Drab, skulking, secretive – sparrows are usually described thusly. But you’d never know it by viewing Watching Sparrows. If you think of sparrows as Little Brown Jobs, this video guide will shatter that perception.

This Watching Sparrows DVD is brought to you by Michael Male and Judy Fieth, the same team that produced the wonderful Watching Warblers. The plan is roughly the same: to present a short, but informative, account for each of the sparrows found in the United States and Canada. 46 species of sparrows, towhees, juncos, and longspurs (though now not thought to be related to sparrows, they will always be “honorary” sparrows to me) are included, from the Five-striped Sparrow that barely makes it into the U.S. as a breeding bird to the ubiquitous Song Sparrow.

The highlight of the program is, undoubtedly, the video of these birds carrying on with their daily lives. Filmed over the course of three breeding seasons, most of the birds shown are singing males. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as such birds are much easier to find and, especially, film. Plus, this way we get to hear the birds as well. However, this does mean that few female, immature, and non-breeding birds are shown. But it’s hard to be too disappointed when the video that is here is just so good.

The sparrows are presented in taxonomic order, with Male and Fieth alternating as narrators. The feature clocks in at one and a half hours, and each species gets a little less than two minutes of attention. That’s not a lot of time, but the authors manage to work in a surprising amount of information about the bird and its life history, including habitat, breeding biology, habits, and other interesting information. Some identification tips are given, but please take note that this is not intended to be a video field guide. As in the warbler videos, impressive video graphics are used to show the range and migratory movements of these birds.

I was pleased to find that each of the four Fox Sparrow groups are shown, discussed, and mapped. Likewise, the various Dark-eyed Juncos are mentioned and their ranges plotted on the map, although not all the forms are shown.

Picture and Sound Quality

The version of Watching Sparrows reviewed here is the second edition, updated and released in 2010. As a part of the upgrade, the video was re-mastered from the original film footage. Wow! I can’t believe how good it looks. Presented in anamorphic 16:9/widescreen format (the same resolution as the latest Hollywood blockbuster on DVD), the video is clear and sharp. You will be hard-pressed to see sparrows this well in real life.

The audio is presented in two-channel stereo and sounds perfectly fine.

Extras

Watching Sparrows comes with a few extra features:

• You can choose to watch the main program without narration, which might be a good option if you want it to be playing in the background.
• Chorus (4:09) is simply a shortcut to the end of the main program where each bird is shown singing for a couple of seconds each.
• Fun with Songs (9:16) again shows 18 of the sparrows singing. But after playing the song in real time, it then replays it slowed down to 50% and/or 20% of normal. This reveals intricacies and beauty that our limited sense of hearing can’t normally notice, including birds using both sides of their syrinx simultaneously.
• Two sparrow-related episodes of the filmmaker’s Little Nature Show are included. Fox Fun (7:06) goes into further detail about Fox Sparrows. From the Moon to Montana (7:57) is a behind-the-scenes look at filming longspurs in Montana and a preview of the McCown’s Longspur account from this DVD.
• Sharp-tailed Sparrows (9:41) is a fascinating look at filming Saltmarsh and Nelson’s Sparrows (these were called Sharp-tailed Sparrows when this was created for the first edition of this video), as well as insight into their breeding habits.

Recommendation

It’s easy to love warblers and other colorful bird families, but I’ve been a converted sparrow aficionado for some time now. This group has birds that are as boldly patterned and fascinating as any other. And, speaking from personal experience, even those you may not expect, like Sage and Henslow’s Sparrows, have a subtle beauty of their own that can blow you away just as much as any warbler or tanager. Even if I wasn’t already a sparrow convert, I would be after Watching Sparrows. It’s absolutely recommended to anyone interested in birds.

You can order this, and other similar DVDs, from Birdfilms.

Any warbler is a good warbler. That was my motto when I started birding, and I find that I still feel the same way today. By that, I mean that the sighting of any warbler species, no matter how common, is enough to make my day bird-wise. (Although I must admit that I can get jaded with the hoards of Yellow-rumped Warblers pretty quickly.) If you’re like me in that even a glimpse of one of these sprites gets your heart racing, then these two Watching Warblers films may be dangerous to your health.

Warblers of the family Parulidae (also known as Wood Warblers or New World Warblers, to differentiate them from the unrelated Old World Sylviidae warblers) are small, but usually fantastically bright colored, songbirds. As a whole, they are relatively common across North America, mostly as migrants or summer breeders. You can tell that they are around if you attune yourself to their various trills, buzzes, and chirps. But seeing them is another matter. They are typically small, very active, and remain in dense vegetation or high in the treetops. Photographing them is difficult, getting video footage downright infuriating. But somehow, Michael Male and Judy Fieth have managed to do it on these two DVDs.

