When I started birding, I carried a pencil and small notebook into the field to record sightings and make notes. It was a great way to learn, but a little cumbersome. A few years later, I met a birder who dictated sightings into a cassette-based voice recorder. How cool was that! Well, not the cassette part. So I bought a digital voice recorder with a remote mic. I could keep the device in my pocket, clip the mic to my binocular strap, and be able to record notes without ever lowering my binoculars. Plus, it could record bird sounds in a pinch. I love that thing and never imagined that I could bird without it.

And then comes the iPhone with all its wonderful apps. Smart phones and listing-keeping applications seem to be made for each other. It’s very convenient to keep your list on a device that you always have handy. Though I still use my trusty voice recorder for most of my list recording, I have found listing apps to be very useful at times. And with all of the features they offer, I really could fully switch over. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, I highly recommend using one of these apps. But which one? I’ll briefly describe and compare the iPhone listing apps that I’ve used.

First, all of these apps will obviously let you record which birds, and how many, you see. They will also email lists, export them in a format acceptable to eBird, and keep a rudimentary life list.

Birdcountr

$4.99

Website

European version
Free version

The Good

• Keeps track of time and records GPS location
• Can separately count by gender, age, and plumage
• Attractive interface; includes bird portraits
• Export options include Google Earth KML or as web page

The Bad

• Runs through battery quickly if GPS is being used. Can’t use it for longer than 6-7 hours without charging
• Only covers North America (US and Canada) and Europe (in separate apps)
• Takes more button pressing (and thus time) to record sightings

I’ve found birdcountr to be intuitive and the app that most closely matches what I’m looking for in a listing app. It is very linear – you start a list, enter a name for the location, enter your sightings, and hit the End button when done. It keeps track of the time you started and stopped and the GPS coordinates of every sighting (by default, though you can turn that off). Further, I like to keep track of “identifiable forms” within species. That is, I keep a separate count for male/female, immature, subspecies, etc. Birdcountr is the only app that is able to do that easily. But being able to record that extra information comes at a price; entering sightings in this app takes slightly longer than in the others.

For a more in-depth look, here’s my full review of birdcountr.

Birdwatcher’s Diary

$9.99

Website

The Good

• Usable worldwide
• Flexible and extensible – can import lists for anywhere and of anything, not just birds (i.e. mammals)
• Keeps track of time and can record GPS location
• Export lists as Google Earth KML
• Uses iTunes for backup, or can upload to ftp sites
• Life list functionality relatively robust

The Bad

• Price
• Complicated
• Runs through battery quickly if GPS is being used
• Cumbersome to separately count by gender, age, and plumage

Birdwatcher’s Diary is the most powerful listing app I’ve used. By downloading and installing lists, it can be used anywhere and for just about anything. The filtering capabilities seem especially well-suited to bird surveys and big days. The life list feature has options, unlike the other apps, so you can have it tell you what birds you’ve seen in a given location, time period, etc. You can count different “types” of the same bird individually (male/female, subspecies, etc), but it takes much more effort than in birdcountr.

However, this is not the most intuitive app. I had to actually read the manual to figure out how to use it. But the good news is that the manual is a fairly good and easy-to-follow tutorial that walks you through the myriad features.

My Bird Observations

$2.99

Website

Free version

The Good

• Usable worldwide, with preloaded lists for states and countries
• Simple, fairly quick data entry
• Price
• Exports to Birdstack, and uploads to box.net for backup

The Bad

• No easy way to separately count by gender, age, and plumage
• Does not use GPS to record location
• Lack of smart scrolling bar makes it more inconvenient to scroll through a long list of families or species

Of these listing apps, My Bird Observations is the most basic. It will automatically note the start time for each trip, but if you want to record other details (duration, county, etc) you must enter them manually. It does not use GPS. But it is easy, quick, and intuitive to use. It’s the only one that is usable worldwide immediately upon installation. The only way to keep track of different types (male/female, etc) is to manually type notes for the species.

Recommendation

First, birdcountr and My Bird Observations each has a limited version that can be tried for free. Birdwatcher’s Diary, unfortunately, doesn’t offer that option. But you can read through the manual to get a good idea of how it works.

All of these apps will allow you to record the birds you see and create bird lists that can be uploaded to eBird. But ultimately, the one that is right for you depends on your needs. If you need a quick and easy way to count birds, without worrying about recording GPS or various “types”, then My Bird Observations should work fine. Birdcountr would be great if you want those features, and bird primarily in North America or Europe. However, if you need worldwide coverage or want its advanced features, then Birdwatcher’s Diary would be the best choice.

More Bird Apps

• Comparison of Bird Field Guide Apps for iPhone – a similar comparison I’ve done for the North American field guide apps available for the iPhone

Disclosure: The apps reviewed here were complementary review copies provided by the developers.

It seemed like there were an unusually high number of new editions and updated field guides in 2010, most of which were published, at least in the U.S., by Princeton University Press.

• The Collins Bird Guide, or Birds of Europe as it’s known in North America, is probably the most highly regarded field guide in the world; and deservedly so. Every birder, regardless of location, should have a copy, if only to see how good a field guide can be. But the original edition (review), published a decade ago, was starting to show its age. This second edition makes some updates and additions, but is still the same amazing guide.
• The new Birds of Peru is billed as a “Revised and Updated Edition” rather than a second edition. I don’t have the first edition to compare the two, but I think this is an accurate reflection. The binding has been changed from a jacketless hardcover to paperback, making it more portable. It also includes an additional 25 species, and some revised range maps. Anyone birding in Peru or the surrounding countries absolutely has to have it. Full Review
• In 2008 the famous Peterson field guides, which had previously only been available as separate regional editions, were updated and combined into a single book (review). It should come as no surprise that they were again split into the sixth edition Eastern and Central North America and fourth edition Western field guides.
• Australia was blessed with two updated field guides in 2010: the eighth edition of Simpson and Day’s Birds of Australia, and the second of The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds. If you’d like to learn the relative merits of each of Australia’s field guides, there is an excellent comparison on Birdforum.
• The second edition of Birds of the Middle East looks like it would be a very useful field guide for the region. I don’t have the first edition, so I can’t compare the two. But it sounds as if this guide has been completely redesigned and updated, much of it for the better. It now has a more traditional layout with birds on the right-hand page and text and range maps on the left.

But there was also a good selection of new field guides in 2010.

• Each of the last four years has brought us a new photographic field guide to the birds of North America. They’ve each had their merits, but The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America is my current favorite photo-based guide. It is an excellent reference that is worth having even if you already have a dozen other NA field guides. Here’s a look inside.
• Of all the field guides published in 2010, Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia may be the most impactful. Columbia, which boasts more bird species than any other country on Earth, is once again becoming a safe place to bird. But until now, its only field guide, while good, is old and unwieldy. I’m still not sure what magic the authors used, but they managed to produce a guide to 1800+ birds that is both useful and very portable. Full Review
• Birds of the West Indies is a very compact guide to Caribbean birds. But it doesn’t completely supplant its predecessor, a field guide with the same name by Herbert Raffaele. Having been able to use this guide in the field recently, I will be writing a review shortly.
• The Birds of Panama, like the new Columbian guide, is a very welcome addition since it’s the first good, readily portable field guide to this popular birding destination. I haven’t seen it yet, but if it’s as good as the companion book to Costa Rica (by the same publisher and illustrator), it would be highly recommended to anyone birding in Panama.
• According to the very helpful site Avian Review, the Field Guide to the Birds of Ghana, as only the second field guide to west Africa, is a book that you’ll need if you’re planning on birding in western Africa.
• Bird Feathers: A Guide to North American Species isn’t a field guide in the same manner as these other books, but is rather a field guide to bird parts. Ever find a lone bird feather and wish you could figure out to which bird it belonged? This is your book.

