BirdWatching magazine has posted an interview with David Sibley, which includes a first look at the second edition of the Sibley Guide.
Some highlights:
- The trim size will be the same, but it will have 80 more pages than the last one.
- More species! 98 “non-exotic rare species” and 13 exotic species have been added.
- Updated, more detailed range maps that are zoomed in where appropriate.
- The illustrations are larger, and many have been revised.
My biggest question right now is regarding the family sequencing: will he use the same order as last time (taxonomic), or switch to something like that proposed by Howel, et al.? I would prefer the latter, but I have a feeling that will not be the case. Regardless, the publication date – March 11, 2014 – can’t get here fast enough.
The Crossley ID Guide: Britain and Ireland
by Richard Crossley and Dominic Couzens
From Princeton University Press:
This guide is a celebration of the beauty of birds and the British and Irish countryside. Aimed at beginner and intermediate birders, yet suitable for all levels, this new volume in the groundbreaking Crossley ID Guide series is the most user-friendly guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland. Following The Crossley ID Guides’ award-winning design, this book looks at all regularly occurring species in Britain and Ireland, and shows readers how to identify birds in their natural habitats using size, structure, shape, probability, and behavior–just like the experts do! Stunning images are accompanied by the colorful and compelling text of Dominic Couzens, one of Britain’s leading nature writers.
This unique book treats more than 300 species–all the regularly occurring birds likely to be encountered by observers–and the guide’s attractive pages provide a real-life approach to bird identification. Beautiful, in-focus scenes present birds in various plumages and in lifelike poses set in identifiable British and Irish habitats. The plates also illustrate how a bird’s appearance changes with distance. Organizing images in cohesive, easy-to-understand plates rather than as separate photographs, this book also sets itself apart by containing more images that demonstrate flight, behavior, habitat, and plumages than any other volume available. Not only is this field guide a reference book, it is also a spectacular teaching resource that makes it easy for nature enthusiasts to see and appreciate the big picture of bird identification.
- The most user-friendly guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland
- A close look at more than 300 regularly occurring species
- Award-winning Crossley ID Guide design
- Lifelike images of birds from near to far
- A celebration of the British and Irish countryside
- A teaching and field guide and essential reference
- Concise and compelling text by Dominic Couzens and Richard Crossley
Crossley tackles British and Irish birds in the same format as his previous guide to eastern North America. But this time the book is slightly smaller (and thinner from covering fewer birds), making it much more portable.
The Crossley ID Guide: Britain and Ireland
by Richard Crossley and Dominic Couzens
Flexibound; 304 pages
Princeton University Press; October 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0691151946
$27.95
Buy from Buteo Books
(based in the U.S.)
Buy from NHBS
(based in the U.K.)
Extraordinary Birds: Essays and Plates of Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library
by Paul Sweet
From Sterling Signature:
Extraordinary Birds follows the success of Natural Histories, and is the next compendium in this well-received series that marries art and thought-provoking science. American Museum of Natural History ornithologist Paul Sweet takes readers on a migratory journey across the globe, introducing them to unique and exquisite birds, as well as to groundbreaking avian studies from the past 500 years. Featuring 40 frameable prints and an equal number of fascinating, in-depth essays, this stunning collection gives bird lovers a precious look at illustrated ornithological monographs from the museum’s Rare Book Collections.
This set contains a paperback book and 40 8.5×11 prints from ornithological monographs. The book includes a brief history of ornithology and an essay on the source of each of the prints. This is a very nice set, especially if you enjoy bird art and/or ornithological history (even more so if you have some wall space to hang a few of these prints!).
Extraordinary Birds: Essays and Plates of Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library
by Paul Sweet
Paperback in Clamshell Box; 144 pages
Sterling Signature; October 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1454906599
$50.00
Buy from Buteo Books
(based in the U.S.)
Buy from NHBS
(based in the U.K.)
Birds and People
by Mark Cocker
From Random House:
The definitive groundbreaking book on the relationship between birds and humankind, with contributions from more than 600 bird enthusiasts from all over the world.
Part natural history and part cultural study, this book describes and maps the entire spectrum of human engagements with birds, drawing in themes of history, literature, art, cuisine, language, lore, politics, and the environment. Vast in both scope and scale, it draws upon Mark Cocker’s 40 years of observing and thinking about birds to celebrate this relationship. The book is as important for its visual riches as it is for its groundbreaking content, as one of Europe’s best wildlife photographers has traveled in 39 countries on seven continents to produce a breathtaking and unique collection of photographs. The author solicited contributions from people worldwide, and personal anecdotes and stories have come from more than 600 individuals of 81 different nationalities, ranging from university academics to Mongolian eagle hunters, and from Amerindian shamans to highly celebrated writers. The sheer multitude of voices in this global chorus means that it is both a source book on why we cherish birds and a powerful testament to their importance for all humanity. Endorsed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Birdlife International.
I still haven’t seen this book, but from everything I’ve heard it could be one of the best books of the year.
Birds and People
by Mark Cocker
Hardcover; 704 pages
Random House; September, 2013
ISBN: 9780224081740
$65.00
Buy from Buteo Books
(based in the U.S.)
Buy from NHBS
(based in the U.K.)
Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching: Eastern Waterbirds in Flight
by Ken Behrens and Cameron Cox
From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:
Seawatching is the challenging act of identifying waterbirds in flight. Since more than one hundred different species can fly past an observation point, often at great speed or in tightly packed, mixed-species flocks, identification of these distant shapes can be a mystery. The keys to the mystery—the subtle traits that unlock the identity of flying waterbirds, be it wingbeat cadence, individual structure, flock shape and behavior, or subtle flashes of color—are revealed in this guide.
