by David Allen Sibley
September 15, 2009; $39.95
Nine years ago, The Sibley Guide to Birds was published and quickly became generally regarded as the best North American field guide. And now Sibley turns his tremendous talent to a very different group of organisms.
The Birder’s World magazine blog has an excellent multi-part interview with Sibley. In it, he discusses why trees, the process of creating the guide, why birders will enjoy it, and much more. It’s a fascinating interview, and made me really look forward to the guide. Amazon
also has a video interview.
I’m very excited about this, since I’ve been telling myself for some time that I need to learn trees better.
by Joseph M. Forshaw
I love trogons, and the description of this new book left me drooling:
This is the definitive natural history of the spectacularly beautiful tropical birds known as the trogons, a family that includes the legendary Resplendent Quetzal, the sacred bird of the ancient Mayans and Aztecs. A collaboration between renowned ornithologist Joseph Forshaw and eminent bird artist Albert Gilbert, Trogons combines science and art to create an unprecedented picture of a threatened bird family. Forshaw’s text provides the most authoritative and comprehensive account of the trogons ever written, and Gilbert’s stunning paintings are the first to accurately depict all species of trogons in their natural habitats and true colors. The book’s detailed synthesis of current knowledge about the trogons is enriched by Forshaw’s personal field observations in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Americas, while Gilbert’s meticulous artwork is based on fieldwork in the same areas. With its large format, more than 40 full-color plates, and state-of-the-art five-color printing, this limited-edition book promises to become a classic and a collector’s item.
However, there are some over at BirdForum that were leery of the artwork. After seeing a couple of sample plates, I can see why.
But I went ahead and ordered it anyway. The trogons are one of my favorite families, and I couldn’t resist. Additionally, this is a limited edition, with only 700 copies available in the U.S. and another 700 for the rest of the world. I hope publishers don’t read this, but I’m a sucker for limited editions.
As soon as I get this, I’ll post my initial thoughts as soon as I can. But in the meantime, if you think you will eventually want a copy, I would suggest ordering it sooner rather than later. Amazon currently shows only one left in stock. I have no idea if they will be receiving any more. But given how much it costs, I wouldn’t blame anyone from holding off until they can see it first!
I’ve been pretty busy lately and haven’t had enough time to write reviews. I’m hoping that will change soon. But in the meantime, here are some thoughts on some recently published bird books.
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Life List: A Woman’s Quest for the World’s Most Amazing Birds
Olivia Gentile
This is an excellent biography of uber-birder and lister Phoebe Snetsinger. I have already written a review of Birding on Borrowed Time, Phoebe’s memoir, and I was curious to see how this biography would compare. Briefly, in just about every regard, I consider this bio as superior. I would recommend starting with it.
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Birdscapes: Birds in Our Imagination and Experience
Jeremy Mynott
My favorite bird book from last year was The Life of the Skies. I’m less than 50 pages into Birdscapes, but so far it reminds me very much of Life of the Skies. It may touch upon some of the same subjects, but it’s really the way that it makes you question things, and really think. I’m going to make a bold prediction and say that this may be my frontrunner for favorite book of 2009 – I’m enjoying it that much so far.
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Birdsong by the Seasons: A Year of Listening to Birds
Donald Kroodsma
Kroodsma’s The Singing Life of Birds
is fantastic, and should be required reading for anyone interested in bird song. This book, which is a celebration of birdsong from January to December, looks like it could be just as good.
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Flyaway: How A Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings
Suzie Gilbert
A verteran bird rehabber chronicles her experiences with injured birds. This looks like an interesting story, all the more so because it’s a subject that is underrepresented in birding literature.
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National Geographic Complete Birds of the World
This guide presents an account for each of the world’s bird families, similar to The Princeton Encyclopedia of Birds
. I’ve only had a chance to skim through this one, but my initial impression is that if, given the choice, I’d take the one from Princeton.
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The Travails of Two Woodpeckers: Ivory-Bills and Imperials
Noel F. R. Snyder, David E. Brown, Kevin B. Clark
I believe the title says it all. Snyder has written books on several other extinct and endangered species, and I’m interested in his take on these two.