If I’ve missed any, and inevitably I have, let me know and I’ll add them.

Digital cameras, digital photo frames, eBook readers, it seems like the whole world is going digital these days. And now digital field guides are here. You can think of these as traditional field guides on steroids, yet even smaller.

You still get the regular stuff found in field guides: illustrations, range maps, basic identification and natural history information. But the format also allows for much more. You can play a bird’s song from within the field guide. Or access information that otherwise would have required cracking open another book or doing an internet search.

Probably the best thing about the medium is that it allows you to search for a bird in so many more ways. For instance, if you don’t know the name of a bird you want to look up, you don’t have to go looking through the accounts as you do in a printed guide. Just input some characteristics in the search function, and the guide will narrow down the possibilities for you.

There are now several digital field guides available to birders, mostly for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch devices. This is a brief comparison of those for North America.

• Audubon Birds
  $19.99
  
• iBird Explorer Pro
  $29.99
  
• National Geographic’s Handheld Birds
  $9.99
  
• Peterson Birds of North America
  $14.99
  
• The Sibley eGuide to the Birds of North America
  $29.99
  

Normally, I would create a table to compare their features, but the folks at iBird have already made this comparison of iPhone Bird Apps.

Keep in mind that one of the competing companies produced this table. However, I have no reason to believe that anything was misrepresented, though it does not include the new Peterson app.

So which one belongs on your iPhone? I’ve only had first hand experience with iBird, Sibley, and Audubon (free version). But the app websites and reviews in iTunes have been very helpful in gauging their usefulness.

First off, I think the Peterson ones can be eliminated due to the lack of a single, comprehensive app. [Updated March 10, 2011] When I first created this page, the only Peterson apps available were separate ones for backyard birds, birds of prey, and warblers. But now there is a single, comprehensive Peterson Birds of North America app. It includes all the illustrations from the latest Peterson field guide, but also pulls information from other Peterson guides, such as those to warblers and even molt! If you’re a fan of the Peterson guide, it looks worth checking out.

The National Geographic app looks to be a pretty straightforward port of their field guide, with the addition of sounds, more textual information, and a basic search function. But it just doesn’t seem to have the navigation and search capabilities that you would want.

Audubon Birds seems to have the same sort of information on each bird, except this one uses photographs for the illustrations. A search engine is included, allowing you to search for birds based on several characteristics. This is more promising.

iBird has the usual information for each bird (and quite a bit more), and goes beyond the other apps by utilizing both paintings and photographs. But you’ll really notice the difference in the search function – iBird has 33 different criteria that you can use to search on.

[Update: Sibley added on Feb 18, 2010] The Sibley eGuide app is an excellent digital version of the Sibley Guide, which is my favorite North American field guide. It’s just about the perfect amalgamation of the “big” Sibley and the smaller regional guides. You get (just about) all of the illustrations from the former, along with the extensive text and updated maps of the latter. It also comes with an extensive collection of bird sounds and some rudimentary searching and filtering capabilities.

Based on what I’ve seen, I think it’s clear that iBird is the way to go. It has more species, illustrations per species (on average), information, and ways to find what you’re looking for.

Until Sibley was released, iBird was the clear frontrunner among bird apps. But now it’s a very close race. Here’s a brief comparison of important features:

• Illustrations – I much prefer Sibley’s paintings, and it illustrates a vastly greater selection of plumages for each species. However, iBird also includes some fantastic photos, and quick access to many more on Flickr.
• Sounds – Sibley includes a greater selection of sounds for each species. They both allow you to easily compare vocalizations. With Sibley, you can compare any two species, while iBird gives a selection of similar sounds for each bird.
• Information – iBird includes MUCH more information on life history, conservation, and other interesting facts. The text in Sibley deals almost exclusively with identification and voice. This information is also present in iBird, but the Sibley text does a better job at highlighting the most important field marks.
• User Interface – It’s no contest – iBird’s interface and navigation is vastly superior. It’s searching and filtering is also much more robust than the Sibley app. Sibley does have one unique feature, though, and it’s a good one. You can compare portraits, sounds, and range maps of any two species on the same screen.
• Lists – They both allow you to save notes for each species. Sibley allows you to see and interrogate your list easier. But honestly, I wouldn’t use either to keep a life list.

Basically, they both have something to offer in every category. Right now, I can’t universally recommend one over the other. Overall, I think more experienced birders will find the Sibley app more useful for identification, while those less experienced will best be served by iBird.

Ultimately, the best app will be the one that improves most upon its shortcomings. iBird needs to expand its collection of sounds and (especially) illustrate more variations in appearance. The Sibley app could greatly improve upon its searching/filtering and interface, as well as include some information beyond that found in the print guides.

But I wouldn’t wait too long to see which one that will be. I’ve found that having a digital field guide with me at all times has been incredibly handy and just plain (dare I say it) cool.

If you want a more in-depth look at these apps, here are some full reviews:

• Review of iBird Explorer
• Review of The Sibley eGuide
• Review of Peterson Birds of North America

More Bird Apps

• Bird Listing Apps for iPhone – a similar comparison I’ve done for listing apps available for the iPhone
• BirdsEye – a bird-finding app utilizing eBird
• birdJam HeadsUp Warblers and HeadsUp Sparrows – warbler and sparrow-specific apps

As with most any pursuit, birders need knowledge and desire to progress beyond beginner status. The desire is the “easy” part – you have to want to get better, and be willing to put in the work to do so (and it does take work). But how do you get the knowledge? There is no substitute for field experience. But even so, you can only progress so far and so fast on your own. The help of a more experienced birder is crucial. Unfortunately, they’re not always around every time you need them! Thank goodness for the collected experience and wisdom available in books. Here are a few selections that will greatly aid beginners (or anyone, for that matter) in their quest to become a better birder.

• Pete Dunne on Bird Watching: The How-to, Where-to, and When-to of Birding
  Pete Dunne

  After binoculars and field guide, this is the next thing every prospective birder should have. Dunne provides many tips and suggestions, but more than anything else, he clearly introduces what this birding thing is all about, from birdfeeding to pelagic trips. As a bonus, you get all of this with the author’s trademark wit and humor. This is more than a treasure trove of information from one of our foremost birders, it’s also a fun read.

• The Complete Birder: A Guide to Better Birding
  Jack Connor

  Even though this is older and out-of-print, it’s worth tracking down. There is a little overlap with the other books, but also provides an overview of birding seasons and some difficult families like warblers and gulls. Personal anecdotes and lively writing keep this interesting.

• National Geographic Birding Essentials
  Jonathan Alderfer and Jon L. Dunn

  This covers more technical, but still crucial, topics than Dunne and Connor, such as the parts of a bird and molt. It is profusely illustrated with great color photos to exemplify the concepts.

• Sibley’s Birding Basics
  David Allen Sibley

  This is a great guide, but contrary to the title, I think intermediate and even advanced birders will get more out of this than beginners. If the rest of these books haven’t satiated your desire for birding know-how, then turn here next.