Though commonly called seawatching, this on-the-fly observation and identification method is by no means restricted to the coast. There are impressive waterbird migrations on the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and many inland lakes and rivers. Nor is it restricted to migrating waterfowl, as the principles of flight identification apply as effectively to ducks flushed off a pond as to distant migrating flocks. Like Hawks in Flight and The Shorebird Guide, the Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching breaks new ground, provides cutting-edge techniques, and pushes the envelope in bird identification even further.
This is a wonderful resource. It will be most useful for those on the east coast, but any birder in the U.S. or Canada could benefit from it since many of the birds it covers (especially ducks and gulls) are transcontinental.
Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching: Eastern Waterbirds in Flight
by Ken Behrens and Cameron Cox
Hardcover; 614 pages
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; September 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0547237398
$35.00
Buy from Buteo Books
(based in the U.S.)
Buy from NHBS
(based in the U.K.)
Birds of Uzbekistan: Photoalbum
by Boris Nedosekov and Roman Kashkarov
From Hertfordshire Press:
Uzbekistan is situated in the heart of Central Asia. Measuring 448,844 km2 in surface area, it is the most densely populated of all Central Asian states. Despite this, nature and wildlife in Uzbekistan remains rich and diverse. The extraordinary Ustyurt Plateau, the escarpments of which form the shores of the Aral Sea, is situated in the North of the country, while the vast Kyzylkum Desert neighbors the flood-lands of the tugai forests, which fringe the two largest Central Asian rivers, the Syrdarya and the Amudarya. The spurs of the Pamyrs-Alai and Tien-Shan mountain ranges, which are are capped with snow all the year round, rise in the South and the East. There are also more than 500 lakes and reservoirs in Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan boasts a wide range of avian fauna because it lies on the crossing of migratory routes from Western Siberia and Kazakhstan to Iran-Caspian and Indo-Pakistani wintering grounds. More than 460 bird species are encountered in Uzbekistan because of this; and of these, more than 265 species are nesting.
Birds of Uzbekistan presents almost 200 photos of over 100 species, with 95% of the photos having been taken in the wild and being unique to this publication. Each photo caption provides the exact date and place which makes it a great guide to travelling birdwatchers.
This looks like a good resource for (or souvenir of) a trip to this underbirded place.
Birds of Uzbekistan: Photoalbum
by Boris Nedosekov and Roman Kashkarov
Hardcover; 100 pages
Hertfordshire Press; November, 2012
ISBN: 9780955754913
£24.99
Buy from Buteo Books
(based in the U.S.)
Buy from NHBS
(based in the U.K.)
The American Birding Association has just published their latest birdfinding guide – A Birder’s Guide to Louisiana. If you’re going to be birding Louisiana extensively, having a hard copy is a good idea. But you can also download a free pdf version. The ABA Birdfinding Guides are always great, and you can’t beat free!
Bird Homes and Habitats
by Bill Thompson III
From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:
Two of the best-known names in birding—Peterson and Bird Watcher’s Digest—team up to provide reliable, expert advice on how to attract the birds you want into your yard.
Which birds use nest boxes? What’s required to maintain a birdhouse? What kind of habitat will attract which birds? What does it take to be a bluebird trail operator? What does it mean if baby birds or eggs disappear from their nest?
Bill Thompson III answers all of these questions and more, helping readers to create yards and gardens where birds will make their homes and raise their young.
It’s easy enough to hang a birdfeeder. But there are plenty of other things that can attract birds to a landscape—and, in fact, birds need four essentials: food, water, shelter, and a place to nest. The more of these elements a yard has, the more attractive it is to birds.
A lavishly illustrated chapter provides ideas and inspiration for creating bird havens by profiling “Birdy Backyard All-Stars,” fifteen homeowners from around the country who have actively worked to create bird-friendly habitats.
As expected, this book includes everything you need to know about bird houses. But it also includes natural bird homes and profiles of cavity nesting birds. Beyond that, you’ll find tips on how to make your yard more attractive to birds.
Bird Homes and Habitats
by Bill Thompson III
Paperback; 217 pages
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; September 10, 2013
ISBN: 9780618904464
$14.95
Looking for the Goshawk
by Conor Mark Jameson
From Bloomsbury Publishing:
The book traces Conor Jameson’s travels in search of the Goshawk, a magnificent yet rarely seen (in Britain at least) raptor. Each episode of the narrative arises from personal experience, investigation, and the unearthing of
information from research, exploration and conversations.
The journey takes him from an encounter with a stuffed Goshawk in a glass case, through travels into supposed Goshawk territories in Britain, to Berlin – where he finds the bird at ease in the city. Why, he wants to know, is the bird so rarely seen in Britain? He explores the politics of birdwatching, the sport of falconry and the impact of persecution on the recent history of the bird in Britain and travels the length of Britain, through central Europe and the USA in search of answers to the goshawk mystery. Throughout his journey he is inspired by the writings of T H White who told of his attempts to tame a Goshawk in his much-loved book.
It’s a gripping tale on the trail of a most mysterious and charismatic bird.
Somehow I’ve neglected to mention this book yet. I’m reading it right now and enjoying it. It’s very similar in scope to Tim Gallagher’s Grail Bird
and Imperial Dreams
(except, of course, there’s no chance the goshawk is extinct!).
Looking for the Goshawk
by Conor Mark Jameson
Hardcover; 368 pages
A&C Black (Bloomsbury); June 6, 2013
ISBN: 978-1408164877
$28.95
For a limited time, the Kindle version of 
is free on Amazon.com. This is one of Jan Dunlap’s birding mysteries (here’s a 
