Book Description
BIRDING BY EAR uses an educational and entertaining method for learning bird songs. Instead of merely providing a catalog of bird song samples, BIRDING BY EAR actually teaches. This proven method has greatly enhanced the field experience for birders across North America. The authors have created learning groups of similar vocalizations and clearly point out distinguishing characteristics. Using techniques such as phonetics, mnemonics, and descriptive words, Walton and Lawson provide a context for learning the songs and calls of eighty-five species of birds found east of the Rockies. Combine the auditory instruction here with the visual features of the Peterson Identification System. Page numbers in BIRDING BY EAR's booklet refer to species descriptions in the PETERSON FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS OF EASTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA, fifth edition.
Customer Reviews:
Birding by Ear.......2007-09-27
Great item. Good for listening to in your car. My wife loves it and we have used it to learn our birds in Alabama.
Not the only one you want to have.......2007-06-27
This is a good set of disks that groups bird songs by some feature of similarity. I never knew, for instance, that robins and scarlet tanagers sound so similar. The disks are quite good for helping you learn the differences between similar-sounding species. Keep after it and you will learn to distinguish Carolina from black-capped chickadees.
That said, I would not want this for my only set of bird songs, because if you want to listen to a specific bird, it's too hard to find without the booklet in your hands. Since I listen to these disks on my PC on the patio or my PDA & my MP3 player when I'm out walking or in the car, that is not convenient for me. I bought it in combination with the "Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs: Eastern Region" and am much more pleased with the combination than I would have been with this set alone.
Mind you, having the disks does not guarantee species identification. At this moment I'm sitting at the PC with the window to my suburban back yard open, listening to a low "chuck-chuck-chuck-chuck-chuck" that I canNOT find on either set of disks!
REALLY surpassed my expectations! You'll LOVE it!!!.......2007-05-11
I recently got interested in birding a few months ago and asked for this CD set for my birthday. My mom gave it to me and I couldn't believe how easy it made recognizing a LOT of different bird songs and calls. The narrator gives you a "handle" on each bird song so you can remember it easily, and he gives great suggestions on how to devise your own handles. Similar-sounding birds don't seem confusing after he explains the differences to listen for. He educates you, but doesn't include any unnecessary "filler" information, only what is important and what will really matter out in the field.
Before I listened to it, I thought the narration would just be someone saying, "This is the Orchard Oriole" with a short snippet of what one sounds like, then on to the next bird. But it was a great surprise to get all this extra information. He also repeats the songs several times so you don't have to constantly rewind, and he pauses for just the right amount of time between repetitions; I found that I learned the calls pretty fast if I had the right number of seconds to consider each one. Believe it or not, after several seconds you actually do start to forget what you just heard, but it was uncanny how at the very moment I'd start to forget, it would repeat, and that was very satisfying.
I never write reviews for anything, but on this particular product, I felt like the makers really needed to be commended for sharing their knowledge in such a thorough and extremely effective fashion. They obviously spent a lot of time deciding what to include, how to arrange everything, and how to explain everything to a novice so that they would understand. Real quality seems so rare these days. I appreciated the fact that their main objective was really to teach effectively, not just to put a CD together that would make money. You'll be way more excited about birding after you listen to these CDs.
Also I wanted to mention that the audio quality is absolutely superb. One time I started my car while the CD was in, and I didn't realize it was starting to play...I got really excited because I thought I heard a White-Throated Sparrow loud and clear right by my car, so I frantically screamed to my son that one must be RIGHT NEXT TO US SOMEWHERE!!! ... but then I realized it was the CD and I was so embarrassed.
My favorite ones to listen to are the Pileated Woodpecker, the Bobolink, the Red-Shouldered Hawk and the Barred Owl. These 4 birds sound extremely bizarre and you will probably laugh your head off at the sounds they make. The Bobolink sounds like a spastic alien computer switchboard. The Veery is unbelievably weird and haunting, and the Eastern Meadowlark and Northern Cardinal are really beautiful. There are lots of different song categories which are separated and easy to find if you are looking for a certain one. Also, if you have kids, their jaws will drop listening to the intriguing sounds. Most of the birds are pretty common so you are bound to hear at least some of them if you just walk around outside.
Can you tell I'm impressed?!!!
as expected.......2007-04-29
this cd is as expected, no surprise,no complaints.a good selection of birds have been packed into this.