• Good Birders Don’t Wear White: 50 Tips From North America’s Top Birders
  Lisa White

  There are some good, helpful tips here. But the scattershot approach means that it isn’t very comprehensive. It’s worth a read, but preferably after one of the prior books. (Full Review)

• Birding
  Joseph Forshaw, Steve Howell, Terence Lindsey, Rich Stallcup

  I found a prior edition of this in a bookstore’s bargain book section just after I started birding. It was surprisingly helpful. The introduction to birding, including the tools and other items you will need, is really good. Not as in-depth as some of these other books, but I found myself referring to it often.

• Birding Lite: A Humorous How-to Guide for All Who Enjoy Watching Birds
  Stan Dryden

  A good option for those who are curious about bird watching or just getting into it. They will find the information required to get started presented in a fun, though shallow, manner. But if you’re already sure that birding is for you, then one of these other options will be more helpful, particularly Dunne or National Geographic. (Full Review)

For the most part, these books won’t help you identify a particular bird. But they will give you a firm foundation to make quicker and more accurate identifications. What’s more, they will help you better enjoy and get more out of the pursuit of bird watching.

When looking at a map of the parks across the country, it’s hard to avoid noticing the area of the Colorado Plateau, the region encompassing southern Utah, northern Arizona, and western Colorado. It stands out because there are seven national parks there, relatively close to each other. Proceeding counter-clockwise from the south, as we would be visiting them, they are Grand Canyon in Arizona; Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado; and Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion in Utah. Collectively, this route is known as the Grand Circle.

We chose to visit in the middle of May for a couple of reasons. Foremost is the fact that these parks receive many visitors during the summer after school lets out. We wanted to avoid that crush of people. Also, it appeared that the weather would be more in our favor. Some of these places get incredibly hot during the summer, and it looked like it would be much milder during this time. And it also happened to be right in the middle of migration.

Logistics

We flew in and out of Las Vegas, where we rented a car. The four-door sedan that we got had plenty of room for us and our luggage. And in no cases did we need a four-wheel drive or high-clearance vehicle. However, there were some more out-of-the-way places in this region where both would be required. But for this trip, we were not planning on going to them.

For the most part, we stayed at hotels close to the park entrances. Most of the parks have a “gateway community” that is relatively close by. We were able to find some good rates at the chain hotels (mostly Super8’s). At Zion, however, we had to move out to the town of Hurricane (23 miles from the park entrance) to find a good deal.

At the first National Park we came to, we purchased an inter-agency annual pass (the “America the Beautiful Pass”) that allows entry to all National Parks, along with some other places. It was $80, which was significantly less than what it would cost to pay for each park separately. If you make a trip like this, definitely consider this option.

The Birds

This region is not known for its avian diversity. But there are still some very cool birds here, not to mention some range and habitat-restricted species. For me personally, there was not an opportunity for a large number of lifers. Previous trips to the west had resulted in seeing most of the birds that we would encounter. Also, this was not a birding trip, per se. Our tight schedule meant that there was little opportunity to go out of our way just for birds. But the parks themselves offered a wide range of habitat and largely made up for this. Plus, like Yellowstone, these parks deserve to be visited regardless of the birds.

Birding Resources

Websites:

• Utah Birds
• Colorado Field Ornithologists: very nice website with directions to many birding locations
• Colorado Birding Society: also has directions to sites, and is regularly updated with recent sightings.

Books:

• Birding Utah – Over a decade old, but still very helpful.
• ABA’s A Birder’s Guide to Colorado: This is out-of-print, but I scored one from a small online retailer. It has excellent maps and was generally helpful. But it is a little out of date, and with the excellent online resources available is not strictly necessary.
• Southwest Utah Birding Trails – I picked up this trail map at Capitol Reef, but I wish that I had gotten it (and the Eastern one) before the trip. Essentially, this is an updated, condensed, and easier to access version of Birding Utah.
• The Visitor’s Guide to the Birds of the Rocky Mountain National Parks: United States and Canada – This book has a unique approach. It isn’t a bird-finding book as we usually think of them. Instead, it gives you a general idea of the bird life of each park. It was helpful in knowing what to expect.
• A Naturalist’s Guide to Canyon Country – Mostly used as a field guide to the mammals and reptiles that we encountered. It was usually helpful for this, but in some cases we did have to seek additional information. Do not count on it as a field guide to birds! Instead, bring whichever field guide you normally use.
• Birds of Zion National Park and Vicinity – Honestly, I didn’t find this book very helpful in planning the trip.

Saturday, May 17 – Grand Canyon

Our flight arrived in Vegas around noon. We were soon in a car and headed for the south rim of the Grand Canyon, about 4 hours away. But on the way, we stopped at the Hoover Dam. It was mighty impressive, and well worth the stop.

Bird-wise, we didn’t see anything worth mentioning until just south of the Grand Canyon’s south entrance on Hwy 64 – a single American Kestrel. I was very surprised that we only saw them a couple of times on the trip. We also drove past some Pronghorn along this road.

Once inside the park, we proceeded to check-in and grab some dinner. We wanted to take care of everything so that we could watch the sunset from the rim. We drove down to the Bright Angel Lodge area, and found the Rim Trail. It was there that I first got a good look at what is, indeed, a very grand canyon. It’s weird, but it is too large to comprehend, while at the same time larger than it appears. But it is certainly something that everyone should see for themselves.

There were large numbers of Violet-green Swallows and White-throated Swifts flying about. These would be found at just about every park we visited. There were also some Brewer’s Blackbirds around.

After walking along the rim a little bit, the moment came that I had been hoping for. My wife, who had stepped away to get some pictures, saw it first, although I wouldn’t find that out until later. I just heard a guy say, “There’s an eagle”. I couldn’t see what he was referring to due to some vegetation in the way, but I had a strong suspicion that he was wrong. I hurried around so I could get a clean look and immediately saw the bird in flight. It was dark, and large. Very, very large. Binoculars revealed a dark head, and some white underneath the wings when it banked. Something else stood out – a wing tag. This was no mere eagle. Instead, it was the near-mythical California Condor. It didn’t stay in flight for nearly as long as I would have liked, instead it landed on a dead tree below us. Someone else then pointed out another bird perched on a nearby cliff. Both of these were subadults with black heads. Since they were perched on this side of the rim, we were able to get fairly good looks. There were a surprising number of people watching and photographing them, which was very encouraging.

These birds were released from captivity and thus not “countable” by listing rules. But I didn’t care one bit. I learned about the plight of these birds as a kid, before every wild bird had been captured. At the time, the prospect for the survival of the species appeared very dim, and the thought that I would ever see a free-flying bird never even entered my mind. Needless to say, this was a highlight of the trip for me.

Sunday, May 18 – Grand Canyon and Mesa Verde

We got up early this day to catch the sun rising over the canyon. Even though sunrise was around 5:20am, it seemed like 8:20 to us easterners, and thus not a big deal. As an unreformed late riser, this is one of the things I like best about birding in the west. After a few hours, we left the park via the west entrance, and stopped at every lookout point en route to appreciate the canyon some more. Some of the birds encountered this morning were Wilson’s Warbler, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Chipping Sparrow, Rock Wren, and the only Cactus Wren of the trip (heard only).

Along the way to Mesa Verde, we stopped at Four Corners, the only place in the US where four states (Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona) meet. No birds to report here, but it was cool and definitely worth a stop if in the area.

