If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? My shortlist of answers to this question isn’t all that short and constantly changes. But Antarctica is always on it. Antarctica? It is cold (I hate cold) and doesn’t have all that many birds (I want to see lots of birds). But what it lacks in quantity it more than makes up in quality (penguins – ‘nuff said). So it was with great excitement, and not a little trepidation, that I received Antarctic Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide, by James Lowen.

Antarctic Wildlife is one of the most unique field guides I’ve come across. It’s not just the photographs, layout, or any one particular thing. Rather, it is the overall approach taken by the author. Lowen intended this to be a guide to the wildlife – marine mammals, birds, and a few plants – one might see on a typical cruise from Argentina or Chile to the Antarctic Peninsula. Everything about the book serves this purpose in an extremely user-friendly manner.

This starts with the extensive introduction. In addition to the standard descriptions of the book and how to use it, the author has included an overview of the environments you will pass through, the Antarctic cruise experience, and the wildlife. Actually, it is much more than a mere overview, especially regarding the wildlife. Lowen introduces each of the families included, from seals to skuas (and one page on plants), gives identification tips, and tells where to look for these animals during the different segments of your cruise. There are even tables listing the species you are likely to see in different parts of the Antarctic Peninsula, so that you can better prepare based on your particular ship’s itinerary. This introductory material is excellent; the author seems to have included everything you might need in order to make the best of your trip.

Antarctic Wildlife limits its geographic scope to just the areas routinely traversed by Antarctic cruises. The species accounts are even divided based on the cruise’s three distinct sectors: the Beagle Channel; the Drake Passage; and the Antarctic Peninsula. Normally, I despise such “gimmicky” organizations in field guides. But it works here, for the most part, mainly due to the relatively small number of species covered. Species are only included in one section, even if they are possible in others. But if you don’t find a likely match for a creature seen in one, it’s quick and easy to look through the other two as well. But attempting the same organization for almost anywhere else – say, a trip down the Manu – would be utterly insane. However, this scheme does make it more difficult to directly compare related species.

Species Accounts

The accounts follow the standard plan, with photographic plates on the right-hand page and text on the left. One to five species are included on any given two-page spread, though most have just one or two. Each account includes:

• Name – English, Scientific, German, and Spanish
• Threat Status – according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature
• Status – color-coded bars giving abundance in each of the three sectors
• Measurements – length and wingspan in centimeters; comparison to other species, as appropriate
• Talking Point – interesting tidbits
• Main text – description and identification tips
• Where to Look – where exactly to look in each sector

The few number of species per page means that the text is pretty extensive – and often very interesting. I particularly enjoy the “talking points” and various sidebars scattered throughout the guide. The whale accounts also include a helpful diagram showing what it looks like when surfacing.

The plates of most mammals and some birds are partitioned traditionally. However, those for most birds feature photographs edited onto a common background, similar in style to The Crossley ID Guide, although not nearly as complex as Crossley’s scenes. Each image is labeled with a number and, when applicable, a code denoting sex, age, and breeding/non-breeding. The photos are good to great, and the plates very attractive overall. The relatively few number of species per plate accords the space to include multiple images of each bird. The variation depicted should be sufficient to identify most birds. Some seabirds, however, are extremely difficult to identify. I would recommend serious birders also carry along a more detailed guide for them.

The cetacean accounts only include photos of the animal at the surface. This makes sense, as that is all that you are going to see in the field. However, if you’d like to see what the animal as a whole looks like, there is a wonderful two-page plate in the introduction that illustrates these whales and dolphins “in all their unconcealed glory”. Thoughtful inclusions like this really set this guide apart.

Another nice touch is that some species, such as Wandering Albatross, and Humpback and Killer Whales, have supplementary pages of photographs in order to show a greater variety of appearance and behaviors. There are also an additional 22 pages of incredible (and useful) photographs of penguin behavior.

One final nice thing about this guide is that a portion of the proceeds will go to support the Save the Albatross campaign.

Recommendation

Earlier in this review I mentioned receiving this book with a measure of trepidation. This was not borne out of any misgivings about the book’s quality, but rather its anticipated effect on me. I was right to be wary; thanks to this book, I now want to go to Antarctica more than ever! And if (hopefully, when) I go, it will not be without this book. Antarctic Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide should be required for any cruise-based visitor to the great white continent. And if you want to risk being compelled to pay big bucks to go on such a cruise, I’d also recommend it to anyone even slightly interested in the wildlife of Antarctica.

For those traveling to Antarctica outside of the area covered by this book, as well as serious birders and those wanting to know even more about the wildlife they may encounter, I would also recommend the more extensive (and larger and heavier) The Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife, by Hadoram Shirihai.

