, including beautiful photographsand precise distribution maps; scientifically accurate and readable accounts of salient characteristics; data on identification, behavior, habitat, voice, social structure, nest construction, breeding season, food, and conservation status; diagrams of flight patterns; statistics of size, wingspan,weight, clutch size, number of broods per year, and lifespan; and geographic information about breeding, wintering, and migration.Furthermore, no other bird book introduces, in such an up-to-date and lavishly illustrated manner, general material about birds: their evolution,classification, anatomy, flight, migration, navigation, courtship, mating, nests, and eggs. Scientific jargon has been avoided, but a glossary identifies concepts that benefit from an explanation. With its user-friendly format, these eastern and western guides to __Birds of North America__ should permit readers either to enjoy studying one species account at a time, or browse to make cross comparisons.Many field guides exist, as well as treatises on groups like gulls, hummingbirds, or sparrows; other books are dictionary-like, or focuson species of conservation concern. However, no bird book today can be called a “handbook,” a concise reference work that can be conveniently carried around. I hope that these books will be useful in this role to all persons interested in birds, whether young or older, enthusiastic birder or beginner. This definitive field guide is the only guide to use a fully integrated photographic approach to profile the extraordinary range of birds found in eastern North America. The highest-quality photography brings nearly 500 species to life on the page, capturing their beauty and making identification quick and effortless. The 393 species most commonly seen east of the 100th Meridian (in the United States, the region east of the Rocky Mountains) are featured in full-page profiles that emphasize all the information needed to identify them. Diagnostic photographs are silhouetted and clearly annotated, and any plumages, whether female, juvenile, subspecies, and winter or summer, that differ noticeably from the primary image are also included and labeled accordingly. Detailed similar species boxes show the plumage that is most similar-in some cases the female or juvenile rather than the featured adult-and the most significant differences are picked out. Stunning context photographs show the bird at home, in its normal habitat or performing behavior that is typical of that species. Schematic artworks show the shape and posture of the bird in flight as well as its coloration, and a diagram of its flight pattern is also included.The border of Texas and Mexico is a popular destination because of the many species that can be seen nowhere else in eastern North America. The 60 most common of these southern gems are profiled in their own section of quarter-page entries, each with a stunning photograph annotated to point out the most significant field marks. A separate section profiles 44 species that are particularly uncommon or local in their distribution. This definitive field guide is the only guide to use a fully integrated photographic approach to profile the extraordinary range of birds found in eastern North America. The only guides to use a fully integrated photographic approach to profile the extraordinary range of birds found in North America, the American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America Region guides are ideal for birdwatchers and bird lovers of every age, and include information on behavior, nesting, and habitat. A photographic reference that covers more than 390 species--all birds that breed or are regularly seen in the eastern region of North America--and includes information on behavior, nesting, and habitat A full-color guide with labeled images and range maps offers photographic profiles of the birds that inhabit western North America, including behavior, nesting and habitat. Original.