10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2020

Type it in and you’ll find articles about a showy South African plant, trailers for two films (one of which was pre-Code and apparently created a sensation), eleven novels, a romance novel series, an animated children’s film, socks, and no less than nine coloring books. Like Antpittas and Gnateaters by Harold F. Introduction.

Guinea 264

Guinea Birds Papua New Guinea Family 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. It provides goals and a definite direction for your birding travels and thoughts; sometimes it even becomes the basis of a book!

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Ecuador Bolivia 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2019

Greeney was recommended to me as a book I HAD to review by no less than three birding friends. I hesitated because a 496-page book about two skulky neotropical bird groups is a little intimidating. It’s a fairly large book considering the limited subject matter. Antpittas and Gnateaters by Harry F.

Research 149

Research Eggs South America Costa Rica 149

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

The book is chiefly about how people have conceptualized and studied birds, but there is an underlying theme, the changing ways in which our Western culture has viewed animals, nature and God. It’s a huge scope for a 338-page book.

Dissection 234

Dissection Birds Research Europe 234

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

” The book in question is Birds of Bolivia: Field Guide , edited and written by Sebastian K. That’s pretty amazing–Bolivia has more bird species than India! The source of this ranking, BirdLife International, lists Bolivia as currently having 1,439 bird species, including 18 breeding endemics. ″ x 9.5″x

Bolivia 181

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 181

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Kai’s photos present a unique perspective on a very specific, under-birded area of China; you can view them on this blog, and, even more satisfying, you can view them in his book, Birds of Nanhui Shanghai , published in China in 2018 and available through NHBS, the international book distributor.

China 144

China Birds 2018 Ducks 144

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Two books, two authors, two countries bursting with neotropical avian diversity. Since the books share authors and a creation process, I thought I would review them together. An associated issue is that the Belize and Costa Rica guides share many of the same descriptions of species, written by Howell. Why are these issues?

Costa Rica 227

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 227

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

” And, if you don’t believe them, just take a look at some of the photographic comparisons of species they present: Or, of albatross plumages: Or, read about the taxonomic confusions and scientific lapses in research on petrels, Albatrosses, storm-petrels, and diving-petrels. Coverage of all families is not comprehensive.

Albatross 167

Albatross North America Birds Groups 167

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

The simple answer is monetary gain, there is a global black market for these items, regardless of the species’ vulnerability for extinction. 2019), and now this book. The book is structured cinematically. wrote a lengthy article in Outside magazine (Jan. Author Joshua Hammer. photo credit: Cordula Krämer).

Falcons 224

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 224

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

It took me a while to wrap my mind around the concept of Birds and People , Mark Cocker and David Tipling’s book that, in 592 pages, explores the intersection of just that—birds and us. Still, I found it a little disjointing that a book has been written about our relationship with birds. So, I just sit here, amazed at this book.

Birds 224

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 224

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2018

In a birding world that celebrates identification, there are surprisingly few articles and books on gull identification.** There’s been a lot of excitement about this book. Pete Dunne has written and co-written 21 books (by my count, Wikipedia needs to update its entry!) This is their second co-authored book.

North America 208

North America America El Salvador Nicaragua 208

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

Everyone is looking back on their best birds of 2019, so I thought it would be a good idea to look at a book that looks back a little further: Urban Ornithology: 150 Years of Birds in New York City , by P. Because, as this book demonstrates so well, it is sometimes important to look back in order to move forward. “Wait!”

New York City 156

New York City New York Birds Breeding 156

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Some people read cookbooks though they have no intention of whipping up a mushroom risotto, some people read bird guide books, even when the likelihood of actually seeing the creatures in those guides is remote. SCOPE & SPECIES ORGANIZATION. It covers 434 species across 9 orders and 18 families of birds.

Albatross 279

Albatross Penguins Family Groups 279

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

The last time a Julie Zickefoose book was reviewed on this blogsite, the piece began by saying “This is going to be a rave review.” That sentence will do for this review and this book, too: it’s unavoidable. As she has done for many years and with more than twenty species, she adopted a baby bird, a blue jay.

Ohio 149

Ohio Adoptable Emotional 2019 149

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2015

It’s December and that means one thing—a great excuse to buy books on birding. I thought I’d do a round-up of some of the best bird books reviewed this year, a few memorable titles from recent years past, and one that wasn’t reviewed but which I love, that would be great holiday gifts. Books for Beginning Birders.

Papua New Guinea 187

Papua New Guinea 2014 Penguins Birds 187

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

This is the book you will want to give to everyone in your life who has said ‘I’d like to bird too, but ….(fill Not only is Nate a birding and blogging colleague, but Mike Bergin, 10,000 Birds co-publisher, has written the Foreword and I have been threatened with all sorts of birder-type punishment if I give this book a bad review.

Birds 263

Birds North Carolina North America Owls 263

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Navarro’s exceptional drawings illustrate the species accounts. Forty-eight species. Compare, for example, the species account illustration of the Cuban Trogon with the photo that opens up the introductory chapter. The luxury of space means that each species can be shown from various angles and in distinctive poses.

Cuba 238

Cuba Birds United States 2000 238

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2016

This book is a field guide treat for traveling birders and birders who love to fantasize about travel, answering that age-old question, “I’m going on a trip to [fill in the blank—Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras], what field guide should I use?”. A lot of attention is given to differentiating amongst similar looking species.

El Salvador 234

El Salvador America Costa Rica Honduras 234

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2018

Gallardo has been a professional bird guide in Honduras since 2001 and first came to the country as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1993 (his “Chronology of Field Work in Honduras” is a chapter in the book). Species Accounts. The Species Accounts are arranged in a rough AOS taxonomic order.