I have an embarrassing confession to make: Ihaveneverbeentocapemay. Yep, that’s right. Cape May, New Jersey – the birding capital of North America – never been there. But in many ways, I feel like I’ve already experienced the bird life there through Kevin Karlson’s Birds of Cape May.

As Pete Dunne writes in the book’s forward, Birds of Cape May is “a visual tribute” to Cape May and its birds. It is not intended to be a field guide, or even to show all of Cape May’s birds. Rather, it is the author’s “personal celebration of thirty years of enjoyment of this special location”. You can think of it as a large, organized, and annotated photo album.

Well over 400 photos are included here, most taken by Karlson, along with a few contributions from Lloyd Spitalnik. The vast majority of the pictures depict birds, naturally, but some are of other wildlife, scenery, and even birders. They are organized by season, starting with spring, and then further divided into coastal and inland areas.

Rarities, such as a Fork-tailed Flycatcher and Brown-chested Martin, get their own section at the end of the book. This arrangement makes sense to me. The book’s purpose is to showcase the area’s typical birds, which these certainly are not. However, I also think it’s important to highlight these special birds, as they are part of Cape May’s appeal to birders. There is also a separate section for butterflies, which includes a spectacular sequence of photos depicting the entire life cycle of a Monarch Butterfly.

Ok, so on to the photos themselves. They’re very nice, as one would expect from one of North America’s leading bird photographers. There are close, intimate portraits, with seemingly every feather visible and tack-sharp. There are also sweeping shots of shorebird flocks in flight. Some photos are amusing, while others are simply spectacular. Still others are pretty and instructive. Karlson captured this robin in the midst of an upward jump, just before plunging its bill into the ground for a worm. I had no idea robins did that. The wide range of subjects, poses, and impressions keeps the book lively and interesting.

Each photo has a short caption that tells a little about the species. The information included varies; sometimes Karlson touches upon identification, other times some interesting fact about its natural history. Some are very personal; others describe what the bird is doing. But most include the bird’s relative abundance and periods of occurrence in Cape May. Overall, the captions were fun to read and really add to the value of the book.

This book is surprisingly large, with an unusual format that is wider than it is tall. The few full-page photos take complete advantage of the space and look fabulous. Likewise, the pages containing three pictures also utilize the space well. However, the majority of pages display two photos and have too much wasted white space. The result is that these pages look “off” somehow, and the impact of the photos is lessened. I think a different page size or layout (or probably some combination of the two) would have suited the book better.

The only error I found is that Saltmarsh Sparrow is referred to as a “subspecies of Sharp-tailed Sparrow”.

Recommendation

Birds of Cape May is a very good showcase of the avian richness possessed by Cape May, New Jersey. Even though it is a little too expensive to be an impulse-buy, it would make a nice souvenir of a trip to this birding hotspot. Cape May residents should also have a copy, preferably displayed prominently for the benefit of non-birding friends and family! Finally, fans of bird photography in general should enjoy this collection.

From 1994 to 2001, over a thousand birders scoured the state of Georgia looking for breeding birds. It took the better part of ten years, but now the data they collected has been analyzed and distilled into The Breeding Bird Atlas of Georgia. It was worth the wait.

The Atlas contains an account for each bird found breeding in Georgia during this period, 182 species in all. A full two-page spread is allocated to each account, with the text and a color photograph on the left-hand side, along with a map and graphs on the right. The text includes:

• Introduction – overview of the species, possibly including information on identification, habits, subspecies, and other miscellaneous things that don’t fall under one of the other categories
• Habitat and Life History – including breeding info
• Distribution
• Status – population trends
• Conservation

There is an abundance of information in these accounts. One thing I was very pleased to see was that subspecies information is included where appropriate. Some of the information is general in nature, but most of it applies to the bird specifically in this state.

This state-specific information is especially interesting. For instance, it’s intriguing that the Cerulean Warblers breeding in the Ivylog-Gumlog area use habitat that is unusually open compared with the preferred habitat elsewhere in their range. Besides the obvious management implications, that’s a nice puzzle for some enterprising researcher to tackle.

The large, color maps plot the breeding occurrences in great detail, with symbols denoting possible, probable, and confirmed records. You can learn much just by browsing through the maps – I hadn’t realized that Worm-eating Warblers bred south to the Fall Line, and possibly even below it! For most species, there is also a table of sampling information and a population trend graph using data from the Breeding Bird Survey.

Each account includes a single color photo. These photos are fairly large, and generally great. There are only a very few that I consider below par. Even with these photos, it should be noted that this is not intended for use as a field guide. Besides, with its large dimensions and hefty weight, you’d have to hire a porter to carry this into the field for you!

