4 comments about Birds of San Diego (U.S. City Bird Guides).

1. This is one of the best books I've seen for identifying birds in the San Diego area. The seasonal frequency charts are useful, and the colored drawings of the birds are professionally rendered in a way that makes the birds really recognizable in the field. The text also contains good practical pointers for field identification.



2. I highly recommend this beautifully illustrated publication. When I see a bird in my yard, I grab my binoculars and the guide, and within minutes identify the species -- and I'm a novice. The book provides quick identification tips as well as information on habitats, similar species, feeding habits, and songs. I've identified 15 species already, and have set up hummingbird feeders, finch socks, and seed feeders to attract more visitors. I guess I'm hooked.



3. It is different compared to field guides. It did provide a basis for a list of birds to study. Well written and illustrated with a lot of information



4. I am most likely to reach for a guidebook like this in spring (or, to a lesser extent, fall), when suddenly looking at a bird I am not used to seeing. I am fortunate, not only to be living in San Diego, but to be living on nearly half an acre of mixed native and introduced trees, shrubs, and flowers that attract a wonderful assortment of avian visitors, from raptors to runaway parrots. This book is quite incomplete but useful nonetheless. The illustrations are beautiful and 'steal the show' as far as I'm concerned, the "abundance charts" and habitat icons are helpful, there is the obligatory glossary and a species checklist for those who would want it.
   
   Like I say, the book is beautiful, functional, but not comprehensive, so you will need another guidebook as well. It helped me to quickly identify a Wilson's warbler but didn't help with a Cassin's kingbird (the book includes the western k-bird but not the Cassin's). Of the local orioles, this book features only the Bullock's, which I see rather rarely, and makes no mention of the Scott's or hooded orioles which I see frequently (the flashy hooded oriole is constantly present in my yard throughout every summer). This book doesn't include the osprey and it is interesting that the more comprehensive Audubon guide doesn't appear to list this bird as occurring in San Diego either (giving Audubon the benefit of the doubt, maybe their little range map is just to difficult to read in this case?). At any rate, ospreys are here whether any guidebook includes them or not. Exceptions acknowledged, most of what should be here, is, including my favorite little aerobatic acrobat, the black phoebe who is 'dancing in air' outside my window as I write this.
   
   Happy hunting.

No comments about Peacocks, Penguins & Other Birds (Animal Kingdom Classification).

1 comments about The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Corrie Herring Hooks Series).

1. This little book is wonderfully written and covers all aspects of the ruby throated hummingbird. The distinct characteristics of the hummingbird - their size, description (differences between the male and female), courtship, flight, sounds are covered in detail. Most interesting are chapters that cover an average day in the life of the male hummingbird and the nesting habits of the female (the author describes her own month long observation of one in a park near her home). Other chapters cover the fascinating migration, banding projects and how to attract hummingbirds to your garden.

2 comments about the Birdwatcher's Guide to Digital Photography.

1. Intended audience for this book can be easily understood from the title: birdwatchers with digital cameras. Book has three sections of roughly equal length devoted to (1) equipment, (2) photographing birds, and (3) digital photo editing. The excellent bird photos throughout the book include identifications of the birds, where the shot was taken, and the camera settings. Although the overwhelming majority of the photos in the book seem to have been taken with 500mm lenses, Tipling's message is not simply "get big lenses and get close". He seems to have traveled everywhere in the world to shoot birds, there's good info here about photographing birds in your backyard and in the city. One of the best things about the book is that it's up to date. It's all about digital photography, for starters. He talks about both digital SLRs and compact cameras and does not turn up his nose at the latter. He discusses digiscoping, for example - a way for compact digital cameras to get great shots with the help of birding scopes. In the section on software, he's aware of Adobe Lightroom, which as of today (1-27-07) is still in public beta. I would have been happy perhaps with more pages on photographing birds and fewer pages on post-processing on the camera, but his section on photo editing is geared specifically to editing photographs of birds. All in all, I have found the book to be informative, suggestive (his photos make me want to do the same thing), and enjoyable.
   
   Oh, the book has a forward by John Fitzpatrick, director of the famed Cornell Lab of Ornithology and blurb from David Sibley himself on the back!



