5 comments about Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds.

1. I agree with most reviewers that this book fascinates the reader with interesting science and anecdotes about ravens. There are countless facts and amusing information provided about the intelligence, behavior and antics of both wild and tame ravens. One of the more humorous sections was on vocal communication, particulary mimicking. Heinrich provides descriptions of captive ravens making perfect renditions of radio static, toilets flushing and a motorcycle being revved up. There was also a scientist in a national park who distictly heard several times: "Three, two, one, bcccchhhh", sounding as if coming from a speaker. This was acually a raven who was sufficiently impressed with the park rangers conducting avalanche control to repeat the count-down and sound of the explosion. Hilarious...
   The experiments and observations the author describes of wild ravens in the forests of Maine, Alaska,the western states & elsewhere are also superbly written and provide insights into the interactions and cooperation of ravens with large (and dangerous) predators including Man.



2. I knew the raven had many interesting feature to them before I opened this book but after reading "mind of the raven" I will say I was amazed of both the research Bernd Heinrich has done and of this remarkable bird. Heinrich are presenting his findings about the ravens where he is taking the subject (the raven) seriously and simultaneously managed to make it attractive for people that have not specialize in beaks and feathers.



3. Very informative yet not too scientific. Contains many facts not commonly known about these intelligent birds. This book could change your mind about them.



4. "Mind of the Raven" is science accessible to the non-scientist.
   
   This very interesting narrative describes a biologist's quest to figure out how ravens work - is their behavior innate, governed solely by genes, or do they have some sort of thinking process? Each field experiment answers some questions and raises others, leading to further experiments, some worked in the wild, and some with birds he raised in captivity.
   
   Bernd Heinrich finds that these birds apparently have an intelligent approach to life: they can learn from experience and have the ability to deal with potential predators, to hide food from competitors, and to figure out puzzles.
   
   The reader gets a fascinating look not only at the behavior and mind of ravens but also insight into how a biologist's mind works.
   
   I originally got this book out of the library, but liked it so much I bought two to give as gifts.
   Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds
   
   See others by the same author, for instance Bumblebee Economics



5. Heinrich is a fine scientist with a flexible mind who enjoys animals, nature and adventure. He also writes well. While Heinrich knows all the rules of producing successful journal articles, he is sensitive to the anecdote which can also be enlightening.
   
   Ravens are an interesting subject because they are very bright, are a social animal, and enjoy play. They also have language mimicking capabilities just like parrots, but unfortunately, no one has tried to systematically teach ravens to understand and use human language as they have with parrots. This may be because they are not very easy to have as pets. In fact one of the most enjoyable chapters is Heinrich's account of a couple who actually keep a raven indoors as a pet, although the raven often accompanies them outside, untethered.
   
   There are a few negatives, none of which should discourage anyone from reading this book. In the early chapters, it seemed to me that too much time was spent discussing investigations that turned out not to be very enlightening. For me ravens are not as likeable as some other animals: they are too devoted to expressing dominance, even when it doesn't seem to provide evolutionary advantages; for example, they will expend great effort to keep other birds from bathing, ultimately fruitlessly, and without any benefit to themselves. Finally, Heinrich is convinced that genetic evolution has resulted in the symbiosis between raven and wolf, when it seems to me that he cannot rule out cultural evolution; Heinrich himself notes Raven culture, and its importance is indicated by the fact that ravens don't mate for 3 or 4 years, even though they grow to adult size in a few weeks. During that 3-4 years, they are learning.

5 comments about Birds of Texas Field Guide.

1. This book covers every bird I've ever seen in the Great State (over 40 years worth). I guess if you are trying to dot the final i, you might look for a more complete reference, but for 99.4% of us, this book cannot be beat.



2. This is a great book for everyday use to identify birds, I have several bird book including an Audabon book and prefer this to the rest.



3. I don't know much about birds other than they fly and I like to look at them in the backyard. I have often wondered what kind of birds I have been watching... Enter this book.
   
   To look up a bird in the book, you flip through the top corner looking for the predominant color of the bird, then scan through a dozen or so pictures and very easily identify what you are looking at. I have not seen a bird in my yard that has not been very easy to find in the book.
   
   Also, the description of the birds are quite informative, and the information is very easy to understand.
   
   I recommend this book.