As if this weren’t enough, an extensive introduction covers the survey methodology, Georgia’s ecoregions and habitats, changes in bird distribution, and conservation. After you dive right in to the species accounts (and you know you will), it’s well worth going back and reading these sections.

Recommendation

The San Diego County Bird Atlas is a highly regarded breeding bird atlas. When I saw how well it was adapted electronically for Google Earth (and available for free!), I thought that printed atlases were a thing of the past. I hope that The Breeding Bird Atlas of Georgia will eventually be available electronically as well, but this bound version is so well produced that I can’t imagine being without it.

A wealth of information that’s a pleasure to immerse yourself in, the Atlas will be an indispensable tool for anyone who birds in Georgia regularly.

The Great Lakes Seaway Trail is not a “birding trail” of the kind developed in Texas. Rather, this trail highlights the various tourist activities along the 518 mile shoreline of the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York and Pennsylvania. But it also happens to have some excellent birding.

Birding the Great Lakes Seaway Trail features 75 birding sites along the trail, divided into 18 sections. Each section starts with a summary page that features a painting of a key bird in a prominent habitat of that region. The page also lists the sites covered and shows, in a handy graph, how good the birding in that region is during each month of the year. A detailed and relatively lengthy overview of the section follows. Finally, there is a section map and a chart that lists the “best” birds found in the region each month. These section introductions are very well done, and I found them to be very helpful.

Next, each site is discussed. Overall, the guide does a good job of describing the site, what birds to expect there, and when you should go. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do as well directing birders in how to get there. The sites are labeled on the section maps, but for the most part I couldn’t tell specifically where on the map the site was supposed to be. The best it will do is to indicate the general location. A more detailed and helpful map is included for some sites, but not nearly enough. Likewise, directions are given in some site accounts, but not all. GPS coordinates, however, are given for every site.

I found this trail guide to be very well designed; it includes just about all the information you could want in a relatively small space, but without feeling cramped. Complementing the design is a good utilization of color. This is not your usual drab, black-and-white bird-finding guide. Color bands on the outer edge of each page indicate the section, and a color square within the band shows which season of the year the site is most productive.

Again, unlike most similar books, Birding the Great Lakes Seaway Trail is profusely illustrated. Besides the large chapter intro paintings previously mentioned, smaller illustrations are also scattered liberally throughout. Even though the same illustrator did them all, I found them to be remarkably inconsistent. For the most part, I really liked the chapter introduction paintings (though for some, it feels like the bird isn’t well integrated with the background, as if it was just slapped on afterward). But the smaller, individual images aren’t nearly as good. Most are done in a very simplistic style that looks out of place. The birds are clearly identifiable, but just don’t do anything for me, personally. But the good news is that they don’t detract from the guide’s usefulness; any illustrations in a book such as this can be considered a bonus.

Chapter introduction. The bird just doesn't really fit in.

Much better

One more annoyance should be mentioned. My copy was bound so that the text is too close to the center, making it hard to read unless you open the book wide. This is a minor complaint, but it could affect usefulness in the field. However, I don’t know if this was just a random bad copy, or if the entire print run is this way.

Recommendation

I applaud the Great Lakes Seaway Trail for promoting the birding opportunities found along it and for producing this guide. Birding the Great Lakes Seaway Trail isn’t perfect, but it should be very helpful for any birder preparing a trip to this area. I know that it will be accompanying me when I finally make it there.

Unlike some other Caribbean islands, the Caymans are not known for their wildlife-watching opportunities. They don’t boast a large bird list or the single-island endemics that draw birders elsewhere. Little Cayman, however, is essentially a sparsely populated wildlife refuge. And even on the much-more-populated and touristy Grand Cayman Island, there are opportunities to see some very cool animals and plants. Grand Cayman resident Richard Ground created this book to showcase and celebrate the wildlife of his home.

In the introduction, the author/photographer makes three disclaimers about his book:

1. It is not a field guide
2. It is not complete
3. The photos are the work of an amateur

Indeed, this is decidedly not a field guide, but it could still help identify some things, especially those for which you don’t have a traditional guide (which would probably be everything but the birds).

This is more of a photographic sampler of the island’s flora and fauna. A diverse selection is shown, including orchids, butterflies, other insects, frogs, lizards, and other land animals. And, of course, birds. But the author has chosen to omit certain groups, including snakes and mammals (of which there are very few native species, mostly bats).

Over half of the book is dedicated to the island’s birds. Like the other groups, not all of them are included, but it does show the majority of the ones that visitors would be most interested in seeing. The only notable absentee is the West Indian Whistling-duck.

Most of the birds that did make the cut are illustrated in multiple photos, depicting a wide range of poses and behaviors. For example, there are no fewer than 10 shots of the ubiquitous Bananaquit, including a great sequence showing one “stealing” a flower’s nectar.