2. This book was exactly what I hoped it would be. It started out with explainations of dslr cameras and associated equipment, explained terms like ISO and aperature, and then went into example of settings for different bird photograph scenereos. easy to read, concise, great photos.

2 comments about Birds of Chicago (U.S. City Bird Guides).

1. Unlike regional or national bird identification guides, this book contains very targeted information about how and where to observe birds in the Chicago area. It includes maps of numerous suggested areas for effective birdwatching around the city (downtown, as well as suburban areas to the north, south and west, and even into NW Indiana). It also has information regarding local birdwatching and ornithological groups.

   For example, it may say that one bird can be observed "over the Des Plaines river in springtime." Or that others are generally found only in the suburbs or rural areas fringing the city, though local colonies may establish themselves in the lakefront parks. A nice touch.

   Additionally, each bird description a time-graph that charts the relative frequency of sightings for a given species in the Chicago area over the course of a year. Together with the visual identification chart and the descriptive text, it helps the beginning birder judge whether s/he really just saw a female "English Sparrow," as opposed to a "Song Sparrow," or a "Field Sparrow," etc.

   Bird identification is by way of paintings, and not photos. The paintings are not as detailed or reliable as some other volumes (e.g. Sibley's Guide), but they are sufficient for the book's limited purpose which is as a local/regional supplement to these larger and more detailed tomes. Recommended.




2. I've been watching birds for 30 years and found this is a useful book for beginning birders and experienced birders for Chicago area birds. This guide cannot be all inclusive of species in the Chicago area, due to the large amount of birds that travel through the area during migration. However, what it does include is more information on the familiar species than other guides. Information includes behavior, habitat, songs and calls, tips for quick ID, and abundance charts for each bird species. It would be a great addition to any Chicago birding library.

2 comments about Birds of Illinois.

1. If you want to identify birds in your Illinois backyard, or when you're hiking in the woods, on a picnic at the zoo, enjoying the flowers at the Botanic Gardens, or basking in the shade of a tree at an Arboretum, then this is the book for you. It won't confuse you with birds that don't belong in Illinois. This is THE field guide for Illinois bird watcher, no matter what the expertise. This guide is arranged by habitat and color coded for quick identification. Each bird has a full color beautiful drawing, interesting facts about the bird, including how to identify it in the field, as well as when during the year you're likely to see it.
   Sheryl DeVore, an award-winning environmental journalist and editor, writes with technical and poetic ease. Steve Bailey, an ornithologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey is one of the top experts on Illinois breeding birds; his maps make it easy to identify each bird as breeder, summer visitor, year-round resident, or migrator.

   Get this book if you live in Illinois and love to watch birds!




2. Great book. Includes full color art with a nice synopsis for each bird as well as an illustration for its habitat. I've been able to identify many birds with it. Highly recomended!

1 comments about Tropical Birds Coloring Book (Colouring Books).

1. I enjoyed this coloring book. The book contains 44 full page drawings of birds. Each bird wasn't too detailed, but it did contain appropriate background habitat and a small amount of information related to each bird. Colored versions are provided on/in the cover of the book for reference. I don't believe the drawings are detailed enough to be an artists reference, but for pure enjoyment of coloring it is perfect.

1 comments about Birds of Oregon.

1. It is not all inclusive and the pictures are hand drawn, but it is well indexed and easy to find the bird for which you are looking. I have yet to see an Oregon bird that isn't included in this book. I am very satisfied.

3 comments about Birds of Minnesota Audio CDs: Companion to the Bird of Minnesota Field Guide.

1. I gave this item as a gift. She absolutely loved it. It is nice to find a CD of bird calls so one can know the sight as well as the sound of different birds.



2. I have dozens of different kinds of birds in my woods behind my home and the chorus is overwhelming. These 2 CD's are well indexed and Stan even has comments on the different songs many of the birds have. Example some are to mark an area, some are for mating and others are to warn of danger.



3. I bought the cd set after I purchased it's companion book (same title). It is very helpful tool to identify birds that you cannot see i.e. camoflouged by plant/tree foliage by matching the calls to the birds.

No comments about The Calls Of Ducks And Geese.