This book, by Andrew Nikiforuk, is available for free as a pdf download. You need to hurry, though, it’s only available through March 20 (that’s tomorrow, as I write this).
This is a very important, and controversial, issue that directly impacts birds and other wildlife, and indirectly affects every living thing on this planet. Here is some more information on the book:
Canada has one third of the world’s oil source; it comes from the bitumen in the oil sands of Alberta. Advancements in technology and frenzied development have created the world’s largest energy project in Fort McMurray where, rather than shooting up like a fountain in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, the sticky bitumen is extracted from the earth. Providing almost 20 percent of America’s fuel, much of this dirty oil is being processed in refineries in the Midwest. This out-of-control megaproject is polluting the air, poisoning the water, and destroying boreal forest at a rate almost too rapid to be imagined. In this hard-hitting book, journalist Andrew Nikiforuk exposes the disastrous environmental, social, and political costs of the tar sands and argues forcefully for change.
The Boreal Songbird Initiative has further information about the book and the giveaway.
Princeton has just published a wonderful Encyclopedia of Birds. I just wanted everyone to be aware that it appears to be a softcover version of the 2003 Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds.
I do not know if it has been updated in any way, but from a quick glance it looks the same. I think it’s safe to say that if you already have the Firefly edition, then you can skip the new one. But if you don’t, then go for the Princeton, unless you have a strong preference for hardcover binding or you can find the Firefly for significantly less.
Either way you go, this encyclopedia is fantastic!
The only thing better than bird books is cheap bird books! Here are some bargains I’ve found on Amazon. FYI: some of these are remaindered, so there may be a sticker on the cover, or a black mark on the bottom. I’ve bought remaindered books from Amazon before, though, and these have yet to be a problem.
I haven’t found a whole lot of bargains at Amazon lately. These are the only two that I’m aware of.
Here is a selection of bird books that will be published shortly.
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The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (Peterson Field Guides)
Bill Thompson III
April 30, 2008 (Amazon has it in stock now)
The early remarks on this are universally enthusiastic. If you know a kid in eastern NA who is, or may become, interested in birds, definitely consider getting them this book.
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Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson
Elizabeth J. Rosenthal
May 1, 2008 (Amazon has it in stock now)
This is the second Peterson biography this year.
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On Feathered Wings: Birds in Flight
Richard Ettlinger
May 1, 2008
I love bird photography, so I’m looking forward to seeing this one.
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Falcon Fever: A Falconer in the Twenty-first Century
Tim Gallagher
May 9, 2008 (Amazon has it in stock now)
From the author of The Grail Bird: The Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker
.
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The Raven: Soaring Through History, Legend, & Lore
Lynn Hassler
May 15, 2008
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Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America
Ted Floyd
May 27, 2008
This sounds very intriguing, especially the included DVD with 576 MP3s (from 136 species). And all for less than $20!
Here are some good deals on Amazon.com. You can hover over the link to check the current price.
I’ve been watching the prices on these books for a little while and they have been steadily decreasing. They are all at least 50% off the retail price. However, I’ve seen some prices shoot back up to the “normal” range with no warning (in fact, one of them just did so today before I could post this). So if you see one you want I would suggest jumping on it. If it drops further after you order you can request a price adjustment within 30 days of the shipment date. I’ve done this a couple of times, and it’s quick and easy.
The following are remaindered/bargain books and thus may have either a sticker on the cover or a black mark along the bottom. But they are new. The copy of Club George I received only had a easily removable sticker over the UPC on the back.
Publishers seem determined to test the maxim that you can’t have too many field guides. But who am I kidding? If these have new content, then I’ll be getting them!
– $10.49
– $4.80
– $17.99
– $4.99
– $5.58
– $8.00
– $4.99
– $19.95
. However, if for some reason you’d like to get this one, this is the best price for it that I’ve seen.
– $13.34
– $3.05
– $2.79
– $9.99
– $5.99
– $6.99
– $3.99
