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Gulls of the Americas, Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches, Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Wisconsin, Silence of the Songbirds, and A Birder's Guide to the Texas Coast
Gulls of the Americas, Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches, Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Wisconsin, Silence of the Songbirds, and A Birder's Guide to the Texas CoastBookshelf -- August 2007
Published: June 22, 2007 Gulls of the Americas by Steve N.G. Howell and Jon Dunn, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007, 516 pages, $35, hardcover
Like the line in the movie Jerry Maguire, they had me at gull. OK, I self-identify as a larophile, a gull fan, so it was with great excitement that I opened this new Peterson reference guide.
But what if you're on the fence about gulls? Would you find it useful too? I think you would.
Howell and Dunn have put together the best summary of gull appearance and identification anywhere and made it accessible, even readable. This just may be the book that takes the fear out of identifying these widespread, variable, and fascinating critters.
Plates make up the heart of Gulls of the Americas, but the introduction, the part many people may think of skipping, is outstanding. It's full of nicely synthesized information; you will want to re-read parts as your journey into gull watching broadens. In fact, the section on molt and plumages is so well done and up to date (cutting-edge, really) that you need not read any other summary of gull plumages.
The plates present more than 1,100 well-chosen and informative photos of 36 species, including exotic-looking South American species. The value of such a wide selection is great, since you can go back and forth comparing species, plumages, wear states - anything.
You may wonder, "What's the point? Can't I download oodles of gull photos on the Internet?" Well, yes, you can. But Howell and Dunn's photos have been chosen to illustrate specific points. The birds are identified correctly, and labeled with locations and dates. And every photo has a well-written and useful caption.
Each species account begins with an identification summary and an overview of taxonomy, status, and distribution. Then it goes on to provide details about field identification, habitat and behavior, plumages, molt, and finally the H-word, hybrids. You can read only the summary and gain a good idea of how to identify each species. Then, if you want more details, you can turn to the expanded section.
Large color distribution maps are a highlight of the accounts; I applaud the authors and publishers for including them. And not only are hybrid gulls a field-identification nightmare, but they're not as rare as folks might think, so it was innovative for the authors to give each regularly occurring hybrid combination its own section.
The complaints I have about the book are few: It is difficult to navigate easily from plates to species accounts; tones in photos meant to show differences in back colors look rather similar; and each plate could have been titled more prominently. But these are quibbles.
Gulls of the Americas succeeds in that it offers all the gull-identification information that any novice or aficionado will ever need, and it is nicely organized and clearly written. Howell and Dunn take the pain out of learning about this fascinating yet infuriating group of birds. --Alvaro Jaramillo
Alvaro Jaramillo is a birding guide for Field Guides and the author of Birds of Chile  (Princeton Field Guides) and New World Blackbirds (Princeton, 1999).
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Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches: And Other Answers to Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask by Mike O'Connor, illustrations by Michael Chesworth, Beacon Press, 2007, 212 pages, $9.95, paperback.
You will be hard-pressed to find a funnier writer in all of birding than Mike O'Connor, the owner of the Bird Watcher's General Store on Cape Cod. Readers of his "Ask the Bird Folks" newspaper column in Massachusetts have enjoyed his wit, humor, and self-effacing style for years, and now the rest of us can, too. But O'Connor isn't just a comedian. He's also an expert on birds whose readers ask the darndest questions. One wanted to know if robins are boring. Another asked if zoos invented flamingoes. It was an inquisitive seventh-grader who wondered whether woodpeckers ever get headaches.
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Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Wisconsin edited by Noel J. Cutright, Bettie R. Harriman, and Robert W. Howe, Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, 2006, 602 pages, $40, hardcover.
More than 1,600 field observers spent 68,898 hours observing breeding birds in Wisconsin from 1995 to 2000. They confirmed breeding for 226 species and found breeding evidence for an additional 11 species. Then a team of regional coordinators and the three expert editors compiled the data. The result is this atlas, a comprehensive and beautiful record of the state's birds and a shining example of dedication, perseverance, and concern for birds. Most species are described on two pages: An article on one describes nesting behavior and other facts uncovered during the atlas project. Maps and charts on the other plot each bird's breeding distribution. Learn more about the atlas. |
Silence of the Songbirds: How We Are Losing the World's Songbirds and What We Can Do to Save Them by Bridget Stutchbury, Walker Publishing, 2007, 272 pages, $24.95, hardcover.
Most birders are aware that migratory songbird populations are rapidly declining worldwide, but the reasons why are not always clear. In Silence of the Songbirds, York University biologist Bridget Stutchbury explains how pesticides, deforestation, climate change, and other threats are making survival more and more difficult for passerines. She examines the dangers they face from south of the equator to her Pennsylvania farm to the boreal forest. Birds, and the ecosystems we share with them, are balancing on a razor's edge. This absorbing book explains why.
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A Birder's Guide to the Texas Coast fifth edition, by Mel Cooksey and Ron Weeks, American Birding Association, 2006, 344 pages, $24.95, paperback.
The Texas Ornithological Society has recorded 630 species in the Lone Star State, and the vast majority of them can be found at birding hotspots along the state's coast. This welcome addition to the ABA's birdfinding series describes dozens of places to spot such highly sought species as the Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Bachman's Sparrow (both at Angelina National Forest), Crested Caracara (Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge), Mottled Duck (Rockport), and Long-billed Thrasher (Hazel Bazemore County Park). The guide's maps are designed with the traveling birder in mind, as is its text, and bar graphs provide useful at-a-glance information on bird abundance.
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