Watching Warblers

Watching Warblers profiles each of the 39 warblers from eastern North America during its 59 minute runtime. Starting in a wooded swamp of the southeast, it works its way north through the various warbler breeding habitats until it reaches the boreal forest. During each of these accounts, you will see the birds, of course, but also hear (and watch) the male sing and learn a little about these birds. Male and Fieth alternate as narrators, teaching viewers about habitat requirements, breeding biology, conservation, and other interesting information.

The “Range Map Movie” (37:09) is a separate program that again iterates through the species, this time focusing on the bird’s distribution. While the narrator describes the range, it is also dynamically displayed on a map of North America. Interspersed throughout is an interview with bird distribution guru Paul Lehman, who produced the maps used here. This is a great feature, but I would have preferred the species-specific information be incorporated into the main program, with the Lehman conversation included as an extra. (Although I have to wonder if it was done this way to get around storage limitations of VHS tapes, the media on which this was originally released.)

When the account runtimes from both programs are added together, each warbler receives an average attention of about two minutes.

But it wouldn’t matter how good the information and presentation is (and it’s excellent), this DVD would not be worth getting without high quality video of the birds. Rest assured, the footage is spectacular. Watching this video, I was constantly catching myself smiling at the sight of these birds, just as if I was seeing them myself in the field. But it will give you a much closer and more intimate look at them than you will get from any but the most exceptional field experience. I can’t imagine how many hours it took, and how much film was shot, to get this amount of exceptional footage, but it was clearly worth it.

Watching Warblers WEST

As good as its predecessor is, Watching Warblers WEST is even better. It clocks in at 1:10:17, and covers 24 species found west of the Great Plains and in Texas. On average, it devotes a little longer time to each bird at 2:30 per species. The format and type of information presented is largely the same, except that the maps are now integrated into the main feature. The photography looked a little improved to me, showing these birds even better than the eastern ones. The maps, now based on NASA satellite images, also looked incredible.

Please note that these are not intended to be video field guides. While some identification information is given, and the video should be extremely useful in studying these birds, this is not the primary purpose of the films. Also, most of the warblers are only shown on their breeding ground (after all, they are much easier to film when singing on territory!). That means you won’t see some species, such as Magnolia and Chestnut-sided, in their drabber nonbreeding attire.

Video Quality

Not only is the video footage itself extraordinary, its presentation on these DVDs is also great. It is presented in anamorphic 16:9/widescreen format. Basically, that means that this is a high-resolution transfer that will fill the screen on a widescreen TV. This isn’t going to look as good as the latest Hollywood blockbuster, but it is still much, much better than I was expecting. Unsurprisingly, the newer western DVD looks better, being clearer and sharper. But all of these warblers are going to look fantastic on any display device, from a cell phone to a home theater.

Sound Quality

The audio is presented in two-channel stereo. While I would have loved a full 5.1 surround mix of warbler songs, I have to admit that would be overkill. As it is, the sound is perfectly presentable.

You can choose to watch the film with or without the narration, which is a very nice option.

Extras

Watching Warblers comes with a decent selection of extras. Chorus of Songs (4:22) is simply a shortcut to the end of the main program where each warbler is shown singing for a couple of seconds each. Fun with Songs (6:13) again shows a select few warblers singing. But after playing the song in real time, it then replays it slowed down to 20% of normal. This reveals intricacies and beauty that our limited sense of hearing can’t notice in real time. Colima Quest (5:19) is a behind-the-scenes look at the effort to video the Colima Warbler in Big Bend National Park. Seeing this increased my respect for Male, Fieth, and their crew; this project was obviously not an easy undertaking. I just wish more behind-the-scenes footage would have been included. Finally, there are some previews of their other films.

This is the only category where the western DVD is not superior to its eastern counterpart. It has its own Chorus of Songs (3:20) and Fun with Songs (7:47).

Recommendation

I really can’t believe how good this video footage is, and the DVD transfer shows it off outstandingly. You could watch warblers for years and not get views as good as these. Combined with the fact-filled narration and extras, these DVDs are a must for warbler aficionados.

You can order these, and other similar DVDs, from Birdfilms.

I recently got an unsolicited mailer from the National Audubon Society. Being a member, this was not very surprising, as they normally send out address stickers, greeting cards, and the like, seeking further donations. But this was different – it was a DVD. Called Hummingbirds: Marvels of Mother Nature, it was the first entry in the Connecting People with Nature video series. Apparently, this is a new venture for Audubon, and they sent out the first disc to some (all?) members unsolicited. Confused, I read the fine print. I could return the disc in a prepaid return envelope with no further obligation. Or I could choose to keep the disc, send them $12.95, and get further installments with the same keep or return policy.

