Stoeger's new 400-page Birder's Bible is a comprehensive guide to the exciting field of birding. In the pages of Birder's Bible you'll find fascinating and informative feature articles by respected experts in the field. Birder's Bible is the most thorough, one-stop source of information on birding with up-to-date specifications and current prices for hundreds of items including bird feeders and feeder accessories, bird food products, birdhouses, birdbaths and ponds, and much more. You'll find a comprehensive listing of birding optics-binoculars, spotting scopes and accessories-and a guide to birding field guides, checklists, life lists, journals, computer software and audio/video products as well. Whether you take to the fields and forests with spotting scope and life list of simply enjoy watching the feeding station in your back yard, you'll find Birder's Bible an indispensable guide, specifically created with the dedicated birder in mind. Key Selling Points Birding is one of the fastest growing outdoor activities in North America. Incisive, informative feature articles written by some of the nations leading authorities on birds and birding. Product guide containing information on hundreds of items, ranging from spotting scopes to bird song CDs.

This first birdfinding guide to Alabama will be an indispensable reference for the many birdwatchers and natural history enthusiasts living in or visiting the state. According to the National Audubon Society, more than 54 million Americans name birdwatching as a favored activity, making it one of the country's most popular hobbies. In locating sites productive for the viewing of a diversity of bird species and numbers, birdwatchers rely on location guides such as this one, written by local experts who know firsthand the terrain, seasonal profile, and makeup of bird species in their areas. Alabama plays host to a great number and variety of birds. The combination of its diverse natural habitats-from the Gulf coastline to Appalachian piedmont to the Tennessee River Valley-and its location in the eastern migratory flyway make it a wonderful place to observe birds in all seasons. Nearly 400 species have been positively identified in state records-almost half the total species recognized by the American Birding Association for the entire continental U.S. With the publication of A Birder's Guide to Alabama, that amazing diversity has been made more accessible for the casual birder as well as the avid "life-lister." A first of its kind for Alabama, this guide covers the best birding spots throughout the state, dividing them into four distinct geographic sections. Each section is covered by expert birders from that region and includes a general description of the area, access, the "hot spots" for viewing, the species expected to be seen and when, and details on the closest accommodations. The guide includes over 50 maps, as well as line drawings and photographs of different bird species. Spiral-bound for convenience in the field, it also offers helpful bar charts describing the frequency and distribution for all the bird species recognized for Alabama. This book will appeal to both novices and experienced birders, hikers, outdoorspeople, eco-tourists, and anyone interested in Alabama's rich biodiversity. Whether one hopes to witness the breathtaking "fall-out" of exhausted spring migrants on Dauphin Island following a coastal storm front or to gaze in awe from behind a blind at the massing of winter waterfowl at Joe Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, the user of A Birder's Guide to Alabama will find it a constantly referred-to source of information and a handy, practical field companion.

A highly visual guide to identifying birds in the field based on the important, unchanging features of size, shape, structure, and behavior Birding is an extremely rewarding and fun hobby, but some situations can be frustrating or unsuccessful because of a variety of challenging viewing conditions. This guide to identifying birds offers the holistic “birding by impression” method, which not only helps with these difficult conditions, but also develops an efficient mental identification process using left- and right-brain skills. It begins with a conscious assessment of a bird’s unchanging physical characteristics, including general size, body shape, structural features (bill, legs, neck, and wings), and behavior. Using this approach, birders can quickly assess all birds and distinguish new and uncommon species from familiar ones. They can then examine more detailed field marks to fine-tune the identification. Rather than a traditional field guide, this book presents an interactive how-to approach to a more complete identification process.

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.

This book is based on the premise that birders can successfully plan to find a vast number of species of birds in North America, as long as they are armed with information about where to go, when to go, and what to expect.Birdfinder outlines nineteen key trips designed to produce a list of over 650 species in North America. Jerry Cooper makes this possible both economically and efficiently. Cooper summarizes the Key, Possible, Probable, and Remotely Possible birds to be seen on each of the nineteen trips, with details on transportation, accommodations, special equipment, and the birdfinding guides you will need. The specialties and key species for each of these trips are outlined in detail. This is a planning guide, illustrating a strategy for successful North American birdfinding.If you have unlimited time, you can follow the whole itinerary, trip after trip, in chronological order. Most birders, however, will pick and choose among the nineteen trips to suit the times they are free to travel. In either case, your birding experiences and lifelist will benefit greatly.Each of the nineteen trips in Birdfinder has at least one map to highlight the birding route. Another important feature of this guide is a special chart summarizing all the species to be seen on these major trips.As a bonus, an additional "Baker's Dozen" locations are included in a special chapter.Birdfinder: A Birder's Guide to Planning North American Trips will serve the dedicated birder as an essential companion to regular birdfinding guides.