As the photographer warns, it is immediately obvious that these photos are not of professional quality. The non-avian subjects fared the best, and many of them are quite good. But birds are much more difficult to photograph well. Some turned out very well, though, and any photograph of a Mangrove Cuckoo is a good one. But overall, these photos are like what you would find on most bird blogs – identifiable, and better than what I could do, but not worthy of publication in a fine art book.

But that’s ok! That wasn’t the author’s goal. Rather, he wanted to help visitors and fellow residents appreciate the island’s natural heritage. And he succeeded.

The text also helps achieve this goal, not only identifying the picture’s subject, but also telling a little about it. The book’s short introduction to the Caymans may also be helpful for visitors.

Recommendation

I think Creator’s Glory is intended for residents and visitors of Grand Cayman that have some interest in nature, but aren’t exactly hardcore. And they are the ones that should get the most out of this book, as it will likely enhance their experience on the island.

It will not do as much for experienced birders, especially if they have the equipment and skill to take their own photographs. (Although the non-bird sections may come in handy). But this may still make a nice memento for non-photographers. Personally, I’m glad I picked this up as a souvenir. Whenever I see the Cuban Parrots in this book, I can’t help but remember my encounter with them (my first wild parrots!). And the iguanas and Viteline Warbler at the Botanical Gardens, and…

I purchased this book from a Grand Cayman bookstore in 2004. I assume they are still available there. Otherwise, it appears that the only way to get this book outside of the Caymans is to buy it used.

Most every American has probably heard of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) due to the ongoing debate over oil. The government and oil companies want to drill for oil there, and conservationists don’t. But other than that, how much do you know about the land in contention, its flora and fauna, and the Native Americans living there? This book is the culmination of Banerjee’s efforts to show and tell everyone about this wild and (thus far) unspoiled land.

Banerjee provides the backbone of the book through photographs that he has taken over the course of several seasons at the refuge. They are, quite simply, spectacular. They include everything from intimate portraits of flowers and birds to sweeping landscape panoramas. This is a fairly large book, and the space is put to good use with many photos taking up most or all of the page. The book is worth perusing on the merit of the photography alone.

But images alone are not enough. In order to present a complete overview of this area, Banerjee has included essays from writers, experts, and those intimately familiar with the land. These consist of the following:

• Peter Matthiessen recounts his first visit in 1957, focusing on the native Indians. He then proceeds to describe his trip in 2001 with Banerjee, this time paying special attention to the wildlife and conservation issues.
• George B. Schaller tells the account of the initial survey in 1956 that led to the establishment of ANWR.
• Fran Mauer gives an overview of refuge’s physical and geological features and ecological zones.
• David Allen Sibley tells us about the birds of the refuge.
• William H. Meadows provides a great explanation of why it needs to be protected.
• Debbie S. Miller describes the Indians of the region – the Inupiat of the coastal plain and the Gwich’in just south of the refuge.

As I imagine most birders will be, I was most interested in the section written by Sibley, a noted birder and field guide author. Here he gives an account of his trip to ANWR with Banerjee in 2002. But instead of being just a straight travelogue, he also discusses the bird life of the region in general, and in the process gives a great introduction to the birds that rely on the refuge. Birds are also featured prominently in Peter Matthiessen’s account of his latest trip to the refuge.

However, the other essays are also worth reading. They provide a deeper understanding of the area and the people and animals inhabiting it.

Additionally, throughout the book Banerjee has included short excerpts of his experiences there. Each of these focuses on a single topic, such as Caribou, Muskox, Dall Sheep, Pacific Loons, and his interactions with the Indians.

Recommendation

Through this book, Banerjee wanted to show why this area should be forever set aside and left undeveloped. He succeeded. This book is particularly recommended to those who aren’t aware of or don’t understand the reasons to oppose the drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. But even if you are well versed in the debate this book will still take you on a breathtaking journey through this special place.

Before becoming a birder, the Arctic would have been one of the last places I would want to visit. Too cold. Too barren. Too, well, cold! But now I absolutely need to go there. Despite global warming, it will still be colder than I’d like. But there are birds, and other creatures, that are found nowhere else. Moreover, it’s a chance to see some familiar birds in unfamiliar surroundings doing unexpected things, such as shorebirds singing! But perhaps most importantly, where I once would have perceived a barren landscape I now would appreciate a delicate and wonderful ecosystem that’s every bit as beautiful as a tropical rainforest or ice-capped mountain. Now I know where to turn to prepare for such an eventuality.