Well, that’s not really a choice. I wasn’t happy about having to return an unsolicited disc, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from it. I figured it was probably a 30 minute generic documentary like you would find on the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet (no offense to those channels, I do enjoy some of their programming). I was going to return it, but I figured what the heck; I might as well watch it. I’m glad I did.

Right from the start, I had reasons to doubt my preconceptions. The video starts with the narrator introducing himself as Jon Dunn. Dunn is a well known birding guru, and one of the lead editors for National Geographic’s bird books. Ok, I thought, maybe there’s something to this after all. When I finished it an hour and a half later, I was convinced. Instead of the fluff piece I was expecting, what I found was a detailed, advanced guide to the field identification of North American hummingbirds! (Actually, I think this has been previously released under a different name, as I will explain shortly).

I should qualify that, in actuality it only covers less than 40% of the North American hummers – 9 species, separated into two groups:

Rufous-Green Group: Rufous; Allen’s; Broad-tailed; Calliope; Bumblebee

Gray-Green Group: Ruby-throated; Black-chinned; Anna’s; Costa’s

Each species is covered in depth, in addition to some introductory and summary material.

Species Accounts

Each account averages 8-9 minutes in duration, with the exception of the Bumblebee Hummingbird, which is covered in two minutes. The Bumblebee is known in this region from only two old specimens of dubious origination. But it is rightly included here for completeness’ sake, because it could turn up one day.

Some other video guides, such as the Audubon VideoGuides, are surprisingly lacking in actual video footage. Not so here. Just about every possible variation (sex, age, etc) of each species is shown in multiple video sequences. The sequences show birds from various angles, both in flight and perched. The video quality is great; the birds are close, clear, and in focus.

However, this program does use graphics, diagrams, and still images to great effect where appropriate. These are most often used to show details of wings and tails, and to compare species. This guide does a very nice job of the latter, splitting the screen to show multiple species, or superimposing one video segment on top of another. Another great use of graphics is the unobtrusive labeling of plant species and time and place the video was recorded. It would have been even better if they had used such labels to indicate what species was being shown during the footage in the introduction, since they usually aren’t mentioned in the narration.

Each of the species accounts (except for the shortened Bumblebee) includes the following:

• Size – length (inches and millimeters); average weight; bill length; tail length
• Range Map – breeding and winter ranges; shows normal migration path; shows some places it has appeared as a vagrant
• Display Dive – uses computer graphics to trace a typical display
• Sounds – plays and describes the songs and calls, and shows then as sonagrams
• Structure – size and shape, especially focusing on the wings and tail
• Plumage – broken down by sex and age
• Similar Species – directly compares similar species, and gives ways to separate them
• Hybridization – lists all species it is known to hybridize with

As you can see, each account is packed with information, ably narrated by Dunn. Some of it, especially diagrams and other graphics, can go by pretty quickly. But that’s the beauty of DVD, you can just hit pause and take all the time you need.

Introduction and Summaries

In the eleven minute introduction, Dunn walks us through the basics of hummingbird identification, including general things to look for, topography, and identification pitfalls. Each of the two groups also gets their own intro, and after the species accounts, a summary. These are helpful in previewing, and then reviewing, the most important features and differences of species within the group.

I was very impressed with this video, and the credits helped explain why. It was written by John W. Vanderpoel, who I don’t know, and Sheri Williamson, who I do know as one of the foremost hummingbird experts and author of the Peterson Hummingbird field guide. However, something was nagging me. I knew that Jon Dunn has hosted some other advanced birding videos, possibly including one on hummingbirds. Was this video sent out by Audubon related to them? After looking into it, I believe that it is more than related.

I found that Dunn has, indeed, hosted the video Hummingbirds of North America, a part of Peregrine Productions’ Advanced Birding series. Moreover, this company was started by John Vanderpoel, the aforementioned author that I was not familiar with (see the comment below for more information). However, the video from Peregrine covers 24 hummingbird species, and runs for 3 hours, much more than this one from Audubon. But when I re-watched the introduction on this DVD, I noticed that Dunn states that this guide would cover “all 24 species found north of Mexico”. Thus, I believe that this DVD is the first half (in terms of length) of the Hummingbird guide from the Advanced Birding series.