Excellent Teaching Style.......2007-01-19
The narrator discusses each bird's song and/or call, telling you specific things to listen for, including comparisons to similar calls. Then the song/call is played. The narrator finally reviews what you heard, pointing out similarities and differences again, as well as noting peculiarities. I found this to be a very simple to follow format, and one which helped me to remember the songs/calls of each bird better than similar CD's which just give the name of the bird & then let you hear the song/call. A booklet is included for review as well.
Book Description
Ten years after Roger Tory Peterson's death, his unique perspective on birding comes to life in these highly personal narratives. Here he relates his adventures during a lifetime of birding and traveling the world to observe and record nature. Whether it is in writing about the time when his boat capsized in freezing water off the coast of Maine while he, then in his eighties, was filming a documentary, or about his experiences searching for the ivory-billed woodpecker, Peterson's sense of adventure and curiosity cannot be extinguished. The accomplished illustrator and writer was nearly as passionate about photography as he was about painting, and each essay is illustrated with Peterson's own photographs. The essays included here were carefully selected by Bill Thompson III, the editor of Bird Watcher's Digest, in which the columns originally appeared.
Customer Reviews:
A set of vivid vignettes perfect for that avid birder........2007-03-05
All Things Reconsidered: My Birding Adventures is an excellent pick for any who have long known of and used Roger Tory Peterson's birding guides, which have become leading industry references in the fine art of bird identification. A decade after his death comes a personal collection which blends color photos and line drawings with a passionate survey of the bird world, selected by the editor of Bird Watcher's Digest which ran his column 'All Things Reconsidered' during the last twelve years of his life. His adventures traveling the world are captured in a set of vivid vignettes perfect for that avid birder.
A Very Good Book.......2007-01-26
This was purchased as a gift, but before I wrapped it I read four of the essays. Enjoyed them very much and learnd some things. It has some excellent illustrations, too. I'm going to buy a copy for myself. Sorry I haven't read more for this review.
Fitting Tribute.......2006-12-27
The author, who died ten years ago, is the well-known originator of the Peterson's Field Guides. This book makes available to a wider audience a selection of columns he wrote for a bird magazine. In them, he takes us all over the world and familiarizes us with a wide variety of birds, other wildlife, and people. His prose style is a beauty in itself. The editor has updated the articles in small but important ways.
The book uses quality paper to enhance the photographs, and quality type. It must be one of the finest books produced so far this century, and at the Amazon price it is truly a steal. All in all, a fitting tribute to the author, who obviously was loved by many. A joy to own, to read, and to recommend.
Book Description
Written by the experts at Bird Watcher's Digest, Identify Yourself gives beginning and intermediate bird watchers a helping hand with some of the most confounding identification challenges -- birds that are commonly encountered but difficult to tell apart. Combining clear, easy-to-understand text with beautiful illustrations that show key field marks, Identify Yourself is the solution to identifying many of North America's hard-to-distinguish birds..
Customer Reviews:
Very educational !!!!!.......2007-01-19
As a bird fan, I really wanted to get this to help me learn as much as possible about feathered friends, and it sure does deliver! One disappointment however, it left out some species that summer here in the last frontier!!Other than that, this is a great book! Good for yourself,or as a gift for that birder you know!!!
A Book for all Birders.......2007-01-03
I discovered this book by accident and found it very useful. I am a relative novice at birding and this book has really helped make me a better birder. The Top 20 Rules of the Bird Identification Game make this book well worth the price. But it isn't just for beginners. I bought a copy for a friend who is a very accomplished birder and she has found it very useful in identifying gulls. For me the sparrows are difficult and this book has made it easier. I can actually identify many of those LBJ's (little brown jobs).
Identify Yourself.......2006-08-31
I've been looking for a book like this for a while. I highly recommend it to anyone that needs a little bird identification help and is confused on similar looking species. It offers many useful tips and a lot of great advice. This is not the book, however, if you're looking to identify flycatchers or specific shorebirds. Besides that, though, this is a fantastic book.
Well worth it, and great value as well........2006-05-22
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to get into the details of bird ID. Pitfalls and difficult problems are emphasized. For example, there is a whole chapter on how to distinguish the immature bald eagle from the golden eagle. Some of those tricky problems seem to be glossed over in the usual field manual, only to present unexpected difficulty later. This is not an introductory text, but it is an easy and entertaining read. Well worth it, and different than the vast majority of texts.