After checking into our hotel in Cortez, CO, it was about 6pm. We had just enough time to drive the 10 minutes to Mesa Verde and hike some trails before sunset. Mesa Verde does not have many trails that you can hike without a permit. But one of them, the Prater Ridge Trail, was mentioned in the ABA’s Colorado guide as a good place to bird. We found it with no problems and started up the trail. We didn’t get very far, only a couple hundred yards until the trail splits. But that was a good thing, as the slow going was due to birds! One of the first birds encountered was an empidonax flycatcher. The most likely culprit here would be Dusky Flycatcher, which I was hoping for since it would be a lifer. Thankfully, the bird was calling often and singing portions of its song, revealing itself as a Dusky. I also got my best-ever look at a Green-tailed Towhee. This bird might have had a nest nearby, as it was making some weird calls, and even hopped right along the path in front of us. Another bird that put on a great show was a male MacGillivray’s Warbler. It responded quickly to pishing, and even perched for a little bit within arm’s length of me, right out in the open. Other birds seen and heard here include Hermit Thrush, Mountain Bluebird, Orange-crowned Warbler, Spotted Towhee, and Black-headed Grosbeak.

Monday, May 19 –Mesa Verde and Arches

As nice as getting the lifer was, it wasn’t the main attraction at Mesa Verde. Like most visitors there, we had come to see the Anasazi ruins (or “Ancestral Puebloans” as they are known nowadays). We were at the visitor’s center when it opened in order to purchase tickets for the Cliff Palace tour. The Cliff Palace is one of several settlement sites here that were built in an alcove in the cliffs. It was an amazing tour, and very highly recommended. We didn’t have time to do the other tour that was offered of Balcony House. But we did walk a trail that ended at a nice overlook where you could see Balcony House set in the side of the cliff.

Birds seen today in Mesa Verde include Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Dusky Flycatcher (heard), Ash-throated Flycatcher, Black-billed Magpie, Bewick’s Wren, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Spotted Towhee, and Green-tailed Towhee. We also saw the only snake of the trip, a Great Basin Gopher Snake.

Mesa Verde is unusual among the national parks in that it was set aside for anthropological, rather than natural, features. In regard to geology and wildlife, it’s not very special. But walking among the ruins was amazing. The ranger leading our tour told us that the ground was shifting at the Cliff Palace, making it more unstable. In 10 years or so, they may not be able to allow tourists to visit it.

Around noon, we were on our way to Utah and Arches National Park. Before leaving Colorado I saw the only Loggerhead Shrike and Swainson’s Hawk of the trip.

Moab was our base of operations for this part of the trip. After checking in to the hotel, we went straight to the park. This place is just amazing; it looks like a storage facility for cool-looking geological features. It is the largest concentration of arches in the world, but there are all kinds of other interesting formations as well. We didn’t make it very far into the park, as we had to exit to find some dinner. But we came back in the evening to make the long, arduous hike to Delicate Arch. This is the signature feature of the park, and maybe even the entire region. Sunset is supposed to be the best time to see it, and is also the best time to make the 1.5 mile uphill hike (I would not want to do it during the heat of the day). As an added bonus, it was the night of a full moon, so we waited (along with dozens others) for the moon to rise behind the arch. It was a great way to end the day.

Not many birds to report from our brief time in Arches this day, but we did see some of the reintroduced Desert Bighorn sheep along the entrance road before the visitor’s center.

Tuesday, May 20 –Arches and Canyonlands

There was still plenty to see at Arches, so we started early this day with a hike to Landscape Arch. This arch, with a span of about 300 feet, is the largest known arch in the world. It’s an easy one mile hike to see it, and it is very worthwhile. As a bonus for me, the hike was relatively birdy. A Say’s Phoebe and male Mountain Bluebird were sallying from trees. Black-throated Sparrows and Rock Wrens hopped about. And a couple of Canyon Wrens serenaded us at the arch. But the best of all were four nondescript little brown birds. It was a great relief to finally see my life Juniper Titmouse.

Along with the condor, the bird I wanted to see most on this trip was the Gray Vireo. It has a fairly limited range, restricted to the Pinyon-Juniper woodlands of the southwestern states. I knew I had a very good shot at seeing one, since this habitat would be prevalent for most of our trip. But I was also apprehensive about missing it. Thus, I was really excited when I heard a vireo singing from some vegetation along the trail to Double Arch. I was even able to spot the bird, but I only had my binoculars with me, and it was too far away to see many details. But from what I could see, it looked right for Gray Vireo. Unfortunately, I was also within the range of the Plumbeous Vireo. These two look similar, but with a good view can easily be told apart. This, however, was not a good view. They also sound very much alike. The habitat was good for Gray, but probably marginal for Plumbeous. On the other hand, this was migration and birds can turn up anywhere. I believe that it was a Gray Vireo, but not comfortably enough to count it.

Arches was perhaps our favorite place on this trip. The plethora of arches was as amazing as we thought it would be. Delicate and Landscape Arches, especially, are not to be missed. But it was the other geological features that really surprised me – from the improbable Balanced Rock to the abrupt verticalness of the Courthouse Towers. The recent collapse of Wall Arch (one of the many that we did not see) is a testament to the impermanence of these structures. They may last for many more centuries, or may be gone tomorrow. Landscape, with the longest span of any known arch in the world, looks like a strong gust would bring it down. Like Mesa Verde, if you have any interest in this place, it would behoove you to visit sooner rather than later.

The next stop was the Islands in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park. It was a cool place and had some great views, but overall it didn’t rank as highly with us as most of the other parks in our tour. But we didn’t have much time there, and we were not able to visit the other districts of this expansive park. There weren’t many birds active this afternoon, but did see a Hermit Thrush and the first House Finches of the trip. The latter was very surprising. Not that we saw it, but that it took us so long before we did. For a bird that is supposed to be a signature species of this region, we did not see very many of them on this trip.

Dead Horse State Park is next door to Canyonlands, and is supposed to have a view that rivals the Grand Canyon. My birdfinding guides also mention that you can find Gray Vireos there. We can affirm that the views are great, but would have been more impressive had we not already seen the Grand Canyon. As for the vireo, I don’t know. We didn’t get a chance to look due to threatening rain and wind gusts that could knock you backwards. It was probably for the best, though, because we had a long drive ahead of us to Torrey, just outside Capitol Reef.

The views from these two parks were indeed amazing. However, they pale in comparison with the Grand Canyon. It would have been nice to see more of Canyonlands, especially the Needles district. But we just didn’t have enough time, which was a recurring theme on this trip.

Wednesday, May 21 – Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon

Capitol Reef is a small, little known national park. There doesn’t seem to be as much to do there as there is at other nearby parks. And due to circumstances to be described shortly, we weren’t able to do as much as we would have liked here, which definitely did not help our perception of the park.

My main target here was the Chukar, an introduced game bird. On a previous trip to Colorado, I spent a good deal of effort trying to find one to no avail. The guidebooks indicated that it should be easy to find these birds along the scenic drive between the visitor’s center and campground. Ha! If they were around, they certainly didn’t want to be found. We walked from the picnic area to the visitor’s center and back, but there wasn’t a sign of these wily birds. But we were compensated with a gorgeous male Bullock’s Oriole, along with Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Western Kingbird, Lesser Goldfinches, and others. I also got a brief look at a Golden Eagle flying down the gorge. We also saw several mammal species – Mule Deer, a chipmunk of some kind, Rock Squirrel (common everywhere we went), White-tailed Antelope Squirrel, and Yellow-bellied Marmot.

