Front cover image for Pete Dunne's essential field guide companion

Pete Dunne's essential field guide companion

Pete Dunne
In this book, bursting with more information than any field guide could hold, author and birder Pete Dunne introduces readers to the "Cape May School of Birding," an approach to identification that gives equal or more weight to a bird's structure and shape and the observer's overall impression (often called GISS, for General Impression of Size and Shape) than to specific field marks. After determining the most likely possibilities by considering such factors as habitat and season, the birder uses characteristics such as size, shape, color, behavior, flight pattern, and vocalizations to identify a bird. The book provides an arsenal of additional hints and helpful clues. This supplement to field guides shares the knowledge and skills that expert birders bring to identification challenges. Birding should be an enjoyable pursuit for beginners and experts alike, and Dunne combines playfulness with the work of identification.--From publisher description
Print Book, English, 2006
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 2006
Nonfiction
xi, 710 pages ; 24 cm
9780618236480, 0618236481
61169710
Acknowledgmentsix
Introduction1(8)
A Guide to the Guide: How to Make This Book Work for You9(11)
Species Accounts20(1)
Waterfowl---Geese, Swans, and Ducks
20(47)
Game Birds---Chachalaca, Quail, Pheasant, and Grouse
67(19)
Loons
86(5)
Grebes
91(6)
Albatrosses
97(1)
Petrels and Shearwaters
98(9)
Storm-Petrels
107(6)
Tropicbirds
113(2)
Sulids (Boobies)
115(3)
Pelicans
118(1)
Cormorants
119(8)
Herons, Egrets, and Ibis
127(16)
Storks, Vultures, and Flamingos
143(4)
Diurnal Raptors---Kites, Hawks, Eagles, and Falcons
147(34)
Rails, Coots, Limpkin, and Cranes
181(12)
Shorebirds---Plovers and Sandpipers
193(54)
Skuas and Jaegers
247(7)
Gulls
254(22)
Terns and Skimmer
276(16)
Alcids---Auks, Murres, and Puffins
292(17)
Pigeons and Doves
309(9)
Parrots and Parakeets
318(3)
Cuckoos, Roadrunner, and Anis
321(5)
Owls
326(18)
Nighthawks and Nightjars
344(6)
Swifts
350(3)
Hummingbirds
353(14)
Trogons
367(1)
Kingfishers
368(3)
Woodpeckers
371(20)
Flycatchers
391(31)
Shrikes
422(2)
Vireos
424(12)
Jays, Crows, and Ravens
436(15)
Larks
451(2)
Swallows
453(9)
Chickadees, Titmice, Verdin, and Bushtit
462(10)
Nuthatches
472(3)
Creepers and Wrens
475(10)
Dipper and Bulbul
485(1)
Kinglets
486(2)
Old World Warblers and Gnatcatchers
488(3)
Thrushes and Wrentit
491(15)
Mimids---Catbirds, Mockingbirds, and Thrashers
506(9)
Starlings and Mynas
515(1)
Wagtails and Pipits
516(5)
Waxwings and Phainopepla
521(3)
Wood-Warblers
524(54)
Tanagers
578(3)
Seedeaters, Towhees, Sparrows, Juncos, and Longspurs
581(50)
Cardinals, Grosbeaks, Buntings, and Dickcissel
631(10)
Icterids---Blackbirds and Orioles
641(22)
Finches
663(16)
Old World Sparrows
679(4)
Index683
Includes index