Four sections make up this book: an introduction to the Arctic; a field guide to its birds; a field guide to the mammals; and a short visitor’s guide to the Arctic. The introduction is one of the best things about the book, as it gives a very thorough overview of the region. It defines the area that the author considers “Arctic”, geology, climate, human impact, habitat, adaptations for Arctic life, speciation and biogeography, and threats. Altogether this introductory material spans 48 pages.

The visitor’s guide is a short, six page section at the end of the book. Obviously, that’s just enough room for the briefest of treatments, but anything more detailed is beyond the scope of the book. Still, this is a welcome addition. It includes sections on Iceland, Jan Mayen, Svalbard, Bear Island, Fennoscandia, Russia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.

Each of the field guides are organized in the same manner. Each family gets a short introduction covering the common aspects of the constituent species. A nice addition to these introductions is a list of species that come close to making the cut as an “Arctic species”, but falls short of the criteria set by the author.

Each species has a relatively comprehensive and in-depth account, and includes:

• General notes – some, but not all, species have notes at the beginning of the account that don’t fit under the other sections
• Identification
• Confusion species – limited to those within the Arctic
• Size
• Voice/Communication
• Distribution
• Diet
• Breeding
• Taxonomy and geographical variation
• Range map – shows only the range within the Arctic

The text is an easy read, as opposed to some guides where it is a chore. It’s also very informative; I learned a great deal just by reading the family introductions. Did you know, for example:

• Shrews’ perpetual hunger, combined with an unpleasant bite, has given these mammals a reputation as greedy and aggressive, which is the basis of the derogatory term “shrew-like”, often applied to mean-spirited persons.
• Skuas are not only aggressive predators, they are aggressive toward potential predators at nest sites, diving at anything, including birders, who venture too close. Nor are such attacks mere bluffs; I have been knocked down by a Great Skua and had blood drawn by a Long-tailed Jaeger.

The illustrations include both photographs and plates of paintings. The photographs are included alongside the species accounts, and almost all species have one. Additionally, there are some photos of species that aren’t considered “artic enough” for a full account. The plates are sprinkled throughout the text at the end of some family sections. It seems that in designing the book the author decided to insert a plate only when it could be filled with species, anywhere from three to fourteen per plate. As a result, there are 4 plates after the waterfowl section due to the large number of members from that family breeding in the Arctic. On the other hand, a single plate contains the owls, kingfishers, swallows, larks, pipits and wagtails.

The quality of both the photos and plates range from ok to very good. However, some issues limit this book’s use as a field guide. For some sexually dimorphic species, the female is not illustrated in the plates. For example, only the male is depicted for most waterfowl species. Most of the females are shown in photos, however, but the plates are the first place one would turn to for identification purposes. But for other species, such as the Pine Grosbeak, the female is not shown at all. Also, scale is not consistent within plates showing members from different families. Thus, if one judges size only by the plates the user could be mislead to believe that a Tree Swallow is only slightly smaller than a Belted Kingfisher.

There are fourteen credited artists for the bird plates, and there are some obvious stylistic differences. At least some of the bird plates have been recycled from previous works. The shorebird illustrations are taken from Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia. A few of the gulls are from the excellent Gulls of North America, Europe, and Asia, but the colors are a bit different here. The Slaty-backed Gull, for instance, has a darker mantle than in the original book. In addition, the sparrows are from Sparrows and Buntings.

A single artist provided all the mammal illustrations. While they appear to be adequate for field guide use, they are not very ascetically pleasing to me personally. The whales fare much better – those plates look very nice. However, I don’t have any mammal field guides that use paintings, so I have nothing against which to compare them. On the other hand, the photographs of mammals are great and make up for the disappointing plates.

Unfortunately, this volume contains some errors. On plate 1, the labels for Arctic and Pacific Loons are switched. The photo labeled as an American Tree Sparrow on page 320 is actually a Chipping Sparrow. Finally, the breeding female Snow Bunting on plate 28 is in fact a first year male (according to Sparrows and Buntings, where it was originally published). These make me concerned that there are more undiscovered errors, especially among the mammals, about which I am much less familiar.

Recommendation

I think that this book will be of limited value as a field guide to birds, mostly due to the limitations previously mentioned in this review. The lack of illustrations for all the forms that may be encountered (especially females) would alone necessitate having another field guide handy. Thankfully, there are plenty of good field guides available for most, if not all, of the Arctic regions. I’m much less qualified to pronounce judgment on the merits of the mammal field guide, but it appears adequate for that purpose.

However, its usefulness as a reference is unquestionable. Moreover, the introduction to the region provided here should be mandatory reading for any first time travelers to the Arctic, or anyone even slightly interested in this region. Thus, despite the issues and outright errors this book is recommended and will accompany me on my first journey to the Arctic (whenever that might be).