After getting back to the car, we drove down the scenic drive until it turned into a dirt road. We didn’t continue because of the signs warning about potential flash floods when it rains, and the skies indicated rain was a distinct possibility. The day started very pleasant, with just a little chill and breeze. By the time we got back to the visitor’s center, it was cloudy, drizzling, very gusty, and cold (in the 40’s). We were able to see the nearby petroglyphs, but not much else. The weather also forced us to forgo any further attempts to find the Chukars.

We left Torrey on Highway 12, heading toward Bryce Canyon. This road is one of, if not the, most scenic roads in the country. It starts by going over a national forest covered mountain, and then proceeds through the Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument.

We were making good time, and thus were able to stop at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. My birding guides said that Chukars could be found around the campground there. We quickly found a Yellow Warbler, Western Scrub-jay, and some others. Getting a little frustrated at the apparent lack of Chukars, I headed toward the boat launch to see if there were any interesting birds on the small lake. It was then that my wife asked, “What’s that?” I followed her gaze to a picnic table 15 feet to my left. Standing on top of the table, pretty-as-you-please, was a Chukar. It seemed so surreal that I doubt I would have noticed it on my own! It soon jumped down and then started foraging with another one that had been hidden. Paintings, and even photographs, of this species do not do it justice. It has a striking, yet understated, beauty.

After getting my fill, I finally continued down to the water. On the lake were Western and Eared Grebes, Mallards, Redhead, and American Coots. Along the shore were a couple Spotted Sandpipers and Black-necked Stilts.

Continuing on, we arrived at Bryce Canyon around 5:00. We had enough daylight to see the sights along the drive, but not to do any hiking. Unfortunately, it was overcast and cold (40’s, and even into the 30’s at the higher elevations with some snow flurries). But we were at least able to see the incredible sights here, which was important because the forecast for the next day was more of the same.

Thursday, May 22 – Bryce Canyon and Zion

This morning was supposed to see temperatures in the 30’s and some snow. So we slept in a bit! We returned to the park around 9, and it wasn’t too bad. It was cold and overcast, but no snow. The first thing we did was look for the reintroduced, endemic Utah Prairie Dog. We found some mounds in a field yesterday, but no dogs. When we returned to that field, we quickly saw three of the animals running around and foraging. We watched and photographed them from the car for a couple of minutes, and then went back to Sunset Point.

We had to take the trail down into the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater, regardless of the weather. The chance to walk down amongst the incredible hoodoo formations couldn’t be passed up. It turned out just fine, with the coolness keeping us from getting too hot on the climb back up. We went down the Navajo Trail, and then came back up the Queen’s Garden Trail, which was supposed to be the easiest route according to the guidebook. It is a very cool hike, and highly recommended. I didn’t see many birds on this hike, but three of them – Townsend’s Solitaire, Pygmy Nuthatch, and Steller’s Jay – we wouldn’t see anywhere else on the trip. Also seen in the park were Wild Turkey, Red-tailed Hawk, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, White-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Common Raven, Western Bluebird, Spotted Towhee, and Lesser Goldfinch. Also, watch for Pronghorn among the trees between the park’s sign and the entrance station.

Bryce Canyon itself was simply spectacular. Photographs of the weird hoodoo formations do not do them justice. I would highly recommend driving the length of the scenic drive, stopping at each of the points of interest. And if you’re able to, the various paths down into the amphitheater are very interesting. Even though this is a very small park, relatively speaking, we were surprised that it ended up one of our favorites.

Leaving the Bryce area, I found a thrasher singing from a wire when I turned onto a road so I could turn around. I figured it was a Sage, and since I didn’t realize at the time that Bendire’s was a distant possibility, I didn’t attempt a definitive look. My bad. Other than that, it was an uneventful drive to Zion. We came into Zion via the east entrance, which meant that we got to drive through the long, narrow Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel, built in the 1930’s. While we were waiting our turn to enter, another motorist pointed out some nearby Bighorn.

We made it to the visitor’s center around 5:00. We had the entire next day in the park, so we waited to take the shuttle into the main canyon. Instead, we walked the Pa’rus Trail north from the visitor’s center. This was probably the birdiest area on the entire trip, especially around the campground. Western Tanagers were everywhere! I was also excited to find a male Lucy’s Warbler singing on some bare snags along the trail. My only previous look at this species had been extremely poor, so I welcomed the chance to study this one at-length.

Twice I heard a vireo singing. Again, it could be either a Gray or Plumbeous. One that I finally tracked down and got a good look at turned out to be the latter. There were many empidonax flycatchers along the river, but they were silent, which means that they remained unidentified. The new birds for the trip included Warbling Vireo, a male Summer Tanager, Yellow-breasted Chat (heard only), and a pair of Lazuli Buntings.

Friday, May 23 – Zion

Time was running out on my quest to find the Gray Vireo. Therefore, we started the day with a drive up Kolob Terrace Road. This road eventually ascends to Kolob Reservoir, and passes in and out of Zion. But the area I was interested in was the section of Pinyon-Juniper habitat that it passes through. My plan was simply to drive with the windows down and listen for vireos, and then hope I can find them. I first heard a likely candidate just before the first time the road enters the national park. It sounded pretty distant, so I played the vireo’s song a few times. I didn’t get any response, and never spotted any movement. (Note: I believe that all playback is prohibited in the national parks, thus I only did it this one time, when I knew I was outside the park boundary.) I hadn’t heard anything else by the time the road left the likely-looking habitat, so I turned around. I didn’t hear anything on the way down, either. The majority of the habitat looked like it had been burned recently, so I didn’t know if that affected the vireo population. On the positive side, I did see two Lark Sparrows, and many Western Tanagers.

Failing to find the vireo, we proceeded to the main section of Zion, where we did most of the short, easy trails. The Riverwalk Trail was the most productive, and even provided my life Cordilleran Flycatcher. I heard it first, and finally spotted it calling from a bare snag. A Black Phoebe was cool to see, but the most entertaining was a family of American Dippers. There were two adults, and one of them was actively feeding a fledgling. I’ve seen dippers several times before, but had never seen them foraging underwater. Thus, I was excited to see the adult engage in its unique foraging behavior. It would disappear underwater in the fast moving river and then pop back up and feed something to its progeny. It didn’t seem to need much time to find food, as it usually stayed underwater for only a couple of seconds.

Yellow Warblers were abundant throughout the park, and we also saw several Wild Turkeys. One of them, obviously used to tourists, walked within arm’s length of us along one of the trails.

After a much needed ice cream break, we returned to Kolob Terrace Road to try again for the vireo. Even though we started after 5:00, there were a few more birds around this time: Western Kingbirds, Western Wood-pewee (heard only), Juniper Titmouse, Western Scrub-jay, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and Black-headed Grosbeaks. Western Tanagers were again everywhere. But no vireos were heard on the way up. Frustrated, I turned around and started back. Again, nothing was heard on the way down. As a last ditch effort, I stopped just outside the sign for Zion where I though I had heard some vireos earlier in the day. Amazed, I heard them again! I walked forward so that I could look down into the valley, and actually spotted some movement near the bottom, in the bottom of some trees. With binoculars, I saw two birds that looked good for Gray Vireo, but again I was too far away to be comfortable with the ID. But this time I had the scope ready in the back seat of the car. The birds were extremely cooperative and allowed great scope views, confirming that they were, in fact, Gray Vireos. Yes!!! That may be one drab, little bird, but it was one of my most satisfying lifers.