Excellent book for Beginner and Intermediate Birders.......2006-02-25
This is an excellent book for sorting out and identifying those tricky birds that are difficult to distinguish from one another. It is aimed at beginners and intermediates, but still provides helpful points for advanced birders. Julie Zickafoose does an beautiful job at the illustrations, and Bill Thompson clearly outlines the differences between similar species. This is a good book to own if you are having troubles with identifications.
Book Description
“I wrote and illustrated this book to help every inquisitive birder, from novice to expert. Whether you can identify six birds or six hundred, you’ll be a better birder if you have a grounding in the real nuts and bolts of what birds look like, and your skills will be even sharper if you know exactly what to look for and how to record what you see.” —David Allen Sibley
The Sibley Guide to Birds and The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior are both universally acclaimed as the new standard source of species information. And now David Sibley, America’s premier birder and best-known bird artist, takes a new direction; in Sibley’s Birding Basics he is concerned not so much with species as with the general characteristics that influence the appearance of all birds and thus give us the clues to their identity.
To create this guide, David Sibley thought through all the skills that enable him to identify a bird in the few instants it is visible to him. Now he shares that information, integrating an explanation of the identification process with many painted and drawn images of details (such as a feather) or concepts.
Birding Basics begins by reviewing how one can get started as a birder: the equipment necessary, where and when to go birding, and perhaps most important, the essential things to look for when birds appear in the field. Using many illustrations, David Sibley reviews all the basic concepts of bird identification and then describes the variations (of shape, size, and color) that can change the appearance of a bird over time or in different settings. And he issues a warning about “illusions and other pitfalls”—and advice on avoiding them.
The second part of the book, also plentifully illustrated, deals with another set of clues, the major aspects of avian life that differ from species to species: feathers (color, arrangement, shape, molt), behavior and habitat, and sounds.
This scientifically precise, beautifully illustrated volume distills the essence of David Sibley’s own experience and skills, providing a solid introduction to “naming” the birds. With Sibley as your guide, when you learn how to interpret what the feathers, the anatomical structure, the sounds of a bird tell you—when you know the clues that show you why there’s no such thing as “just a duck”—birding will be more fun, and more meaningful. An essential addition to the Sibley shelf!
Customer Reviews:
Easy to use... which is good for me. .......2006-12-21
I'm a novice birder, to say the least. I like Sibley's guides because they are straight forward and easy to navigate. The drawings are all done by Sibley himself, not a team of various artists... believe me, it matters. Birds are shown from various angles, by sex, and at various stages of life. I think any Sibley guide would make a lovely (different) house warming gift along with, perhaps, a bird feeder.
Happy birding!
There's more to birding than found in the standard Field Guide.......2005-10-31
Almost every field guide gives a an introduction to the skills that need to be learned if one wants to develop any proficiency in finding and identifying birds in the field.In this book David takes it a whole lot further and has produced a book that covers all the skills needed and would be a great asset to any birder,be they a novice or a long time seasoned birder.It is not a book to replace the normal field guide but instead is a super addition to hone the skills of any birder,regardless of their skills.I won't try to cover what is in this book as other reviewers have done a fair job of it already.
What this book does is to explain why a bird was found where it was,why it was not something else,why is it such and such when it only remotely resembles the picture in the field guide,how could you tell,it's too dark to see the colors,and on and on.
You will also learn the many subtle differences and field marks to look for ,especially if you want to try to describe a bird to someone else,write it up in your journal or even to help if you listen to and hope to understand some more experienced birder describing a bird you may even be looking at.
One way to show what this book is all about might be to compare it to Baseball or Bridge.The standard books tell you all the rules and finer points of the game;this book tells you how to play the game.
Don't let the fact that this book has only 154 pages and not very expensive fool you.It is very unique and would
be welcomed by any birder who doesn't already have it.
I must say,however,that this is not the type of 'bird book' to buy if you just want to buy one book.It is definately the book to buy to go along with any other Field Guide that covers all the birds in an area;such as National Geographic's Birds of North America,Peterson's Field Guides,American Bird Conservancy's field guide to All the Birds of North America,Kaufman's Birds of North America,Sibley's Guides or any of the other excellent guides available.