4. This is my favorite field guide. I started purchasing different field guides to help me identify different birds, animals, and fish while I am kayaking and camping. By far this is the best laid out field guide I own and I would highly recomend it to anyone who wants to identify birds in Texas.



5. My husband wanted this book for his birthday as he has enjoyed this author's version from other states. It is a great guide to understanding the birds around you and easy to use.

5 comments about Hawks from Every Angle: How to Identify Raptors In Flight.

1. If you're looking for a book that covers all the raptors that regularly occur in North America, forget it. A more honest title would've been 'Raptors of Northeastern Hawkwatch Sites.' Even then, northeastern hawkwatchers won't find Harris' Hawk in the book. The raptors Liguori does cover are done well, by and large, and I was particularly impressed with the treatments of both Harlan's Hawk and the Northern Harrier. But if you live in the West, as I do, you'll find the book less useful than the title suggests. Get yourself a Clark and Wheeler--it'll serve you much better. I'm looking forward to that frabjous day when hawkwatchers will escape their eastern bias, and discover that we have hawks in the West too.



2. A super-useful reference guide that goes well with HAWKS IN FLIGHT -- and actually I would probably look at this one first. Photographs and text both contain a lot of helpful information to assist in raptor identification -- though the "pitfalls" shots make it clear that not every bird will be identifiable.
   
   Mileage obviously varies, but as a Californian I don't feel shortchanged by this book and have used it particularly for Sharpie/Cooper's differentiation.



3. I though this was an excellent resource for identifying hawks in flight. The photos are very informative, and attractive as well. The guide is, in my opinion, very comprehensive and extremely well written.



4. The illustations make it much easier to identify hawks in the sky and on the ground. It will be a valuable companion on my bird walks in the Audubon and to ID the hawks soaring overhead and through the woods by my home.
   
   Libbie



5. I'm a bird guy. I absolutely love birds, and the birds I love more than any others are hawks. When I die, I want to come back as a hawk.
   
   The problem (if it is a problem) is that I'm no naturalist. I seem constitutionally incapable of identifying most birds. Get me past the typical visitors to my backyard feeders--the junkos, sparrows, wrens, cardinals, goldfinches, thrushes, humming birds, and occasional woodpecker--and I'm pretty lost.
   
   But because I so love hawks, and because they've recently reappeared in great numbers in my neck of the woods (central PA), I thought I'd give Liguori's book a try.
   
   I'm glad I did. The photographs are stunning--beautiful enough to please the eye, but at the same time crisp and detailed enough to serve as a guide for hawk-spotting. I found especially helpful Liguori's shots of hawks at different flight positions--soaring, gliding, stooping, hovering, and so on. Equally helpful are the charts he provides that compare body, wing and head shapes of different kinds of hawks, falcons, and eagles. Ditto on the migration charts.
   
   There's only one thing Liguori's guidebook doesn't have that I wish it did: photographs of perched hawks. I see lots of hawks when I'm driving that are perched on tree branches and electric lines, and I still have difficulty identifying them: redtail? Swainson's? Cooper's? Hopefully, the next edition of Hawks from Every Angle will include the perch angle as well. (In all fairness to Liguori, however, his book is subtitled "How to Identify Raptors in Flight.")
   
   It would also be convenient were the book a bit smaller in size. It's broadness makes it a little burdensome in the field. But it could well be that a smaller format would've meant less precise photographs. If that's the case, the tradeoff is a good one.

5 comments about Attracting Butterflies & Hummingbirds to Your Backyard: Watch Your Garden Come Alive With Beauty on the Wing (A Rodale Organic Gardening Book).

1. This book is wonderful for anyone who wants to garden in nature's best interest.



2. This book was just what I needed to learn about attracting humming birds and
   butterflies. This has been very useful for figuring out how to start my garden.
   I am very visual, so the beautiful pictures in the book and the general text design layout
   makes it easy to read.



3. I found the book extremely informative. There are numerous recommendations of different plant species to attract and nourish North American butterflies and their caterpillars. The book would make a wonderful project for young people and their parents to do together to explore the natural world, beautify their yard, support dwindling numbers of species and just have fun together. Information about hummingbirds is just as delightful.