Suppose you’re planning a trip to Florida and would like to find some good places to bird. You could pick up the American Birding Association’s A Birder’s Guide to Florida and it will have everything you need. There are plenty of books like this for regions across the globe. There are even books that will tell you where to go for the best chance to find a particular bird. But what if you’re not sure where, exactly, you want to go to begin with? Where can you turn for worldwide suggestions of where to go on your next birding trip? This is the first book that I’m aware of that seeks to fill this void.

I was extremely skeptical when I first saw the listing for this book. The author, Chris Santella, was unfamiliar to me. A quick check revealed that he has written other, similar books such as Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die (along with “…to Sail…”, and “…to Golf…”). I was concerned this would be a vapid book, thrown together by someone who didn’t know what they were writing about in order to milk birders of their money. Harsh, I know, but I’m sure it has been done before. While I can’t speak to the author’s motivation in writing this, I was pleasantly surprised to find the book very much worth reading (with some caveats, as detailed below).

In the introduction the author readily admits that he is not an avid birder. However, he’s not entirely unfamiliar with the hobby. He knew enough to realize that he was not qualified to select sites for inclusion in this book. Thus, he reached out to many famous birders and ornithologists for their recommendations. Each one of these 50 places was recommended by someone different, many of whom you will immediately recognize.

Before proceeding further, you may wish to check out the complete list of fifty places showcased in this book.

Each of the fifty accounts average about 4 pages each. Santella writes each account; however, he liberally includes direct quotes from the site’s recommender. The location, its birds, and other factors that make it a great place to bird are described.

These accounts are fairly short and thus cannot be exhaustive. However, there were some weird omissions. For example, Belize’s most popular birding destination, the Chan Chich Lodge, was not mentioned in that country’s profile. Also, New Jersey’s Cape May is one of the most popular birding sites in the United States. But for some reason the person recommending that place focuses solely on the World Series of Birding that occurs there to the exclusion of almost everything else (as pointed out in this review).

The writing is generally excellent, and Santella does a good job synthesizing the information. I was concerned that his lack of birding experience would be detrimental, but thankfully that was not the case (one misspelling notwithstanding: Toucan Barbot , instead of Barbet).

The best parts are often in the selector’s own words. That’s not too surprising since some of birding’s best authors, such as Kenn Kaufman and Julie Zickefoose, are included. The recommenders tell many great stories of their experiences in these places. Perhaps the most bizarre is of the Pine Marten in Yellowstone that ran up Terry McEneaney’s pant leg in order to escape from a Great Gray Owl!

Each account ends in a brief biography of the recommender and an “If You Go” section. The latter consists of:

• Getting there – gives the nearest airports and air carriers serving it
• Best Time to Visit – takes into account both the species present and the weather
• Guides – birding tour companies that visit the area
• Accommodations – a short list of hotels and other accommodations in the vicinity, or links to websites that can give more suggestions

Most, but not all, of the accounts also include a single photograph. These are full-page, or nearly so, and uniformly excellent. They depict either a characteristic bird species or landscape of the spotlighted location.

Likely the biggest issue most readers will have is with the selection of the places. But that task is extremely subjective and even though I was very surprised at some of the selections (just one example: St. Mark’s over the Everglades?), I cut it a lot of slack. Additionally, whether a site “deserves” to be included greatly depends on how you define the selection criteria. Are we looking for the places with the most birds, the “best” birds, or something else? Yellowstone National Park, for example, is included here even though, as the account states, it does not contain a great number of species or anything that you couldn’t find elsewhere. However, you could make the case that it’s a place everyone should visit regardless of the birds, and thus deserves to be included (and it’s not like the birding is bad!).

That said, it still doesn’t seem right when the United States contains half of the sites, while Africa only has two.

Additionally, there are a few other ways this book could have been improved:

• Pictures – The quality is outstanding, but I was expecting there to be more.
• Maps – There are none! I would wager that birders have a better grasp of geography than most people, but still not everyone knows where Bhutan or Tanzania is. A map with each account would be ideal, but even a two-page world map with all the places located on it would have been greatly appreciated.
• Size – The book is surprisingly small, perhaps in order to fit in with the other books in the series. However, making it a little larger could have insured that the previously mentioned items could be added.

Recommendation

Widely traveled birders won’t get much out of this book, although some of the stories and experiences recounted here would still be worth reading. But anyone aspiring to be widely traveled will find a great deal of inspiration here. Personally, I greatly enjoyed reading about all of these locations, from the ones I’ve visited to the ones I had never heard of. I have only birded six of these places, and am looking forward to crossing more off this list.

Complete List of fifty places.