Until now there has been no single, comprehensive resource on the status of North America's most threatened birds and what people can do to help protect them. Birder's Conservation Handbook is the only book of its kind, written specifically to help birders and researchers understand the threats while providing actions to protect birds and their habitats. Jeffrey Wells has distilled vast amounts of essential information into a single easy-to-use volume-required reading for anyone who loves birds and wants to ensure they are protected. At-a-glance species accounts cover in detail North America's one hundred most at-risk birds; each account is beautifully illustrated by today's top bird artists. The text includes status, distribution, ecology, threats, conservation actions and needs, and references. A distribution map accompanies each entry. Chapters discuss birds as indicators of environmental health, the state of North American bird populations, major conservation issues, and initiatives now underway to improve the health of North America's birds. Birder's Conservation Handbook is an indispensable resource for birdwatchers, researchers, naturalists, and conservationists. Reading it will inspire you to become an active steward of our birds and the habitats we share. A comprehensive guide to North America's one hundred most at-risk birds and how to protect them Compact and easy to use, with beautiful illustrations and data organized for convenient, at-a-glance reference Detailed species accounts, including distribution maps Practical advice on conservation Information on leading conservation agencies and resources

From the award-winning birder and author of Birds of Prey, an authoritative, information-packed guide to distinguishing North American birds. In this book, bursting with more information than any field guide could hold, the well-known author and birder Pete Dunne introduces readers to the “Cape May School of Birding.” It's an approach to identification that gives equal or more weight to a bird's structure and shape and the observer's overall impression (often called GISS, for General Impression of Size and Shape) than to specific field marks. After determining the most likely possibilities by considering such factors as habitat and season, the birder uses characteristics such as size, shape, color, behavior, flight pattern, and vocalizations to identify a bird. The book provides an arsenal of additional hints and helpful clues to guide a birder when, even after a review of a field guide, the identification still hangs in the balance. This supplement to field guides shares the knowledge and skills that expert birders bring to identification challenges. Birding should be an enjoyable pursuit for beginners and experts alike, and Pete Dunne combines a unique playfulness with the work of identification. Readers will delight in his nicknames for birds, from the Grinning Loon and Clearly the Bathtub Duck to Bronx Petrel and Chicken Garnished with a Slice of Mango and a Dollop of Raspberry Sherbet.

From inland peaks and forests to the bold and rocky shore, Maine provides habitat for more than 400 species of birds--roughly half of the species that can be found in all of North America. That wealth of birdlife, coupled with spectacular scenery, has ranked the state high on many birders' lists, and few have observed its loons and puffins, owls and eagles, more thoroughly than Liz and Jan Pierson and Peter Vickery. The Piersons, who have been birding together for more than twenty years, coauthored A Birder's Guide to the Coast of Maine in 1981. Deciding it was time to revise and expand the scope of that book, the Piersons spent two years in the field doing research and enlisted the help of another longtime Maine birder - avian ecologist and author Peter Vickery. The result is this fascinating and comprehensive new guide, which covers both coastal and inland areas of the state. Want to see a Willet? Need a Green Heron to cap off a bird list? Salt marshes are the place to look. Where are the best spots to watch hawks? Try York's Mt. Agamenticus or Popham Beach State Park. Broken down by region - from the waters of Biddeford Pool to the mountains of Baxter State Park - this handy book offers birders an in-depth look at the birds characteristic to the various ecosystems found in Maine. It also provides a timetable for birding as well as easy-to-follow directions to the best sites. An invaluable resource, A Birder's Guide to Maine deserves a spot next to the binoculars in any birder's backpack.

A comprehensive examination of the molt processes (feather growth) of different species of birds, one of the most important and fundamental processes in the life history of any bird.