4. This book has great information and lots of it. The author provides a lot of easy ways to attract life into a garden. Also, many plants are listed that thrive in midwest states (where the soil is like clay) were listed that I have never heard of before. It is explained why hummingbirds and butterflies are attracted to certain plants, which helps you to think for yourself when you are out plant shopping. There are some tips and techniques that cost practically nothing which are fun projects for couples or parents and their children. I really enjoy this book and it is one that I can look at over and again and still learn something new to use in the garden. It will be a great tool this summer to me.



5. This book is a beauitful learning tool and is so well done with illustrations. A definite buy.

5 comments about A Neotropical Companion.

1. I took this book along with me to Peru and read it during long boat rides on the river. If you have an interest in biology and ecosystems, this book is a great introduction. It covers a little bit of everything, from birds to mammals to plants. You can dip into one topic without having to read it linearly.
   
   The book greatly enhanced my trip. Guides are great but they can't be experts in everything at once.



2. Received the book in a few days and in excellent condition. Very pleased with my purchase.



3. Well, this is a requirement for class, so I can't complain too much. Still, it looks to be chock full of useful tidbits.



4. This is just a great book if you like this sort of stuff. The content is thorough but not overwhelming, and the author does a really good job making the complex science of neotropical ecology accessible for non-academics.
   
   I purchased it before I traveled to birdwatch in Costa Rica and wowed my companions with little tidbits and facts that I pulled pretty much verbatim from the book. It opens you eyes to things in the tropics that you would most certainly miss otherwise and should be considered indispensable for anyone traveling there with an interest in nature.



5. This book provides a good overview of several ecosystem types within the neotropics, including information on plants, insects, birds, mammals, and inter-species interactions. It's written in an academic but accessible style. My only criticism is the presence of numerous typographical and measurement-conversion errors in the book. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book - I brought it with me to Peru, and read it from cover to cover.

5 comments about The Secret Lives of Hummingbirds.

1. You really cannot go wrong with this one if you have any interest in these wonderful little creatures what-so-ever. I have been watching, photographing, feeding and studying these little birds for years now. It is rather amazing that the author could pack so much information into one small volume and give us some wonderful photographs to boot. We here in Missouri have only the Ruby Throated, but, and I am lucky, I know, we are able to travel to other parts of the country and view other species. No matter how much you know of these birds, you are sure to pick up some new information in this work. As another reviewer pointed out, the photographs are well worth the price of the book. Recommend this one highly.



2. This is a wonderful Book!! The pictures are fantastic!! Makes a great table book but unlike most table books it's full of everything you need or want to know not just pretty pictures. I "Raise" Hummers in the wild and it has provided me with a wealth of information regarding these truly magnificent creatures. I'm constantly referring to it! I wish it wasn't such a beautiful book! That way I wouldn't worry so much about dog earing it up!!hehe!!



3. Order came in pretty quick and in great condition-I would order from this person again.



4. Another reviewer was right! Small book, LOTS of information that you can USE if you're into attracting hummers...HIGHLY recommend the book.



5. This book is filled with beautiful colored photos and lots of very interesting information about hummingbirds.

5 comments about National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, Western Region.

1. My wife and I have been using the Easten Region Field Guide for years and found it to be the best. We recently moved to the western area and quickly realized that we needed the Western Edition. A great book for birders.



2. As a general all round guide, this book is helpful and has a place in any naturalists library. The color plates are the best of all the bird guides.
   The index cross-references the color plates with the descriptions making it pretty staightforward. The cover is a durable leatherette, the binding pretty good (although the color plates will loosen up with use). The Audubon guides are definitely a step up from the Peterson and Stokes guides.
   
   Now for the criticisms. The descriptions are far too brief and vague. An example: for the Cooper's Hawk, the voice description is:
   
   "A rapid series:kek kek kek kek kek". Mmmm . . . Doesn't help much . . .
   
   The summary is also 3 sentences long . . . c'mon, did the editors get tired here or what?
   
   The descriptions throughout are not much more detailed than this, especially the voice descriptions. And trying to print out the phonetics/sound of a birdsong has always seemed pretty futile to me anyway; the most effective way of learning the signature of a bird's song is to listen to a recording.
   
   Except for overhead photos of most of the raptors, there are almost no flying photos of all the other birds. I think this could be a much needed additon to any future editions. Feather identification is a big part of birding.
   
   All in all though, this is the first guide I turn to when I need to know.
   
   Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts



3. I love all these books. I remember using my moms growing up and it was the first thing I looked for when I moved to a new area and wanted to get to know the birds on my back porch. Perfect for the seasoned bird watcher or the novice.