Precaution to anyone birding on Kolob Terrace Road: watch out for speeding vehicles. I don’t know if it was because it was the afternoon, or a Friday afternoon, or the Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend, but there were many trucks (mostly pulling ATV’s) speeding up this road. It made it difficult to listen, and especially to stop, for birds. We didn’t have this problem during the morning’s trip.

Saturday, May 24 – Zion and Las Vegas

We started this day at the Kolob Canyon section of Zion, but the weather was awful – cold and foggy. We just drove the scenic drive and got out at a couple of stops. The only birds seen were Western Scrub-jay, Spotted Towhee, and Black-headed Grosbeak.

Zion has many features, and in our short time here, we only scratched the surface. The geological features aren’t as striking as most of the other parks, but the varied terrain and mix of habitats means that there should be more birds. Indeed, we saw many more birds here than any of the other parks.

We then made the long drive to our final destination, Las Vegas. Not many birds to report from there, naturally, but surprisingly we saw the only Northern Mockingbird of the trip while driving through the city.

Summary

The diversity of birds seen on this trip was not great, only 88 species. Of those, five were lifers for me. But this area would be worth visiting even if there were zero birds! These parks are spectacular, and despite their geographic proximity, it was amazing how different each one was. Each deserved much more time than we had to give. Surprisingly though, we were still able to do most of what we really wanted to do.

Species List

• Eared Grebe
• Western Grebe
• Double-crested Cormorant
• Canada Goose
• Mallard
• Redhead
• Turkey Vulture
• California Condor
• Swainson’s Hawk
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Golden Eagle
• American Kestrel
• Wild Turkey
• Chukar
• American Coot
• Black-necked Stilt
• Spotted Sandpiper
• Rock Pigeon
• Eurasian Collared-dove
• Mourning Dove
• White-throated Swift
• Broad-tailed Hummingbird
• Northern Flicker
• Western Wood-pewee
• Dusky Flycatcher
• Cordilleran Flycatcher
• Black Phoebe
• Say’s Phoebe
• Ash-throated Flycatcher
• Western Kingbird
• Violet-green Swallow
• Northern Rough-winged Swallow
• Barn Swallow
• American Dipper
• Cactus Wren
• Rock Wren
• Canyon Wren
• Bewick’s Wren
• House Wren
• Northern Mockingbird
• Western Bluebird
• Mountain Bluebird
• Townsend’s Solitaire
• Hermit Thrush
• American Robin
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Mountain Chickadee
• Juniper Titmouse
• Pygmy Nuthatch
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Steller’s Jay
• Western Scrub-jay
• Black-billed Magpie
• American Crow
• Common Raven
• European Starling
• House Sparrow
• Gray Vireo
• Plumbeous Vireo
• Warbling Vireo
• House Finch
• Lesser Goldfinch
• Orange-crowned Warbler
• Lucy’s Warbler
• Yellow Warbler
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Black-throated Gray Warbler
• MacGillivray’s Warbler
• Wilson’s Warbler
• Yellow-breasted Chat
• Summer Tanager
• Western Tanager
• Green-tailed Towhee
• Spotted Towhee
• Chipping Sparrow
• Lark Sparrow
• Black-throated Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• Dark-eyed Junco
• Black-headed Grosbeak
• Lazuli Bunting
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Western Meadowlark
• Brewer’s Blackbird
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Bullock’s Oriole
]]> http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/trip_reports/grand-circle-may-2008.htm/feed/ 5 http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/shorebird-guide-comparison.htm http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/shorebird-guide-comparison.htm#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:49:06 +0000 Grant McCreary http://www.birderslibrary.com/?p=790 It’s July, so it’s already time to get out there and look for shorebirds on their southbound migration. In fact, there have already been a couple reports of Upland Sandpipers here in Georgia. But this group of birds can be notoriously difficult to identify. So when you head out to the nearest beach, sod farm, or sewage treatment plant, you may want to take a specialized identification guide with you. But which one?

Here, I will be comparing the four most recent guides that cover North American shorebirds. However, two of them also cover Europe and Asia, and the other two, although focused on North America, would also be useful elsewhere.

	The Shorebird Guide	Shorebirds of North America: The Photographic Guide	Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia: A Photographic Guide	Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia: A Guide to Field Identification
Author	Michael O’Brien, Richard Crossley, Kevin Karlson	Dennis Paulson	Richard Chandler	Stephen Message and Don Taylor
Publish date	April, 2006	January, 2005	July, 2009	March, 2006
Price (MSRP)	$24.95	$29.95	$35.00	$35.00
Size (width x height x thickness)	6″ x 9″ x 1 3/8″	5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ x 1″	6 1/8″ x 9 1/4″ x 1 1/8″	6 1/8″ x 9 1/4″ x 1/2″
# pages	496	384	448	224
# species	91	94	134	124
Illustrations	Photos	Photos	Photos	Paintings
Account/Plate layout	Two sections: 1st has photos, with limited text and maps; 2nd has species accounts	Everything in each species account	Everything in each species account	Two sections: 1st has plates on the right (multiple species), with some text on the facing page; 2nd has species accounts, with maps, more text, and shows the bird in flight
Range maps	Color; breeding, winter, resident, and migration (with two shades to show relative abundance)	NONE	Color; breeding, winter, resident	Color; breeding, winter, resident
Species accounts	Status Taxonomy Behavior Migration Molt Vocalizations (Photo section also has short notes on Size, Structure, Behavior, and Status)	Size Plumages Subspecies Hybrids Identification In Flight Voice Behavior Habitat Range	Identification Ageing (with separate descriptions of each age class) Call Status, Habitat, and Distribution Racial Variation and Hybridization Similar Species References	Key ID Features Behavior Flight Action Voice Distribution Confusion Species

Recommendation

So, given all of these choices, which one should you get? Well, none of them are actually bad, and any would be helpful shorebirding. But in case you don’t want to carry around four shorebird guides, here are my thoughts on them.

I would immediately rule out Message/Taylor. I prefer general field guides that use paintings, but I think photographs work better for shorebirds. Plus, I just don’t care for most of the illustrations here. Some, admittedly, are pretty good. But most just look bad to me. I think it’s because the painter attempts to show the feathers in too great of detail. Personally, I just don’t care for that.

The Paulson and Chandler photographic guides are very similar in their approach and layout. The photographs are of similar quality. On average, Paulson includes just a bit more photos per species, but the ones in Chandler are larger. Chandler includes many more species, but this is largely irrelevant to North American birders since they both contain all of the birds likely to be seen here. I love the formatting and layout of Chandler’s guide; of the two, it just looks much better. After going back and forth between them, I think I prefer the newer guide from Chandler.

But there is no doubt in my mind that The Shorebird Guide is not only the best guide for shorebirds, it is the best family-specific guide that I have seen. The authors emphasize birding by impression (aka “jizz” or “giss”-based identification). They point out field marks that the others either do not mention, or bury in the text. And the photos are simply amazing! The thing I like best about this guide is that many of the photos show birds of different species together, with the captions helping to point out the differences. This is supremely helpful in learning these birds, but none of the other guides do this. Every North American birder (and probably any birder in the Northern Hemisphere) needs to have this book. It’s that good. (It also happens to be the cheapest!)

But really, can you have too many guides to shorebirds?