The best introduction I've seen.......2004-08-31
This is the best instruction I've ever seen, printed or otherwise, on learning how to bird. It includes not only basic visual identification skills, but also the basics of how to bird by sound. Sibley teaches the feather groups and anatomy, plumage variations, molting patterns, and effects of lighting that make some indentifications so difficult. I would recommend it to any aspiring birder.
Excellent but strikes me as somewhat odd.......2004-04-05
Let me depart a bit from the other glowing reviews to point out something I think is slightly odd about this book. While the book has many outstanding features, I'm not sure it is the ideal "birding basics" book.
The first half of the book has some terrific information but is often light on content (the equipment section, birding by geography section, finding more info section) as well as some glaring gaps (breeding habits, migration patterns, birding history in North America). It's one thing to tell a beginning birder how the gestalt of a White Crowned Sparrow is different from that of a White Throated Sparrow but does the beginning birder even know when to expect either in their area? The ending on ethics and conservation is so small it almost plays to the criticism that birders are more in it for the sport than for birds themselves.
The second half of the book is a stunning review of the external structure of birds. It is better than many ornithology texts in this regard. Everything you could ever need to know about feather structure, molt, proportional differences and color perception is presented along with an excellent introduction to taxonomy and bird song.
Sibley is obviously playing to his strength here which is fine because what he knows, he really knows if you get my point. The art work is great, of course.
I don't want to come across as knocking this book. I own it, enjoy it and have learned a great deal from it. I recommend that you buy it. I'm just not sure it will serve this generation of up and comming birders as the ideal "basics" book the way Jack Connor's "The Complete Birder" did for many in the prior generation.
What do you think of a basics book that can take the time to touch on a birds nasal bristles or gestalt but omit a basic discussion on migration or breeding? Maybe it's me but it strikes me as a bit odd. I think the second half could have been published as part of a book called "Sibley's Ornithology for Birders" or something to that effect.
Great Introduction to nany aspects of birding.......2003-02-24
I came into this book with some interest in learning to identify birds around the yard to a greater extent. This is the first book that I've seen to go beyond the basics of shape and color. It's actually a virtual biology lesson on birds with fine details about feathers, and molting among other topics. Very detailed materials that help the reader understand how to see the parts of the bird beyond quick impressions in order to make identifications. But I also gained a new insight into an animal that I took for granted just seeing every day. Sibley is an incredible artist and liberally demonstrates his concepts with sketches and drawings of a wide variety of birds. The combination of beautiful art, and clear, educational writing makes one of the best introductions I've ever seen to birds, and how to know and appreciate them. Highly recommended for the casual as well as serious bird enthusiast.
Book Description
A continuation of the successful BIRDING BY EAR system for learning bird songs. Just as the original BIRDING BY EAR audio introduces listeners to a unique method of learning and remembering bird songs, MORE BIRDING BY EAR employs these proven techniques for ninety-six additional species of birds found east of the Rockies. Walton and Lawson have created learning groups of similar vocalizations and clearly point out distinguishing characteristics, using phonetics, mnemonics, and other memory aids. MORE BIRDING BY EAR will increase your skill and enjoyment in the field by helping you learn the vocalizations of twenty-five species of warblers, all of the North American rails, and an assortment of terns, other waterbirds, and passerines. Many shorebird call notes are also included. Combine the auditory instruction here with the visual features of the Peterson Identification System. Page numbers in MORE BIRDING BY EAR's booklet refer to species descriptions in the PETERSON FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS OF EASTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA, fifth edition.
Customer Reviews:
big help.......2007-05-14
this CD is perfect, it is a compliment to Birding by Ear and having both of these is invaluable to learning the calls of the birds I see and hear in my area. I had heard the CD at my local Audabon shop and almost bought them there, Amazon was $10. cheaper and I bought both CD's. They are a joy to listen to and are very helpful to me.
For the Hard Core Bird Lover.......2007-01-11
I purchased the Birding by Ear cd collection as well as this one. I prefer the first, simply because it features more of my favorite bird friends; however, this, like the first one, is set up in a very easy to listen to and learn manner. Very soothing voice along with the song bird calls and songs - how can you go wrong?