Recommendation

There are many weird things about this offer, including the unsolicited delivery and the partial reuse of a previous production. Also, I would think that a general documentary on the hummingbird family would have more general appeal than this minutiae-filled guide targeted at more serious birders. As such a guide, though, it excels. If you need help identifying these flying jewels (and don’t we all?), then this video is highly recommended. I found the content and presentation extremely helpful.

This is also a relatively good deal. The price is fair for what you get, and it’s a very good deal compared to the full version, which sells for $40. And even though it covers a minority of species, it does include the ones that are the most difficult to ID.

Offer Details

I haven’t found any information on this offer online, so here are some more details. By sending back the reply card, and a payment of $12.95:

You’ll be entitled to receive new DVDs from the Connecting People with Nature DVD collection every 2-3 months at the regular price, plus shipping and handling, as they are produced. You decide if you want to keep each DVD or return it. There are no minimum purchase requirements and you are free to cancel at any time. No questions asked!

This is the worst thing about this DVD. I’m not a fan of clubs such as these, especially when I don’t know what I’ll be getting next. This particular release is worth it, but I’m going to try to get more details before replying (such as, what is the “regular price”?).

But if you’d like to get in on this deal, you can try calling 1-877-359-9297, or emailing audubon@cust-serv.net

This documentary looks at birding through the eyes of two very different birders – John Higgins and Bob Dunlap. John is a retired birder in southeast Arizona, whereas Bob is a young birder from Minnesota.

The viewer gets to know these birders through interviews and by following along on birding trips. Both are obviously good birders, but their approach to birding differs greatly. The younger Bob is competitive, and likens birding to a sport. He keeps many separate lists and has completed a very respectable state big year. On the other hand, John views birding as more of a relaxing pastime. He does keep at least a life list, but adding more species to that list is not his main goal.

The documentary is enjoyable and completely engaging. It was fun to “tag along” with these birders. We follow John as he leads a field trip for (presumably) the Tucson Audubon Society looking for Five-striped Sparrows. This made me long to go back to Arizona, as I was not able to try for these birds in my one and only visit there. Even from this brief episode it is obvious that John is an excellent leader. In a very different (and much colder) part of the country, we follow Bob and some other birders as they seek some targets. They find a Varied Thrush that had been hanging out at some feeders, and later discover a Yellow-billed Loon! (However, it was unclear whether the loon had been previously discovered and reported to someone).

There is only one problem with this documentary: it is too short! The feature runs just under 16 minutes. I was fully engrossed in the film when all of a sudden the credits appeared. The deleted scenes menu claims over 40 hours of film was shot for this production. I would have loved to see more of it.

The DVD presents the film very nicely. The menus are easy to use, and the audio and video are fine. One word of warning: the disc is actually a DVD-R. Most DVD players should play this disc, but there could be some (mostly very early) players that might not be able to handle it. Check your player’s documentation before ordering if you are not sure that it can handle this media.

In terms of special features, there are five deleted scenes totaling just less than eight minutes. These are well worth watching. There is also a minute of footage of just birds. Most of the clips are taken from the main feature, although there are some that were not included in the documentary. The nice thing is that the birds are identified with labels here (they are not identified in the feature). The back of the case indicates that there is also a trailer on the disc, but I could not find it.

This program is fun and the DVD presents it well. However, $15 is way too much for 25 minutes of content. If you can find any other way of viewing this documentary, or if you don’t mind paying, it is very highly recommended.

Printed field guides can come in many different formats, but due to the inherent limitation of the medium they are all static. They cannot be dynamic – they cannot show a bird in motion. The National Audubon Society changed this in the 1980′s with the release of their video guide. It was originally released on five VHS cassettes, but has now been converted to DVD (two discs which are available either separately or as a set). Will this guide replace your favorite printed field guide? Definitely not. Is it still useful as a supplementary guide? Well…maybe.

This guide covers 505 species that regularly occur in the United States and Canada. The first disc includes 247 species (all the non-passerines except for doves, cuckoos, nightjars, hummingbirds, swifts, trogons, and woodpeckers), and the second 258 (all the passerines as well as the non-passerines previously mentioned). The taxonomy has not been updated from the original release and is thus very out-of-date. For example, you will find many species names here that you will not see in current field guides, such as Oldsquaw, Olivaceous Cormorant, and Gray-breasted Jay. Additionally, this guide was released before the splitting of the Sage Grouse, Scrub Jay, Solitary Vireo complex, Rufous-sided and Brown Towhees, and Rosy Finch, among others. This could be very confusing to those who started birding after these changes were made (however, the taxonomy has been updated in the mini field guide, see details below). The species selection is generally good, but there are some disappointing absences. The majority of the empid flycatchers are missing (it contains only Least, Acadian, and Pacific-slope and Cordilleran combined together as “Western”), and birders need all the help they can get with that group! Additionally, the Oporornis warblers are represented solely by the Kentucky Warbler, omitting Connecticut, Mourning, and MacGillivray’s. It would be nice to have some video to compare these hard-to-find, skulking birds. But of course the fact that they are hard to find, much less get adequate video of, can explain the lack of video footage. But they still could have been presented with photos only.