Full Reviews

• The Shorebird Guide
• Shorebirds of North America: The Photographic Guide
• Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia: A Photographic Guide





]]> http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/shorebird-guide-comparison.htm/feed/ 8 http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/childrens-bird-books.htm http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/childrens-bird-books.htm#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:18:23 +0000 Grant McCreary http://www.birderslibrary.com/?p=265 The most important bird books may not be the latest and greatest field guides, or the bird-finding guide to that birding mecca you’ve always wanted to visit. It may very well be books for kids. They can be instrumental in imparting a life-long love for the natural world. They were for me.

A fellow Georgia birder, Dan Vickers, has graciously allowed me to reprint his recommendations for bird books for children from an article he wrote for the Georgia Ornithological Society. Here are his suggestions, along with some of my own:

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Children Ages 2-5

• Good-Night, Owl!
  Pat Hutchins
  1990, 32 pages, Color

  This is one of the all-time favorite children’s books. All poor Owl wants to do is sleep, but he keeps being awakened by the other noisy occupants of the forest.

• Owl Babies
  Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson
  2002, 32 pages, Color

  Wonderful illustrations showcase this story of three owlets awaiting their mother’s return from her night’s hunt.

• Make Way for Ducklings
  Robert McCloskey
  1941, 68 pages, Color

  This classic story of a mother’s devotion has fascinated children for generations. McCloskey received the Caldecott award for his illustrations.
  

• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
  Mo Willems
  2003, 40 pages, Color

  Kids love this wonderful tale of a pigeon trying to convince a busload of people (and the reader) to let him drive the bus after the driver steps off for a break.

Children Ages 4-8

• The Burgess Bird Book for Children
  Thornton W Burgess
  2003, 272 pages, Black and White

  A creative story about the feathered friends such as Jenny Wren, Redwing the Blackbird, Melody the Wood Thrush, Spooky the Screech Owl, Creaker the Purple Grackle, and Downy the Woodpecker.

• Song for the Whooping Crane
  Eileen Spinelli and Elsa Warnick
  2000, 48 pages, Color

  Visually and poetically captivating, this ode to the most celebrated endangered species of our time will stir an environmental awareness in any child.

• Birds, Nests, & Eggs
  Mel Boring
  1998, 48 pages, Color

  ID tips on 15 birds and the homes they build. This book contains a series of activities, 7 pages for notes or scrapbooking, and numerous safety tips.

• Owls
  Adrienne Mason
  2004, 32 pages, Color

  Easy-to-read with plenty of detailed descriptions of the owls and how they live, eat, and hunt.

• About Birds: A Guide for Children
  Cathryn Sill
  1997, 40 pages, Color

  Various North American species are illustrated in this beginner’s guide to birds. Lots of basic information is followed by an afterward which lists more detailed life histories.

• Backyard Birds (Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists)
  Jonathan Latimer, Karen Stray Nolting, and Roger Tory Peterson
  1999, 48 pages, Color

  A first field guide for your young birder, it describes 20 common birds as only a Peterson Field Guide could.

• Beginning Birdwatcher’s Book: With 48 Stickers
  Sy Barlowe
  2000, 32 pages, Color

  Kids can record sightings of 48 common North American birds, with sticker images, and notes on location, date and any remarks.

• Bird Log: A Kids Journal to Record Their Birding Experiences
  Deanna Bryant
  1998, 80 pages

  This is a log book for children to record their sightings. It provides observation questions to help fill in the information.

Children Ages 9+

• The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (Peterson Field Guides)
  Bill Thompson, III and illustrated by Julie Zickfoose
  2008, 256 pages, Color, Paperback

  This new Peterson Field Guide, written just for kids, gives detailed descriptions and vivid illustrations of 200 birds in Eastern North America.

• The Last Egret (The Adventures of Charlie Pierce)
  Harvey E. Oyer III
  2010, 168 pages, some black-and-white drawings

  A wonderful adventure story in which Charlie Pierce learns the value of birds and nature. This is a great introduction to the idea of conservation. (Full Review)

• For the Birds: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson
  Peggy Thomas (Author) and Laura Jacques (Illustrator)
  2011, 43 pages, color paintings, hardcover

  This book is worth it just for the gorgeous illustrations. But it also tells the story of Roger Tory Peterson’s life (he of the field-guide fame), while encouraging children to pay attention to nature and the birds around them. That makes this a great book for kids ages eight and up.

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Thanks, Dan!

]]> http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/childrens-bird-books.htm/feed/ 9 http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/interviews/pete-dunne-interview.htm http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/interviews/pete-dunne-interview.htm#comments Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:00:20 +0000 Grant McCreary http://www.birderslibrary.com/?p=271 Author extraordinaire Pete Dunne was the keynote speaker at this year’s Colonial Coast Birding and Nature Festival, held annually on Jekyll Island, Georgia. It was a blast to hear him speak, and even more so to bird with him. It is with complete honesty that I say that if I could write (or bird) like anyone, it would be Pete Dunne. Thus, it was an honor (and a bit intimidating!) to be able to sit down and ask him a couple of questions.

Your next book, Prairie Spring, will be published next year. Can you tell us a little about it?
It’s part of a four-part series. The focus is not the season, the season is just a carriage. The focus is actually the overlap of humans and the natural world. The season is a common ground that most people can relate to.

You’ve written about your beginnings as a birder. But how did you become a writer?
It began just about the same time. I think I started to write my first book about birds when I was in the second grade. The name of the book was Turk: The Story of a Hawk. I stopped it when I realized on page one that I was actually plagiarizing the story called Rufous Redtail, which is also a wonderful book.

Do you ever want to write about something other than birds? Perhaps a novel?
I wish I had a novel in me. If I do, it’s deeply hidden. I’d love to write a novel, I think it would be incredible fun to be able to just weave a story out of air. But I actually write a great deal about things that are not birds; I write a great deal about people. I think one of the things I try to do with my writing is to write about the junction of people and the natural world. So this book series that I’ve started is just a continuation of something that I’ve been doing for a long time.

Many of your columns are obviously fictional. But there are some that have left me wondering whether they really happened or not. What percentage of the situations you’ve written about happened as you wrote them?
I’d say that very few of them happened exactly that way. The great thing about writing fictional accounts, even if they have foundation in fact, is that you can embellish.

There’s one in particular that I have to ask about – did some random birder at Cape May really want to find a Semi-palmated Plover for you? (as told in More Tales of a Low-Rent Birder)
Yes, that really did happen. He was a very nice guy.

Many times, you write from the bird’s perspective, such as in The Wind Masters. How do you do that so well?
I don’t know. I’d love to tell you that writing is hard, but it’s not. If you have a good idea, it writes itself. If you have a bad idea, two days later you have 3500 words on paper and you still have a bad idea.

Any chance for more books like Wind Masters, but with other groups of birds?
There’s actually elements of that in the series I’m doing right now. For instance, in Prairie Spring I have a conversation with a painted horse.

It seems to me that a proportionally high number of top-notch birders are also exceptional writers. There’s yourself, Kenn Kaufman, and Scott Weidensaul, just to name a few. Does it seem that way to you as well?
I think that maybe we’re simply the ones that because we’re accomplished communicators, that we’re known. I’m sure that there are very, very skilled birders out there on par with Kenn and David (Sibley) who might not be well known. But they’re still very good birders. I think in every endeavor communication is fundamental, no matter what you do.