Quick, three beers!.......2005-07-13
I've been listening to the predecessor of "More Birding by Ear," i.e. "Birding by Ear (Eastern and Central North America)" for over a year now, and the music-processing regions in my brain are finally sorting the symphony of bird song in the woods and swamps around our house into individual melodies. I strongly recommend that you start with Walton and Lawson's "Birding by Ear" as it has recorded the songs and calls of eighty-five common species. "More Birding by Ear" provides recordings of ninety-six additional Eastern and Central North American species, many of them, such as the shore birds, not often heard outside of their specialized habitats.
For most people, bird calls may produce nothing more than a song that is hard to get out of the head. These two three-CD sets will help them make sense of those songs. I was so encouraged by the calls I had learned from these CDs that I signed up as a volunteer for the Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas. So far I've identified forty-one birds in my 'priority block,' many of them by song alone.
I don't know whether I'll actually ever see a Red-eyed Vireo, an Oven Bird, or a Veery but I hear them almost every day now, calling from the forest canopy or deep in the swamp, or echoing eerily down the river at dusk.
Yet oddly enough, once I've identified a bird call on the CD, such as "More Birding by Ear's" Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, I begin to see Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers everywhere. Location by song must be giving my eyes a kick start. Now I'm beginning to suspect they're one of the commonest woodpeckers in our neighborhood!
The narrative that accompanies the bird song on these CDs will both entertain and inform you. Who will ever be able to forget the song of the Olive-Sided Flycatcher once it is translated into the catch-phrase, "Quick, three beers!"
If you're serious about your birding, and want to identify birds by song, as well as by binoculars and field guides, these CDs are priceless.
VERY HELPFUL.......2004-10-15
MORE BIRDING BY EAR is the follow-up to BIRDING BY EAR. BIRDING BY EAR presented 85 species of birds. MORE BIRDING BY EAR presents 96 additional species. MORE BIRDING BY EAR follows the same format as BIRDING BY EAR. Species are grouped according to similar types of vocalizations. Primary songs and calls are presented. In some cases, other songs and calls are also presented. Vocalizations are analyzed, and comparisons are made to other, similar sounding birds. Phonetics and tips are suggested to help the listener to remember the vocalizations. It is suggested that you complete BIRDING BY EAR before going on to MORE BIRDING BY EAR.
Species included in More Birding by Ear are:
DISK 1: Sora, Virginia Rail, Clapper Rail, King Rail, Yellow Rail, Black Rail, Pied-billed Grebe, Least Bittern, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Wood Duck, Great Blue Heron, Marsh Wren, Least Flycatcher, Acadian Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, Pine Siskin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Winter Wren, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Common Nighthawk, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Evening Grosbeak, Osprey, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Black-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Fish Crow, Common Raven, Swainson's Thrush, Bicknell's Thrush, Boat-tailed Grackle, Rusty Blackbird, American Pipit, Horned Lark.
DISK 2: Prairie Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Palm Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Louisiana Waterthrush, Swainson's Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Canada Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Savannah Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Bachman's Sparrow, Henslow's Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Seaside Sparrow, Common Loon, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Blue-headed Vireo.
DISK 3: Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitcher, Long-billed Dowitcher, Black-Bellied Plover, American Golden-Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Upland Sandpiper, Willet, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Sanderling, Pectoral Sandpiper, Common Snipe, Royal Tern, Caspian Tern, Common Tern, Forster's Tern, Least Tern.
At the end of DISK 3 is a "test." All 96 species are grouped by habitat. The songs and calls are presented, but in a different order from the learning groups. The listener is not told which bird he is listening to. This can be frustrating at first, but is also a good way to learn. I found that the first few times through, I missed practically all of them. But bit-by-bit, I began to identify some of the calls. As I mastered more of the calls, it became easier and easier for me to identify the remaining ones.
Amazon.com
Ever wonder what that trill in the backyard is? Or how to distinguish between all those similar warbler songs? If so, try Birding by Ear. This great resource for birders all over eastern/central North America conveniently packages three cassettes and an accompanying booklet into a single videocassette-like box. Each tape groups bird species according to acoustic similarity in order to help you learn the basics of bird-song identification. Soon you'll know just by listening whether the bird skulking underneath the bushes is an orange-crowned warbler, a chipping sparrow, or a dark-eyed junco.
