10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Phillipps’ Field Guide (I’ll be using this shortened form of the title) covers 673 avian species, including 59 endemics, and 53 species that have not been documented yet for the area but which may show up in the next few years. Borneo, the authors say, is under-birded. I think we need to do something about that.

Brunei 172

Brunei Birds Asia China 172

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2018

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? Where does the female Emperor Penguin go after she has produced that one egg and handed it over to the male for incubation? Technology to the rescue!

Albatross 114

Albatross Penguins Research Breeding 114

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

For ornithologists, it is the documentation of a multi-year project designed to record the distribution and abundance of birds in a specific area (in North America, usually a state or a province), utilizing a mapping method involving blocks and grids. Let’s hear it for the return of the forest!

Pennsylvania 220

Pennsylvania Breeding Birds Sparrows 220

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

Holt and his staff, several of which are also ‘characters’ in the book, do hard-core field work, finding owls, owl nests, documenting them and working with concerned and unconcerned organizations to inform public policy decision-making. I’m wondering if the subject of this book itself presented a challenge.

Owls 200

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 200

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

’ These are equally detailed and documented and the amount of information in each section of each species account is well balanced (the few exceptions being sparrows about which little is known). And, the 1996 volume includes information on nests and eggs, a topic not covered by the Peterson guide.

North America 142

North America Sparrows America United States 142

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2022

Practically every sentence is documented with these studies. The Wryneck is full of stunning photos of Wrynecks–anting, flying, nesting, writhing, being ringed, their habitat areas, nests, eggs, and closeups of museum specimens. Yet, The Wryneck does not read like a literature review. copyright © 2022 Gerard Gorman.

Woodpeckers 224

Woodpeckers Hungary Thailand 2014 224

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

The reasons are twofold–the rapidly changing taxonomic playing field and the obstacles these changes present to users. Pretty much the same reasons presented so eloquently by Jochen in his classic post “Keep Your Taxonomy Out of My Field Guide”–Revisited.). 210-531), indicated by brown page tabs.

Australia 105

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 105

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2019

This range of illustration continues throughout the 24 plates, reflecting, I assume, what has been documented and not documented for each species and the degree of difference between sexes and amongst subspecies. They are, of course, of antpittas building or incubating eggs on a nest. Organization.

Research 136

Research Eggs South America Costa Rica 136

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2013

The where and how of egg laying and larva emergence is briefly treated, with page references to larval drawings at the back of the book. The photographic page for each species presents the damselfly or dragonfly in a number of images, usually full frontal, sometimes in profile, sometimes, helpfully, in a typical perched or mating position.

Ireland 168

Ireland France Breeding Eggs 168

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

I also enjoyed the breeding photo series, showing Downy Woodpecker eggs and then hatchlings within a breeding chamber in a tree, with only a few wood chips to support them. Each Species Account is numbered, and introduced with a gray title box presenting common name, scientific name, and dimensions (in centimeters).

Woodpeckers 234

Woodpeckers 2002 Europe Research 234