Before your Field Guide Companion, it would have been hard to imagine an identification guide with absolutely no illustrations. How was your concept of it initially received?
I think the concept was very warmly received. Houghton-Mifflin (the publisher) is a wonderful house, and Lisa White (the editor) is a great person to work with. But I think the bloom was off the rose when I turned in my manuscript and it was four times longer than anticipated! They published it very much as it was written, but the original concept was for a much shorter book. It was a tale that grew in the telling.

Anything else in the works that you can talk about?
A couple collections of essays. And I’m never short of ideas, there’s a whole wall of books that I would love to write someday. I will never finish a project where I won’t have five or six other ideas vying for my attention.

 

Many thanks to Pete for being gracious enough to consent to this interview even when he wasn’t feeling well, and for enduring it even though I am without a doubt the worst interviewer that he has ever had to suffer through. I wish him luck in writing that wall of books that he wants to write, because I want to read them even more.

]]> http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/interviews/pete-dunne-interview.htm/feed/ 0 http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/new-peterson-field-guide.htm http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/new-peterson-field-guide.htm#comments Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:17:58 +0000 Grant McCreary http://www.birderslibrary.com/?p=137 August of 2008 marks the centennial of the birth of Roger Tory Peterson, one of the 20th century’s most influential people. To commemorate the event, Houghton Mifflin is publishing a new version of Peterson’s field guide to birds, a book whose importance to birding and conservation cannot be overstated. This volume combines the previously separate field guides to eastern and western birds of North America, and is thus the first edition of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America.

However, this new book is more than just the merger of the two regional guides. There are new features, species added and removed, and updates to all facets of the previous work. I will try to describe all of this in detail, as mentioned below.

On this page you will find links to everything I post concerning this guide. The coverage starts with a first look at the guide itself, as well as a couple of plates so that you can see some changes for yourself. A detailed list of changes will follow. Finally, a full review will be posted.

More Coverage:

• First Look – a quick look at the guide and some changes
• List of Changes to the Plates – I have compared the plates of this new guide with the latest editions of the Eastern and Western regional guides
• The Full Review
]]> http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/new-peterson-field-guide.htm/feed/ 1 http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/photographic-field-guide-comparison.htm http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/photographic-field-guide-comparison.htm#comments Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:36:44 +0000 Grant McCreary http://www.birderslibrary.com/?p=128 Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Birds of North America Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern AND Western* National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds – Eastern Region** Author Ted Floyd Edward S. Brinkley Kenn Kaufman Donald and Lillian Stokes John Bull and John Farrand, Jr. Publish date May, 2008 May, 2007 September, 2000*** 1996 September, 1994 Price (MSRP) $24.95 $19.95 $18.95 $17.99 $19.95 Size (width x height x thickness) 6″ x 8″ x 1 1/4″ 4 3/4″ x 7 3/4″ x 1 3/8″ 4 3/4″ x 7 3/4″ x 3/4″ 5″ x 8 1/8″ x 7/8″; 5″ x 8 3/8″ x 1″ 4″ x 7 1/2″ x 1 1/4″ Weight 2 lb. (with disc and booklet removed) 1 lb., 13 oz 1 lb., 1 oz 1 lb., 5 oz; 1 lb., 8 oz 1 lb., 4 oz # pages 522 530 384 496; 544 800
# species 750+ ~760 749 unspecified, but I would guess 450; 500 508 Species per page – min/max/avg 1 / 3 / <2 1 / 3 / <2 2 / 8 / >4 1 / 2 / ~1 2 / 3 / ~2.5 Photos per species – min/max/avg 1/ 10 / 2-3 1 / 10 / ~3 1 / 8 / ~2.7 1 / 4 / ~2 1 / 2 / 1.27 Plate layout Pics and text on same page; species arranged both vertically and horizontally Pics and text on same page; species arranged horizontally Birds shown on the right-hand page, with species accounts on facing page Pics and text on same page Photographs together in their own section, accounts in back half Captions Captions in the margins with sex/age; identification notes; place and time taken Captions within the image with sex/age and identification notes Pointers to important field marks, a la Peterson Captions under each image with sex/age Captions under each image with sex/age, length, page # for species account Species order “closely” follows AOU taxonomic order AOU taxonomic order, with some modifications to group similar birds AOU taxonomic order (outdated now), with modifications to group similar birds AOU taxonomic order (outdated now) Shape, then by color or pattern Topography diagrams Duck, songbird, raptor perched, raptor in flight above and below, gull, shorebird in flight With both photos and line drawing based on that photo – 2 different perched songbirds, closeup of sparrow’s head, gull in flight both above and below Songbird, close-up of head, raptor in flight Songbird, generic underwing One (very poor) perched songbird Range maps Color; breeding, winter, resident, migration, and rare Color; breeding, winter, resident, migration, and rare Color; breeding, winter, resident, migration; with lighter shades for all 3 indicating rare Color; breeding, winter, resident Black-and-white; breeding, winter, resident Family intros Usually a full-page 1/2 – 2 pages short paragraph – 2 pages Some of the more difficult to ID families get a 2-page intro short to mid-sized paragraph Species accounts
• Length, wingspan, and weight
• Variation (molt, age, sex, seasonal, and other)
• Habitat and ecology
• Voice
• Length and wingspan in inches and centimeters
• Habitat and habits
• Voice
• Habitat and habits
• Identification notes
• Voice
• Identification notes
• Feeding
• Nesting
• Other behavior
• Habitat
• Voice
• Conservation
• Description
• Voice
• Habitat
• Nesting
• Range
• Various notes

Notes:
* Where the eastern and western editions differ, a semi-colon separates the values, and the eastern data is given first.
** There is also one for the Western region, but I do not have the revised edition so I am not including it here. Originally published in 1977, these guides were revised in 1994. They have been reprinted many times since then with different covers, but as far as I know, the content has not changed.
*** I’ve got the original version with the Scarlet Tanager on the cover. It has since been republished with the cover seen here. I’m not aware of any updates to the content, but there are now 8 more pages. The info here is from the version that I have.

Recommendation

The choice of which field guide to use is highly personal. As long as the guide meets certain requirements, foremost among which is that it actually helps you identify birds, there are no “wrong” choices. Thus, what I say here is only my personal opinion.

Well, there is one wrong choice. Don’t bother with the Audubon field guide. This guide will always have a place on my shelf because it was my first field guide as a kid. But that’s the only reason. The organization just does not work. And while some of the pictures are fantastic, there are not enough of them for most species. Need help with a raptor you saw in flight? This guide won’t help – most raptors are only shown perched.

The Stokes include more kinds of information than the other guides, and the layout is simple and uncluttered. Thus, it is most appropriate for kids or those who may want to look up a bird now and then. It does not include enough illustrations of most species for use as a primary field guide. And, like the Audubon guides, it is too out-of-date in terms of taxonomy.

Of all of these, the Kaufman is probably the best choice for use as a first field guide. It is simple, and for the most part has enough pictures of each species.

The NWF and Smithsonian guides are extremely similar. The species included, number of photos per species, range maps, and layout are almost identical. The Smithsonian is slightly wider, taller, and heavier, but is correspondingly thinner. A bonus DVD of bird songs is also included with the Smithsonian (full review of the Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America). They are both good, and I would recommend either.

The Kaufman, NWF, and Smithsonian are all worthy field guides. Check out those three to see which would be the best for you. Personally, if I could keep just one it would be the Smithsonian. It and the NWF book are both great, but the DVD puts it over the edge for me.

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