4. A very good resource. We had the Eastern US version and this west coast version is a great supplement. Easy to use.



5. Compact, well-written, precise, comprehensive, informative, brilliant color plates, tough outer cover - what's not to like? Highly recommended.

2 comments about Best-Ever Backyard Birding Tips: Hundreds of Easy Ways to Attract the Birds You Love to Watch (Rodale Organic Gardening Books).

1. This book provides good basic information on many types of birds, and lots of tips for becoming bird-friendly. I have been "birding" for several years now, so I was already informed about much of the information provided. It is a good source for what plants/trees/landscape will attract birds and what each species likes to eat. Be aware that it is mainly "black and white" type (actually blue and white) with very minimal color pictures/photos. Pretty good source, especially for a beginner.



2. Great book. Very informative. Started to order this from another source and as always checked with Amazon first and found it for a fraction of the cost.

5 comments about Birds of North America, Revised and Updated: A Guide To Field Identification (Golden Field Guide from St. Martin's Press).

1. Thank you for shipping this book in so timely a manner. It arrived in excellent condition and ready to give to a friend as a gift.



2. This Bird Book is the best book on identification of birds I have ever used. It is comprehensive, and the photos are extremely accurate. I have used it for years and no other bird book comes close to how accurate it is. This book has every possible variety of each type of bird and photos so that you can easily identify them. I have been a birder for over 10 years and this is my Bible.



3. I had used an earlier version of this book for years. The pages were literally falling out. I was delighted to get an updated edition. Especially useful are the color illustrations.
   If there were one thing I would add to this directory, it would be an index by color. Sometimes I see an unfamiliar bird and it would be handy to look in the back and see an index of birds by the dominant feather color.
   Of all the bird books I have used/seen,I prefer this one and find it the most user friendly.



4. This guide is not very good. The pictures are fuzzy, like the editors photocopied them into the book. The range maps do not show state lines, which can be endlessly frustrating - particularly if you live in the continent's interior, as I do. I suppose there is only one advantage to the maps: the lack of state lines forces the reader to be, perhaps, generous with their estimation of the bird's range; this encourages the interpretation of birds' ranges as being flexible (which they are).
   
   As another reviewer commented, why spend the money for an inferior guide when you can spend a similar amount of money on an outstanding guide?



5. this book was recommended to me as a beginner backyard bird watcher. the drawings are so accurate it is easy to identify the birds quickly. enjoying it and the birds that visit. highly recommend.

5 comments about The Shorebird Guide.

1. Of all of the information available that involves Shorebirds, this book is equal to none. It provides the most organized and complete understanding of the complicated life cycles of these birds. The photograpy is excellent not only in its quality but also in its visualizations of the different life cycles. The book advances how we look upon these types of birds by drawing refined attention to their life cycles and their ecosystems. This is a must have for all birders libraries.



2. I bought this book for my uncle who LOVES bird watching and he is amazed with this book! It offers a lot of information many other books don't. I highly recommend purchasing this for the bird lover! :)



3. This book was extremely helpful for identifying shorebirds. It shows them on the ground close up, in flight and in flocks. Detailed descriptions of status, taxonomy, behavior, migration, molt and vocalizations. Photography is excellent. If you live on or near water and need a guide, this is the one!



4. This is the Bird ID book that can stay on the coffee table. Pages and pages of wonderful pictures of shorebirds make up the front section of the book. Let me be quick to point out if you are looking for gulls or terns they will not be in this book. This is a book about the small brownish birds ( sometimes called Peeps) that can be seen on our shores. Sanderlings, sandpipers, Godwitts, Dunlin, and our rapidly declining Red Knots are the subjects of this book. If you want to know shore birds this is the book.



5. Over the past few years an avant-garde style of bird identification has arisen. The classic "Peterson Identification Method" (much revered by bird lovers, instrumental in the formation of birding itself, and still highly useful), which stresses the importance of unique "field marks" is slowly ceding to a new holistic approach (also known as GISS: General Impression of Shape and Size).
   
   This guide is at the forefront of that movement, along with Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion, and should be on the shelf of any birder who wishes to improve his or her identification skills. Novice birders often wonder at the mastery of experts who can identify birds far away immediately without raising their binoculars; such ability can only come with experience, but this book offers valuable insight into that esoteric ability.