The species accounts average 30-40 seconds each, and consist of narration, video and/or photographs, a range map, and playback of songs and calls. A narrator gives pertinent information on the identification, behavior, and range of the species. The birds are shown in a video clip and/or still photos. A number of species are only shown using static photographs, unfortunately. For some sexually dimorphic species one is shown in a video (usually the flashier male, such as this Scarlet Tanager and Black-throated Blue Warbler), while the other is illustrated with a photo only. The lack of video for some species is disappointing, especially for a few in particular such as the Sage Grouse.

Over all I would rate both the video and photos as disappointing. The photos are not as good for identification as those found in Kaufman’s field guide, although they do adequately give an idea of what the species looks like. The appeal of video is that it can give an impression of both how a bird looks and how it behaves. Some of the videos here accomplish this, but others do not. The problems include the video being too shaky, dark, and the bird too small in the frame. Some of them are just ok, like the Painted Redstart. The video of this bird shows it flitting around with its tail and wings spread out characteristically. This gives the viewer a good idea of what to look for. However, you do not get a sense of just how startlingly gorgeous this bird is in real life. But then there are those that work very well, such as the female Hooded Warbler and the Ovenbird. Both are shown well enough to see what the bird actually looks like. And they are both shown engaging in characteristic behavior – the Hooded is flashing the white in its tail and the Ovenbird is walking on the ground.

The range maps show permanent, summer, and winter ranges (example). They are useful only as a general idea of the species’ range. The lack of intra-country political boundaries (US states and Canadian territories) limit their usefulness. Range maps from any of the major North American field guides are preferable.

The song and calls of the species are often played during the species account. Be aware that some tracks also include other species in the background, which can possibly cause confusion. There is also narration over the sounds. Thus the sounds included can be helpful, but they will not take the place of separate CD’s.

In addition to the species accounts there is also a brief introduction (01:58) that includes a few comments from Roger Tory Peterson. An identification glossary (01:05) uses photos to illustrate some commonly used body part names such as speculum and nape. These features are included on both discs.

The two disc set also includes a “mini field guide” booklet which includes all 505 species. I do not know if one is included with the individual volumes. The taxonomy has thankfully been updated (in my copy it says it is current as of July, 2004). Name changes and splits are indicated, for example “Mexican Jay (Gray-breasted Jay)” and “California Towhee, Canyon Towhee (formerly Brown)”. This is very welcome, and should help eliminate any confusion caused by the discs (for those who actually check out this booklet, anyway). Most of the species include a single, small photograph. The majority of these are at least adequate, and some are quite good. The rest are fuzzy and indistinct and of limited usefulness. There is at least one mistake here – the photo of the supposed White-eyed Vireo is actually that of one of the vireos in the Solitary complex (most likely it is a Blue-headed Vireo). A very brief description of the bird’s range, habits, and field marks is also given. Overall the booklet is a welcome addition, especially for the updated taxonomy and its use as an index for the contents of the DVD’s.

The DVD mastering was fairly well done, especially given that the contents were originally produced for VHS. The picture quality is fine; any problems are due to the source material. The menus are not very pretty, but they are functional and for the most part intuitive (a few examples: 1, 2, 3). The only issue I have with them is the labels used for some groups. Groups such as hawks and shorebirds that have multiple sub-categories have some weird organization and labeling. The shorebirds, for example, full under the sub-categories “Shorebirds” and “Sandpipers”. “Shorebirds” contains just the plovers, while “Sandpipers” has everything else including oystercatchers, stilts, avocets, and phalaropes. Also, why is the Great Blue Heron the only bird under “Wading Birds” while the rest of the herons and egrets are found under “Egrets”?

Before the internet age these discs would have been a must-buy due to the lack of alternative access to video footage of birds. But now you can find just about anything online. The Birds of North America Online includes video for an increasing number of species (although it does cost $40 annually). There is also the Internet Bird Collection, sponsored by the publishers of the Handbook of the Birds of the World series. The site currently has video material for 35% of the world’s bird species. I have not had time to explore this site properly, but it looks to be an extremely valuable resource (and it is free!).

This set may still be the most comprehensive video collection of North American birds (at least I’m not aware of anything that rivals it). However, the high price and photographic quality issues make it difficult to recommend.