What birder wouldn’t want to go to the Galapagos Islands? The archipelago’s total number of species is pretty low, but the relative high number of endemics and the tameness of the animals more than make up for it. But the trip is fairly expensive, and it is a long ways away for most of us. While we save up for the trip there are a couple of other options for experiencing the islands. The BBC has produced a fantastic series on the islands that is available on DVD and Blu-ray. And of course there are books. Galapagos: A Natural History by John Kricher is an excellent introduction to the islands. But if you would like to experience the birds of the islands, then you need to read Galapagos Diary .

The first part of this work’s title is very apt. It is truly the diary of a trip that the authors made to the islands. Unfortunately, the second part of the title is not correct. It is not quite a complete guide to the birds of these enchanted islands.

The first half of the book recounts the authors’ trip. This section is essentially a trip report. That may sound pretty boring, but they make it work. It is very well written, entertaining, and informative. On this trip they spent a couple of weeks there in the mid 90′s. This was at least the second trip for both of them (Heinzel provides the text and drawings, while Hall was the photographer). Heinzel is very familiar with the islands and the birds and makes a good tour guide for the reader. The account would benefit anyone preparing for their own trip, but is also good reading for those who are not.

This section is liberally illustrated with Heinzel’s drawings and Hall’s photographs. The drawings are wonderful and charming. They seem to capture well the birds’ characteristics and personality (at least for those species I’m familiar with). The photographs range in quality from excellent to “I can’t believe they published this”. The problem shots are usually out of focus. From the text, it seems the photographic equipment wasn’t up to task for certain situations. But the vast majority of the pictures were at least adequate. And while I certainly would have liked to see some better quality photos here, I found that they really didn’t bother me too much. They contributed to the impression that this was a personal trip report and not some glossy travel brochure.

The second part of the book is species accounts of most of the regular Galapagos birds, including all of the endemics. Some basic information is given in text, and includes both notes on life history and identification. Maps are included for most species. They will always show where the authors saw the bird on their trip, and some include an overall range as well. The main feature here is the copious amounts of drawings. There is at least one main, finished illustration for each species. Additionally, there are many secondary illustrations. Some are completely finished and colored, but some are not. These are meant to illustrate some special quality about the bird – either behaviorally or physically. These are also annotated with many notes pointing out the features the illustrator was trying to convey.

The 13 species of Darwin’s finches are given more extensive treatment. This is not surprising due to the family’s fame and the fact that they pose the most difficult identification problem on the islands. The first two pages are an overview of the species, and then each one is covered in greater detail. Each one has its own map along with many drawings. Finally, there are several pages of photographs. Overall, 23 pages are dedicated to these birds.

This section would be helpful for identification, but it does not take the place of an actual field guide. I believe the best field guide for the islands is Birds, Mammals, and Reptiles of the Galapagos Islands. It includes all the birds included in Galapagos Diary plus others that are vagrants to the islands. Overall, the field guide is better for identification purposes. However, the diary nicely supplements it in places. For instance, Heinzel illustrates an immature Red-billed Tropicbird and boobies in flight, which are not shown in this field guide.

Finally, there is a graph showing the distribution of birds across all the islands. This is incredibly helpful for both trip planning and identification. For instance, if you see a Ground-finch on Genovesa island you know that it is either a Large or Sharp-billed. The other two Ground-finches don’t occur on that particular island. However, the field guide also includes such a chart and it is more extensive.

The taxonomy used here is a little behind the times. The subspecies of Audubon’s Shearwater encountered here is now considered a full species – Galapagos Shearwater. Also, the Masked Booby complex has since been split, and those on the Galapagos are currently considered the Nazca Booby. Also, readers from North America should note that European bird names are used when there is a difference. For instance, the bird we know of as the Black-bellied Plover is instead called the Grey Plover.

The most annoying thing about this book is the hard-to-read font used in some places to annotate drawings and give additional information. It is in some sort of handwritten script. I’m not sure if it’s the author’s handwriting, or something else. But regardless, I had great difficulty reading a good bit of it. I appreciate the diary-like feel that this adds to the book, but effective communication is even more important.

Even though this volume does not live up to its title of being the complete guide to the birds of the Galapagos (a true field guide is still needed), it is still recommended. It is almost essential to anyone fortunate enough to travel to these islands. And for the rest of us it is a fascinating read and a great introduction to the unique creatures found there and nowhere else on our planet.

I don’t remember why I originally ordered this book, but it was probably to help prepare for my first birding trip “out west” to southeast Arizona. But I do distinctly remember being pleasantly surprised once I started reading it. I was not expecting it to be essentially three books in one. It combines general birding techniques, help with difficult identification, and a birdfinding guide. Think of it as an amalgamation of Pete Dunne on Bird Watching, Kenn Kaufman’s Advanced Birding, and an ABA/Lane guide to the entire region.

