A straightforward approach getting good, then better, at identifying birds in the field-and having fun doing it.

An identification guide covering all the bird species to have occurred in the European region. Birding is one of the most popular activities and pastimes in Europe and so it follows that it is essential to be able to identify the birds on view, be it in the back garden or for making more serious in-depth studies. This book aims to bring together as much information as possible in one volume, using extremely detailed, up-to-date guides and identification of every species known to have occurred in Europe and the West Palearctic, that is, the whole of Europe, North Africa as far south as the Central Sahara, the Middle East to the border of Iran, the Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, the islands off Mauritania and the Cape Verde islands, as defined by Cramp and Simons 1977. They have certainly been successful in doing so and have produced a wonderfully comprehensive guide covering nearly 900 species, showing a wide range of differing plumages. The colour plates are exquisite and have been painted by some of Europe's leading bird artists. The text is clear and can be followed by beginners but finer points of identification are included for the benefit of more serious bird watchers. Particularly helpful is the cross-referencing of the text and colour plates. There are more than 600 colour maps to identify where the birds are to be found, which are simple and easy to use with excellent descriptions of status and habitat.

Provides basic information about the biology, life cycles, and behavior of birds, along with brief profiles of each of the eighty bird families in North America.

How to get good, then better, then even better at identifying birds in the field-and have fun doing it.

Filling a gap in the vast literature on birding, Pete Dunne explains in his distinctive style how to find birds--the often-ignored first step in identifying, observing, and listing bird species.

This new field guide provides a suite of modern tools to effectively aid in the identification of more than 750 species of birds across North America. It introduces a "whole bird" approach by concisely gathering a collection of information about birds into one portable and well-organized volume. 2,000 stunning color photographs of birds in natural habitats show the most important field marks, regional population differences, life stages, and behaviors 700-plus detailed and up-to-date color range maps show summer, migration, winter, year-round, and rare but regular occurrences of every major species A DVD of birdsongs for 138 major species (587 vocalizations in all for 5½ hours of play); each high-quality MP3 file is embedded with an image of the bird, perfect to view on home computers and portable MP3 players Concise descriptions of habits and ecology, age-related and seasonal differences, regional forms, vocalization, and informative captions pointing out the most important aspects of the bird 46 group essays with information outlining taxonomy, feeding, migration, habitats, behaviors, and conservation status A thorough and accessible introduction to birds and birding includes sections on parts of a bird, plumage and molt, food and feeding, migration, habitats, conservation, tips on bow to become a better birder, and more A detailed glossary of terms, species checklist, and quick index The new Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America is perfectly designed to give birders the most powerful and user-friendly collection of information to carry into the field or wherever they enjoy learning about birds and nature.

The human history of depicting birds dates to as many as 40,000 years ago, when Paleolithic artists took to cave walls to capture winged and other beasts. But the art form has reached its peak in the last four hundred years. In The Art of the Bird, devout birder and ornithologist Roger J. Lederer celebrates this heyday of avian illustration in forty artists’ profiles, beginning with the work of Flemish painter Frans Snyders in the early 1600s and continuing through to contemporary artists like Elizabeth Butterworth, famed for her portraits of macaws. Stretching its wings across time, taxa, geography, and artistic style—from the celebrated realism of American conservation icon John James Audubon, to Elizabeth Gould’s nineteenth-century renderings of museum specimens from the Himalayas, to Swedish artist and ornithologist Lars Jonsson’s ethereal watercolors—this book is feathered with art and artists as diverse and beautiful as their subjects. A soaring exploration of our fascination with the avian form, The Art of the Bird is a testament to the ways in which the intense observation inherent in both art and science reveals the mysteries of the natural world.

A guide for beginning and intermediate watchers of birds from Western North America.

A field guide to the birds of eastern North America.

Birding is one of the most popular and fastest-growing outdoor activities, but it can seem intimidating for beginners who don't know where, when, or how to search for birds. Fortunately, Pete Dunne, one of the most popular and respected writers in the field, has written a guide that will help even the most casual observers identify the skills and tools they need to develop their interest in birding.