The Sibley guide to bird life and behavior

“Once in a great while, a natural history book changes the way people look at the world. In 1838, John ames Audubon’s Birds of America was one...In 1934, Roger Tory Peterson produced Field Guide to the Birds ...Now comes The Sibley Guide to Birds .” Thus did The New York Times , in 1999, greet David Allen Sibley’s monumental book, which has quickly been established nationwide as the peerless, standard bird identification guide. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior is the new landmark book from David Allen Sibley. Designed to enhance the birding experience and to enrich the popular study of North American birds, the book combines more than 795 of his full-color illustrations with authoritative text by 48 expert birders and biologists. In this new guide Sibley takes us beyond identification, to show us how birds live and what they do . Introductory essays outline the principles of avian evolution, life cycle, body structure, flight dynamics, and more. The 80 family-by-family chapters describe the amazing range of behavior dictated by birds’ biology and environment. Among the subjects covered and illustrated are: --molts and plumages --habitats --food and foraging --vocalizations and displays --courtship and breeding --rearing of young --migration and movements --scientific groupings --introduced species --accidental species --anatomy --flight patterns --nests and eggs --conservation --global distribution Accessibly written, superbly designed and organized, and brilliantly illustrated, The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior is an indispensable source of information on the avian life around us. Once in a great while, a natural history book changes the way people look at the world. In 1838, John ames Audubons Birds of America was one...In 1934, Roger Tory Peterson produced Field Guide to the Birds ...Now comes The Sibley Guide to Birds . Thus did The New York Times , in 1999, greet David Allen Sibleys monumental book, which has quickly been established nationwide as the peerless, standard bird identification guide. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior is the new landmark book from David Allen Sibley. Designed to enhance the birding experience and to enrich the popular study of North American birds, the book combines more than 795 of his full-color illustrations with authoritative text by 48 expert birders and biologists. In this new guide Sibley takes us beyond identification, to show us how birds live and what they do . Introductory essays outline the principles of avian evolution, life cycle, body structure, flight dynamics, and more. The 80 family-by-family chapters describe the amazing range of behavior dictated by birds biology and environment. Among the subjects covered and illustrated --molts and plumages --habitats --food and foraging --vocalizations and displays --courtship and breeding --rearing of young --migration and movements --scientific groupings --introduced species --accidental species --anatomy --flight patterns --nests and eggs --conservation --global distribution Accessibly written, superbly designed and organized, and brilliantly illustrated, The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior is an indispensable source of information on the avian life around us. Watching and identifying birds quickly leads to curiosity about how and why birds do the things they do. How does a tiny chickadee survive subzero temperatures? How does an albatross cross miles of ocean without flapping? Why do male wood-warblers have two distinct song types? The answers, or proposed answers, exist in technical papers and in textbooks, but such resources are often inaccessible to birders, and the information of most interest to amateurs is frequently embedded in a wealth of technical detail. Our aim in this book is to provide an introduction to the great variety and complexity of bird life -- a book written by and for birders that will help readers interpret and understand the things they see in the field. - Introduction. Designed to enhance the birding experience and to enrich the popular study of North American birds, the book combines more than 795 of full-color illustrations with authoritative text by 48 expert birders and biologist, This new guide shows how birds live and what they do. Introductory essays outlive the principles if avian evolution, life cycle, body structure, flight dynamics, and more. This is an indispensable source of information on the avian life around us Introduction Part 1 : The world of birds. Flight, form, and function Origins, evolution, and classification Behavior Habitats and distributions Populations and conservation Part 2 : Bird families of North America. Appendices. Glossary Author biographies Species checklist