Geographically, the western half of the country is covered stopping at the eastern borders of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Alaska is also included, but Hawaii is not. If you live in an area that is not covered here, please do not stop reading. This book is recommended to all birders in the United States and Canada, even if you will never step foot in the west.

Birding in General

The first three chapters deal with general birding techniques and tips. These are applicable to all birders, regardless of location and skill level. In fact, I think just about anyone could learn a great deal from these chapters.

The first chapter covers finding birds. This includes discussions on habitat, plants, seasons, time of day, tape playback, pishing, finding pelagic birds, and ethics. Next up are techniques for identification. Feather topography, molt, jizz, vocalizations, and behavior are all covered in detail. A unique and very helpful inclusion here is a “Ready Reference to Key Characters”. It is a list of bird groups and the key characteristics to focus on. Here are a few examples:

Shearwaters. Identifications range from straightforward to difficult. Look primarily at head and rump patterns and colors, underwing patterns, flight characteristics, and leg and bill color.

Swallows. Identification is straightforward. Note back, rump, and underpart colors; tail shape; and presence or absence of a breast band.

Chapter three teaches how to keep field notes. It tells what you should record and gives some suggestions as to how. A couple of sample pages are shown. No mention is made of listing software, which can help make record keeping much easier. But I suppose the book was published before the software became widely used.

Advanced Identification

Up next is the largest section of the book and the one that probably gets the most use – difficult identifications. Here specific identification problems are addressed. A few examples are “Elegant versus Royal versus Caspian Tern”, “Empidonax Flycatchers”, and “Basic-Plumaged Longspurs”. These are very similar in format to those in Kaufman’s Advanced Birding. The text is detailed, extensive, and very helpful. Black-and-white photographs and line drawings accompany the text to illustrate the main field marks of some, but not all, species. Of course color photography would be preferable, but for the most part these black-and-white pictures are adequate for their purpose. The line drawings are even more helpful since they can focus on and directly compare specific parts of confusing species, such as the wings of nighthawks and the heads of sparrows.

The species and groups covered were arbitrarily chosen by the author based on his previous experience. Some groups, such as Pterodroma petrels, could not be covered at all because there was not room for the necessarily detailed treatment they required. Additionally, the author notes that some groups, such as gulls, are given only minimal treatment for the same reason. That may be, but there are still thirteen pages devoted to gulls in general, and more than ten total for Slaty-backed and Thayer’s Gulls.

Although the species and groups covered are western birds some of them are also found in the east, and many more turn up as vagrants. For instance, all of the jaegers and empidonax flycatchers in North America are covered in great detail. Any birder on the continent could use help with these groups, and the many others that are covered in this section.

Bird Finding

The final segment of the book is devoted to finding the western specialties. The species listed here are those the author considers to be essentially western birds. Most common and/or widespread species are not treated. Additionally, irruptive species and most Asian vagrants are not included.

The species accounts here are very similar in nature to those in birdfinding guides such as the ABA/Lane series. They tell where, when, and in what habitat the bird can be found. For some common and widespread species the habitat information alone should be sufficient, so specific places to look are not listed. But for rarer and local birds more specific locations are given. However, these are never as detailed as regional birdfinding guides. For example, it might list several states and the best sites within those states for finding the species. But details such as mileage are left to other guides. Therefore, this will not take the place of birdfinding guides, but then again it was never intended to. But if you need help figuring out the best place to go to see a specific species, then this is the resource for you.

Recommendation

When a book, or anything else for that matter, tries to do too many things at once it usually does them all poorly. This handbook is the exception. It tackles three distinct subjects and it is worth reading for any of them. It is very highly recommended to anyone, resident or visitor, birding the United States or Canada.

One additional note, this handbook is essentially a second edition of the author’s previous work, Western Bird Watcher. Here is a summary of how the older version compares to the newer:

• It is 15 years older, so there have been some taxonomy updates made between the two.
• It includes far fewer species in both the birdfinding and identification sections. You can also see this reflected in the page count. Even though the two books are just about the same size the newer one has 124 more pages.
• The ID section has fewer illustrations, and they are of a different type. It does include some line drawings and pictures of live birds, but most of the illustrations in the older book are photographs of museum specimens. Specimens of the compared species have been placed next to one another and photographed. In my opinion the line drawings in the newer book are more useful than these photographs. Drawings, provided that they are accurate of course, eliminate any perceived differences due to the individual specimen used and its positioning. The photos here are not without use though, as they give a perspective rarely seen elsewhere (although they would be much more useful in color!).

Otherwise the two are very similar, and cover the same topics.

The older edition has been completely superseded by the newer, and is therefore not recommended. If you have the Western Bird Watcher I would highly recommend upgrading to Birding in the American West.