Offers a holistic approach to bird-watching by noting how behaviors, settings, and seasonal cycles connect with shape, song, color, gender, and other characteristics traditionally used to identify species. - (Baker & Taylor)
A unique blend of narrative and field studies introduces a new, holistic approach to bird-watching, by noting how behaviors, settings and seasonal cycles connect with shape, song, color, gender age distinctions and other characteristics traditionally used to identify species. - (Baker & Taylor)
Become a better birder with brief portraits of 200 top North American birds. This friendly, relatable book is a celebration of the art, science, and delights of bird-watching.
How to Know the Birds introduces a new, holistic approach to bird-watching, by noting how behaviors, settings, and seasonal cycles connect with shape, song, color, gender, age distinctions, and other features traditionally used to identify species. With short essays on 200 observable species, expert author Ted Floyd guides us through a year of becoming a better birder, each species representing another useful lesson: from explaining scientific nomenclature to noting how plumage changes with age, from chronicling migration patterns to noting hatchling habits. Dozens of endearing pencil sketches accompany Floyd's charming prose, making this book a unique blend of narrative and field guide. A pleasure for birders of all ages, this witty book promises solid lessons for the beginner and smiles of recognition for the seasoned nature lover. - (Random House, Inc.)
TED FLOYD has written four books, most recently ABA Field Guide to Birds of Colorado, and more than 150 popular articles, technical papers, and book chapters on birds and natural history. He is the author of Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America, published by HarperCollins in 2008, which received a starred review in Publishers Weekly. Known widely within the birding community and recognized for both his birding acumen and his quirky intellect, Floyd is a frequent speaker at bird festivals and ornithological society meetings nationwide. - (Random House, Inc.)
Library Journal Reviews
Ornithologist Floyd (Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America) brings his credentials as the editor of Birding magazine to create thought-provoking and authoritative one-page essays on 200 different species of birds native to North America. Floyd's text is enhanced by the art of N. John Schmitt. This is not a guide for identification. Instead, it can be considered an accessible introduction to ornithology and birding; cerebral yet delightfully informal. A few of the many topics Floyd writes of here include migration, metabolism, nomenclature, avian memory skills, site descriptions, behavior, citizen science projects, population dynamics, the ethics and morality of our outdoor pursuits, molt, and brood parasitism. An excellent feature is the numerous cross-references from one essay often to several others, making it easy to see the interrelatedness of his manifold conceptual aspects of birding. Though a standout, this book could have benefited from a bibliography and glossary. VERDICT Highly recommended for those interested in the natural world. This is a book to be read; there is nothing else quite like it.—Henry T. Armistead, formerly with Free Lib. of Philadelphia
Copyright 2019 Library Journal.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Birding magazine editor Floyd (Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America) plays teacher in an informative volume aimed at both beginning and more experienced avian enthusiasts, offering brief and accessible accounts of "200 bird species, one bird at a time, one day at a time, one lesson at a time." An introductory section touches on the common and recognizable species, such as American robins and mallards, which often get people initially hooked; subsequent sections deal with basic topics such as bird naming, bird sizes and shapes, and migration. Floyd, a birder for close to four decades, also explores how ornithology has changed over the years, "especially in the past 10 to 15." Once upon a time, for instance, he "could get by" with binoculars, a field guide, and a notebook. Back then, "going to the library was common, taking photos was rare, and recording birdsong was practically unheard of," in contrast to today, when digital tools have made birding newly easy, popular, and more concerned with documenting experience. That said, Floyd shows that the attraction to and general interest in the field has remained the same: to learn as much as possible about and appreciate the natural world. This book helps greatly with that endeavor. (Mar.)
Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly.