Advanced Field Guides
Below are some advanced field guides. After you know the birds basically,
and you want to really home in on a certain group or even a certain species,
go for one of these:
 If it's eggs and nests you're interested in, you might want to
take a look at this new book by Paul Baicich and Colin Harrison. Illustrated
by Andrew Burton, Phillip Burton, and Terry O'Nele. 1997. Paperback.
It covers 669 species. There are over 100 drawings of nests and nestlings,
and 64 color plates of the eggs of 597 species. There are also pictures
of many young birds.
It retails for $22.95. But you can get it for less if you order
it here, through Amazon Books.
Kenn Kaufman is an accomplished author, artist, tour leader, and speaker.
His articles and illustrations have appeared in numerous birding magazines.
This book, which he authored and illustrated, takes field identification
to a new level with its fine analysis of subtle field marks. It's a 300-page
paperback, published in 1990 by Houghton Mifflin Co.
If you are interested enough in identifying birds to tackle shorebirds
and terns, female hummingbirds, Empidonax flycatchers, and look-alike sparrows,
you can't do better than to sit down with this little book. It leads you
step by step to understanding how to approach these difficult groups.
The price is $18. Even less, if you order
it here, through Amazon Books.
This 656-page paperback is by Jon Dunn/Kimball Garrett, published by
Houghton Mifflin Co. in 1997.
All 60 North American wood warbler species are described in detail, from
field marks and vocalizations to mating habits and preferred habitats.
Color paintings use the unique Peterson Identification System to show
clearly the marks that distinguish one bird from another. The warblers are
shown in their confusing fall plumages as well as their more familiar colorful
spring plumages.
Color photographs accompany the species descriptions. Color maps show
where each species can be seen at different times of the year. Drawings
depict parts of warblers and bird behaviors.
This is a thick, heavy book with closely-spaced text and detailed descriptions.
It will tell you everything thing you want to know (and maybe even more)
about each warbler.
The paperback retails for $20.00. Less, if you order
it here, through Amazon Books.
The hardback retails for $30 through Amazon Books. You can get
it for less from Birdwatching Dot Com.
The Pinyon Jay
Behavioral Ecology of a Colonial and Cooperative Corvid
 By John M. Marzluff and Russell
P. Balda. Academic Press Inc. (6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887),
317 pages, 6-1/2 X 9-1/2, $37 cloth. (Order
it here, through Amazon Books.)
This is a book of many dimensions: the natural history of the Pinyon
Jay; a theory of co-evolution between the pinyon pine tree and the Pinyon
Jay; an embedded essay on natural selection; and a demonstration of how
statistics and analysis can help ornithologists to develop a vivid portrait
of a species' life.
For more about The Pinyon Jay, read the longer
review.
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