This is indeed the guide to shorebirds, and is the best family guide I’ve come across. Period. This guide emphasizes identification by jizz (aka GISS, or General Impression of Size and Shape). Therefore the photos aren’t like other guides. They are not all uniformly sized super close-up shots of a single bird. Instead they are sized to better emphasize certain characteristics. They often show multiple birds of different species so as to give a better comparison of size, shape, and plumage.
The book is divided into three sections. First is the introduction. This includes an overview of the shorebird families, an intro to shorebird identification, shorebird topography, molt, aging, and instructions on how to use the guide.
Next are the species photos. This section is separated into two parts – “domestic species” and “rarities and regional specialties”. The account for each of the domestic species begins with a range map and brieft notes on size, structure, behavior, and status. The first photo is an “impression” photograph that is not captioned. It seeks to give an impression of the species, its habitat, and sometimes feeding behavior. Next are the “identification” photos, which start with juveniles and progresses to adults and then to birds in flight. Some species also have a “glamour shot” – a full page photo without a caption. These are all impressive, spectacular images that would not be out of place in a photographic art book. The accounts for the rarities are similar except they do not have range maps or the “impression” photos, and they are not quite as extensively covered. There are also a couple pages of pictures of hybrids and aberrant shorebirds.
The final section is the species accounts. These are done in taxonomic order without regard to the bird’s status. Each account is one to two pages long and includes the following sections:
- Status – abundance and population information, including worldwide population estimates
- Taxonomy – describes any subspecies
- Behavior – includes breeding, feeding, habitat preference, and other relevant information
- Migration – for both Spring and Fall describes when and how they migrate, where to, and by what route
- Molt – for each life stage it will describe when the molt occurs and where relevant the sequence and at what location the molt takes place
- Vocalizations - descriptions of flight calls, display songs, and other vocalizations
In one interesting taxonomic decision, the authors have separated Eastern and Western Willets and offer evidence that these subspecies should be split into full species. But they thankfully show how to distinguish between them.
One of the best features of the guide is the questions in some captions. Most species have at least one question in one of their photo captions. The questions ask the reader to do such things as identify some of the species in the photo, or to pick out one particular species among all the birds present. The answers are contained in an appendix in the back. These questions force the reader to apply the knowledge and techniques imparted by the authors and look more critically and actively at the photograph.
If I could only have one book on shorebirds, it would be this one. You owe it to yourself to get this book if you’ve ever been perplexed by dowitchers or if you consider peep a dirty word.
For more information visit Houghton Mifflin
Date: April, 2006
Illustrations: photographs
Binding: softcover
Pages: 496
Size: 6″ x 9″
MSRP: $24.95
(2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
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August 3rd, 2008 at 4:42 am
I agree this is an innovative and valuable book, as discussed in Grant’s review. But I think it could have been better. The main thing that is lacking is a summary, in the text section, of how to identify the bird and how to distinguish it from similar species. As it is, this information is contained only in the photographic section, spread through the captions of individual photographs over several pages. This is not a major problem when studying the book for the first time, but does make it of limited use as a tool for quick review of how to identify species, e.g. before a big trip. Other similar guides I have seen, e.g. Gulls of the Americas, put key information in the captions AND provide a detailed summary in the text section. I think this is the better approach.
I also did not like the mixing of quiz photos together with ID photos, with the answers hidden in the back of the book. I sometimes found that an answer to a quiz photo was important in forming an initial impression of how the bird can appear, and it was annoying to have to turn to the back of the book to confirm the answer. And often I found myself not even bothering to look, and studied my other field guides instead. Perhaps if the answers were printed at the bottom of the page instead it would not have been so annoying.
May 1st, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I recently purchased this book on the used-book market in anticipation of a trip to central Kansas in early May. My husband and I intend to improve our shorebird ID skills by catching migrants on their way north. We’re intermediate birders, but living in north central Texas, we get little opportunity watch shorebirds. Hence the trip to Kansas.
This book is worth its weight in gold just for the photos. Especially the photos of juveniles and non-breeding plumages. But the best are the photos of the target bird in relation to other shorebirds. After all, that’s how we’re going to see most of them. These photos highlight realtive sizes and comparative silhouettes. Also, there’s detailed information on migration times, paths, and what molts to expect to see.
The only drawback, is that it does not provide a strategy for shorebird ID. Not to worry, though. We have found that gap is filled by reading Jack Connor’s “The Complete Birder” book. Between these two sources, we feel armed for the task.