Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding: Understanding What You See and Hear

Birders can memorize hundreds of details and still not be able to identify birds if they don't really understand what's in front of them.Today birders have access to almost too much information, and their attempts to identify birds can be drowned out by excess detail. The all-new Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding takes a different approach, clarifying the basics and providing a framework for learning about each group. Overall principles of identification are explained in clear language, and ten chapters on specific groups of birds show how these principles can be applied in practice. Anyone with a keen interest in identifying birds will find that this book makes the learning process more effective and enjoyable, and that truly understanding what we see and hear can make birding more fun.   Table of Contents: CONTENTS Acknowledgments 4Editor's Note: Learning from the Birds 5 1. An Integrated Approach to Field Identification of Birds 62. Principles and Pitfalls of Field Identification 183. How Birds Are Built: Terminology and Bird Topography 444. Plumages, Molt, and Wear: Understanding What You See 745. Behavior and Voice: Understanding and Using Themin Identification 926. Identification Beyond the Species Level 1067. Techniques and Resources for Learning Bird Identification 1308. Learning to Identify Waterfowl 1419. The Scaup 16010. The Winter Loons 16811. Learning to Identify Seabirds 18212. Learning to Identify Herons and Egrets 18613. Learning to Identify the Diurnal Raptors 18814. The Accipiters 19815. Learning to Identify Shorebirds 21016. The Small Calidris Sandpipers 22617. Learning to Identify Gulls 24218. Learning to Identify Terns 27219. The Medium-sized Terns 28520. The Jaegers 30021. Learning to Identify Owls 31622. Learning to Identify Hummingbirds 31823. The Challenging Small Hummingbirds 33024. Learning to Identify Woodpeckers 34225. Learning to Identify Tyrant Flycatchers 34426. The Empidonax Flycatchers 34727. Learning to Identify Swallows 38828. Learning to Identify Warblers 39029. The Blackpoll Trio 41230. Learning to Identify Sparrows 41931. The Spizella Sparrows 434 Photo Credits 441Index 442 KENN KAUFMAN, originator of the Kaufman Field Guide series, is one of the world's foremost naturalists. Mariner Books Pub Date: April 19, 2011 0.97" H x 7.51" L x 4.87" W 448 pages paperback