Review Roundup: In Print, September ’08

Birding

– July/August2008 (Vol. 40, No. 4)

• Birds of Peru, by Thomas S. Schulenberg, Douglas F. Stotz, Daniel F. Lane, John P. O’Neill, and Theodore P., III Parker
  “Quite simply a tour de force“, this guide is THE guide for Peru.
• Rare Birds of California, edited by Robert A. Hamilton, Michael A. Patten, and Richard A. Erickson
  An “essential reference” to California birders, members of bird records committees, and birders anywhere interested in patterns of avian vagrancy.
• Soaring with Fidel: An Osprey Odyssey from Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond, by David Gessner
  Become swept up with the author and Ospreys in this “enlightening journey”.

Birding

– September/October 2008 (Vol. 40, No. 5)

• Birds of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, by Daniel D. Gibson and G. Vernon Byrd
  This scholarly treatment of the birds of this region (it is not a field guide) contains species accounts, discussions, and listings of sightings, and is “very useful and much-needed”.
• Bird: The Definitive Visual Guide, edited by Peter Frances
  Not just another coffee table book, this is “strikingly attractive, surprisingly authoritative, and well worth its $50 price tag”.
• The Ornithologist’s Dictionary, by Johannes Erritzoe, Kaj Kampp, Kevin Winker, and Clifford B. Frith
  “A handsome, no-nonesense, little reference book”.
• National Geographic Birding Essentials, by Jonathan Alderfer and Jon L. Dunn
  I just (finally) finished this book. I’ll review it at some point, but I don’t think I can add anything to this review. Essentially, this is a adequate introduction to the fundamentals of birding, but with a disappointing lack of coverage of technological advancements.

Birder’s World

– October 2008 (Vol. 22, No. 5)

• Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, by Roger Tory Peterson
  “The Peterson guide is back in a big way” in this new and improved edition.
• Charley Harper’s Birds and Words, by Charley Harper
  A republishing of an “extraordinary compilation of 61 paintings” by the very unique Mr. Harper.
• Best-Ever Backyard Birding Tips, by Deborah L. Martin
  “The title of this book is no exaggeration”.