Honduras 106

Honduras Birds 2015 Family 106

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

So, when Redgannet asked me if I was interested in reviewing Phillipps’ Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan, Third Edition , by Quentin Phillipps and Karen Phillipps, a book he had acquired at Birdfair, I hesitated. Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species?

Brunei 179

Brunei Birds Asia China 179

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

But, sometimes an appreciation of birds and birding requires more than a reference book with images of birds and facts about their identifying field marks. There are large avian handbooks and small ‘how-to bird’ guides, and quite a few excellent books of both types have been published. And, each essay tells a story.

Birds 115

Birds North America Breeding America 115

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2015

Here are some things I’ve learned from the Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean by Scott Weidensaul: The Burrowing Owl is the only North American owl species where the male is larger than the female, albeit, only slightly larger. The 39 owls include five endemic Caribbean species.

North America 233

North America Owls America Dominican Republic 233

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

As mentioned in many other posts on this blog, the avifauna of Trinidad & Tobago consists of several species and family groups occurring very interestingly, in threes. I hadn’t noticed this until I began compiling my own book on the birds of T&T some years ago, and I thought it rather uncanny. Well, kind of.

Trinidad 130

Trinidad Bats Falcons Groups 130

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2018

It’s not often that we have the opportunity to glimpse the home life of albatrosses, nor of any seabird species. Think about it–how do you document the behavior of birds that spend years flying (or swimming) and feeding and, apparently, sleeping above or within the deep sea? What about incubation shifts?

Albatross 114

Albatross Penguins Research Breeding 114

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

It’s time for some short book reviews. Two books are part of series I’ve reviewed previously (and you may want to reread those posts for more detailed info), one is a handbook that I’ve been wanting to review for a long time, but thought that a shorter piece would work better than the long ones I always seem to end up doing here.

Pennsylvania 176

Pennsylvania Texas Whales Whaling 176

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2018

The theft of some “dead birds” captures his imagination, and by the end of the book we’ve traveled with him around the world as he talks to famous fly tiers,* the Tring police, and Rist himself, seeking for the truth behind the story. Seriously, this book is crying out for a movie treatment!). Mostly adult males.

Collecting 105

Collecting Iraq Ostriches Science 105

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2017

The 7th edition of the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America covers 1,023 species that reside, migrate, or have been documented as accidentals or exotics in North America. You may also be thinking about a third question: What bird books should I give myself for the holidays?

North America 187

North America America 2017 Birds 187

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The one bird I did not see here, however, was the Bateleur Eagle … One highlight in the area is the Saddle-billed Stork , likely to be the tallest species in the stork family. Habitat loss, as documented by hieroglyphs. Hence, this species has earned the German colloquial common name “Nimmersatt”; meaning “never full”.

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2013

I needed a book showing a Linnet. Conceived and authored by Richard Crossley, birder, traveler, and photographer, The Crossley ID Guide: Britain & Ireland is the third book of the series. The first book in the series, The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds , exploded onto the birding scene in 2011.

Ireland 173

Ireland 2013 Breeders Ducks 173

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2023

Plume hunting raged supreme 150 years ago, when egret feathers were part of a worldwide trade in feathers and other bird parts, used for women’s hats and other articles of clothing (but mostly hats), delighting the upper classes and practically wiping out bird species. ©2023, Donna L. .” But this is not a hagiography.

Connecticut 147

Connecticut Washington Legislation Hunting 147

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

It’s my fantasy and it’s yours: Quit the job, say good-bye to the family, and bird. And, to give his dream year a little more oomph, he created a grand once-in-a-lifetime goal: to track down and see every pitta species in the world in one year. This is the birding adventure book supreme. And leeches.

Hunters 202

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 202

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2019

Born in a different era, when bird photography was difficult, I gave many advice how to write the basic info, but the strangest thing to novices today turned out to be the advice on sketching the unknown species. Still, besides documenting rare species, forms, or odd individuals (e.g. Why should I sketch it, I am lousy at that.

Birds 144

Birds Costa Rica Greece Colombia 144

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

Picidae, Woodpecker, is one of those charismatic bird families that everybody gets excited about. Woodpeckers of the World: A Photographic Guide is the first major guide to family Picidae in 20 years. This is a comprehensive, handsome reference book that is likely to become the standard for many years.

Woodpeckers 252

Woodpeckers 2002 Europe Research 252

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Even the Latin species name soror (“sister”) indicates the similarity to another pitta species (blue-naped). The eBird description of the Small Niltava starts with the surprisingly dull statement that “size distinguishes this species from other niltavas” Who would have thought.

China 242

China Birds Pythons Eagles 242

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2018

To celebrate spring migration, I usually review an exciting new bird book. And, there is a fairy named Moth in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a superhero named The Moth, appropriately from Dark Horse Comics, the poor cousin to the two big comic book companies. There are over 11,000 species of moths in North America.

North America 100

North America America Oklahoma Missouri 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

I like observing them, reading about them, grappling with species and subspecies identification, and even—on a good day—talking about sparrow taxonomy. This is a reference book with many layers, diverse uses and a distinct personality. Scope of Book. Small and other photographers, mostly, if not all, birders.

North America 157

North America Sparrows America United States 157

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2017

Birds of Kruger National Park covers the 259 species most frequently seen in the park, about half of the total number of birds documented there. The 224-page book is organized by habitat and behavior, not taxonomy. I thought about this a lot, and finally realized that most of the travelers using this book will not care.

Ecuador 180

Ecuador Wildlife Reptiles Birds 180