Book Description
Birding by Ear: Western is a unique and important new tool for birders. Now they can master one of the most useful and difficult field skills - the ability to recognize birds by their songs and calls. Birding By Ear: Western points out exactly what to listen for to tell one bird from another. As the Peterson Field Guide groups birds by visual similarity, Birding by Ear: Western groups them by acoustic similarity. Dick Walton and Bob Lawson have arranged ninety-one common species into nineteen intelligible learning groups - "sing-songers," "trillers," "name-sayers," "warbling songsters," and many others. The entertaining and educational narrative does the same job as the arrows in the Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds, pinpointing the precise differences between similar species. The songs themselves are recorded to the highest acoustic standards and are a delight to listen to. Birding by Ear: Western can enable anyone to become a better birder. Use it in conjunction with the Peterson Field Guide to Western Bird Songs, which provides a thorough catalog of the songs and calls of the familiar birds of western North America. Birding by Ear: Western may well become as essential to you as your Field Guide and binoculars.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent intro to bird songs.......2006-08-17
I've birded for a number of years but I wanted to be able to distinguish birds by their calls, especially the shy ones. This CD volme was the perfect introduction. Dick Walton's informal, almost folksy, comments made for enjoyable listening and learning. Sure there are only 91 species but one great sampling. Now that he has taught me "hooks" and "handles" I have graduated to using the Stokes CDs, but at least I can now differentiate closely related songs thanks to Mr. Walton.
If you are new to bird songs, please start with this volume. In contrast the Stokes volume presents the songs, but no commentary. It is up to you to find the hooks and handles and figure out how to memorize all the songs.
BTW, I disagree with Mr Walton on one bird. He says the California Quail is calling "Chicago, Chicago." In my field experience I am sure it is looking for "Atlanta, Atlanta."
Great CD, buy it!
A great choice for the first step in learning birdsong.......2002-05-17
If you live in North America east of the Mississipi and want to identify birds by ear, read on...
This audio set is a very well thought out and produced tutorial for introducing beginning "ear" birders to the world of birding by ear. The audio quality is excellent with several renditions of each song and call. The pace is well suited to the target audience - only after repeated listening will you want to skip ahead through sections. The groupings of similar songs seem well designed, and reflect situations in the field that pose problems. Each song is described verbally, with an onomatopoetic description. I wish the CD were coded so that sub-tracks could be accessed directly without the introductory descriptions, but the design of this set isn't as encyclopedia of song, rather as short course in learning how to identify song.
Buy this and the "More birding by ear", listen to them for 10 - 30 minutes a day (great drive time listening), and master the art of birding by ear!
Birding by Ear, Eastern/Central, Peterson Field Guides.......2001-12-07
....This set of audio tapes was a disappointment to me. I had wanted a set of bird songs to accompany my new Peterson Eastern Birds field guide, 4th edition.( Previously, I had owned the 2nd edition and its excellent, page-coordinated, accompanying tapes and had used them for years.) I bought this new set of audio tapes blind, so to speak, because they were shrink-wrapped with no real description visible. No one in any of the retail stores I consulted knew anything about them nor was willing to break into the shrink-wrapping.
....Birding by Ear, Eastern/Central is actually a 3-tape short course in identifying bird calls. It is essentially useless for field identification. To make use of this set of tapes, one would have to sit down and listen and listen and listen to interminable commentary by a sonorous male voice introducing bird calls in clusters that are of minimal use because they are grouped by similarity, which often doesn't translate into geography or habitat. The second side of the third tape is a "review" that is actually a test.... one must listen to a series of unidentified songs and try to remember what they are, after having spent the hours required to listen to the other 5 sides of the tapes.
.... The up side of this set of tapes is that the bird song recordings are excellent. They include both the song and the call. (But they are useless in the field in this format.)
Great Tool!!!!.......2001-08-07
Great learning tool for the novice and a great reminder for the seasoned veteran.
Richard K. Walton, author.......2001-06-12
Most birdsong CDs/tapes are lengthy "lists" of birdsongs. The "Birding by Ear" series is a unique tutorial that teaches you to recognise and recall birdsongs. If you want to learn to identify birds by their songs and calls this is the product for you! Ideal for birders East of the Mississippi!
Book Description
Bird watching is America's second most popular hobby after gardening. According to a recent survey, approximately 63 million Americans report that they watch and feed birds at home. With its beautiful four-color layout, The Backyard Bird Feeder's Bible is the ideal guide for beginning to intermediate bird watchers. And author Sally Roth's reassuring and friendly voice make this book a standout among the many more academic-style bird books currently on the market. Each colorful section is arranged alphabetically and addresses birds from each region of the country-even explaining the different food requirements for birds in different regions. Roth helps readers cut the costs of their favorite activity with economical tips throughout, from buying less expensive seed like cracked corn to using food leftovers as winter treats. Readers will delight in the color photos of the most popular feeder birds and will enjoy projects for making feeders, food mixtures, and 'food crafts,' such as birdseed wreaths.
Customer Reviews:
Help! He Won't Give Back My Book!.......2006-08-15
I barely got to look at the thing!
I made the mistake of allowing my young nephew to glance through it a few days ago. The next thing I know he takes it home with him and won't bring it back to me. (Well, he 'would' because he's that kind of guy... but I think I am going to allow him to keep it.)
Apparently this book had the remarkable effect of sparking in him a sudden interest in the hobby of attracting and feeding birds.
Actually, all summer long we have been visited at our little place in the country by birds of all sorts and we have been feeding them everyday so they wouldn't get bored and go away, but my nephew didn't have any interest in them... that is, not until I let him look at this book.
As I said, I did not really get to look at this book, but let's base my 5 star review on the enthusiasm it sparked in him. He says it is a great book because the information within is very interesting and very in-depth. He also loves the plentiful beautiful pictures which helps keep him attracted all the more to the subject matter.
I am very pleased that a child growing up in today's sterile electronically-obsessed society can still find something very natural and positive to invest his time and interest in. Aren't you?
EXCELLENT ADDITION TO YOUR BIRD LIBRARY.......2006-06-29
This one is just filled with excellent ideas. After years of birding you would think there would be no new ideas...wrong! I picked up quite a lot from this book. It is well organized, easy to use and easy to read and understand. I am glad I received it as a gift and recommend you get a copy if this is where your interests are. Overall, recommend this one highly.
Great Book cheaply made.......2005-12-18
The information contained in the book is great, one of the best bird books I own. To bad the publisher went the cheap way and produced a book using the hot glue binding process as opposed to a stitched binding. My copy has fallen apart!
Not well organized.......2005-12-07
I found this book to be very confusing. It is organized alphabetically... which makes no sense. There is no way to know what you need to know until you know what you need to know. It should be called the Bird book encyclopedia. A much much better book is the Audobon Backyard Birdwatcher. This book is not very colorful or engaging. I returned it.
Full of information.......2005-09-14
This book has answered so many questions for me. Reading this book is like talking with a friend who knows everything about birds and wants me to know it all too! The way it is set up alphabetically makes for an easy search and the pictures and diagrams are excellent. I will now have a more organized yard and happier birds.
Book Description
Where-to site guide to 81 of the best birding areas in Northern California including 294 individual sites and 102 maps.
Customer Reviews:
Compliments to a Norcal birding field guide.......2007-07-26
- Compliments to a Norcal birding field guide
Found it very handy
Areas to improve
- Verbose format could be improved and turned more concise (tables, possibly more thumbnails and less free text) with possibly better indexing of birds vs spots to find them.
A Wonderful Book to Plan For Bird Trips.......2006-03-01
This book was better than what I had expected. I am getting ready to order several more for birding friends. I was not under the impression that is was an identification guide when I first bought the book and it isn't. But, it does tell me what to study before I travel to the very descriptive destinations.
I cannot wait for the weekend to try birding in another area close to home.
Thank-you John Kemper for a thorough guide book.
Not an ideal reference or field guide.......2003-01-12
I've used the guide to help plan three birding trips so far and found it to be an asset in preparing for the trip (e.g., understanding the location, what species to expect, and best time to go). Upon arrival at the site, I found myself using a field guide like NGS's Field Guide to Birds of North America almost exclusively to help sight and identify the birds.
Birding Northern California is not suitable as a true field guide since it lacks detailed graphics or photos of the close to 600 species that can be found here. While using the book, I also found the book to be "too wordy" to use as a reference. For instance, to find the best location in Northern California to view a Ross's Goose in December, you would need to browse a good chunk of the book before finding a spot (and it might not be the best location). Later I discovered handy reference information in the very back of the text (e.g., Chapter 7 provides a breakdown of "specialty birds" throughout the area with their respective ranges mapped for winter and summer). FYI - the Ross's Goose is included in Chapter 7 with the key sites. The last chapter of the book provides a complete listing, including specialty and more common birds, with a geographic region and month of the year to look for the bird.
Given the room for improvement in the book's organization, I would encourage the publisher/author to produce a 2nd edition. The ideal improvement would be to include a CDROM that structures the information by bird species (hey, a photo would be nice), the locations where the bird can be found with a relative ranking, the time of year (again with some form of ranking). Including a CD would also allow the reader to search over the information by species or location.
Birding Northern California.......2001-05-11
I ordered this for use in my daughter's 6th grade science class in Oakland. Unfortunately, it contains no photographs of the birds--only text descriptions of viewing locations. So it's not useful as an identification guide. The general description should clearly state this. JM
The most comprehensive guide to birding northern California........1999-05-28
With the passion of a life-long birder and the precision of a former professor of engineering, John Kemper has written an exceptional, new site guide for northern California. Detailed information is given for 81 major locations from the Oregon border through Monterey, King, and Tulare counties plus the Kern River Valley in Kern County; Mono County and the White Mountains are included on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada
The book focuses on species of interest by listing "specialty birds" and "other key birds" at the beginning of each location description. Specialty birds include uncommon to abundant birds found primarily in the western United States, endangered or threatened species, and rare birds if the site is among the best for the bird. The text describes when, where, and how to the find the birds at each site, and this information was personally verified by John during two years of fieldwork preparing the book. Range maps and bar charts at the back of the book are cross-referenced to the best sites for each species and the time of year when each species occurs in different regions of the state. Readers will appreciate the easily readable, detailed maps and the clearly written site descriptions. Novices, long-time California birders, and birders from out of state planning their first or 100th trip to the state, will find the information needed to find the birds of interest to them and to plan successful birding trips.
Book Description
Geography, topography, weather patterns, and unique natural features make Cape May, New Jersey, one of the most important birding sites in North America. Throughout the year thousands of birders travel to Cape May from around the country--and across the ocean--to witness the arrival of tens of thousands of raptors, songbirds, shorebirds, and seabirds. In this guide, Cape May birders can find out exactly when and where in the region to go, what birds they're likely to see, why the birds are there, and what factors could affect the birds' behavior. Filled with the authors' photos, this book offers insider information that will help any birder make the most of a visit. It features a complete Cape May bird list and a description of the region's history complemented by images that show how Cape May has changed over the years, and how it has stayed the same.
Customer Reviews:
a wonderful book!.......2007-02-01
A "must have" for anyone considering birding in the Cape May area!!! Clay and Pat Sutton are wonderful writers making this book not only a wealth of information but also very enjoyable to read!
Book Description
Where-to site guide to 200 of the best birding areas in Texas including detailed descriptions.
Customer Reviews:
Not too bad, not too good.......2001-07-04
I tested Birding Texas under field conditions last spring. I am sorry to say that many maps are of limited use as are the descriptions to get to the places. You only need it if you like to go to places that are not covered by the two ABA/Lane guides currently available. For the Texas coast and the Rio Grande valley you'd better refer to the these two books.
Best travel guide ever!.......2000-06-24
This book includes many of the out of the way places to bird, along with many local birding spots, that are not listed in past birding guides.
Marvelous! Contains more than just gudelines to the birds!.......1998-06-14
Birding Texas offers two additional pieces of information not usually available: (1) illustrations of Texas's 32 speciality birds, those not normally found in any other state, and each illustration includes info on where the species can best be found; (2) a distribution/ status checklist for all 10 regions throughout the state; first time ever and extremely helpful. This book is extremely useful for birders, both beginners and experienced alike, for finding all the birds, from northern cardinals to golden-cheeked warblers and lucifer hummingbirds, throughout the year.
Books:
- Birds And Birding at Cape May
- Birds and Light
- Birds of Cape Cod and the Islands
- Birds of Michigan Field Guide, Second Edition
- Birds of Michigan Field Guide, Second Edition
- Birds of Washington State
- Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (Penguin Classics)
- Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality
- Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was
- Bring Back the Buffalo!: A Sustainable Future for America's Great Plains
Books Index
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A Field Guide to Bird Songs: Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides)
A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America
Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs: Eastern Region (Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs)
Bird Song Ear Training Guide: Who Cooks for Poor Sam Peabody? Learn to Recognize the Songs of Birds from the Midwest and Northeast States
