Learn about and identify birds using Stan Tekiela’s state-by-state field guides. The full-page, color photos are incomparable and include insets of winter plumage, color morphs and more. Plus, with the easy-to-use format, you don’t need to know a bird’s name or classification in order to easily find it in the book. Using this field guide is a real pleasure. It’s a great way for anyone to learn about the birds in your state.

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The Princeton Encyclopedia of Birds is a comprehensive and lavishly illustrated reference to the world’s birds. Accessibly written by renowned biologists and conservationists, and illustrated in color throughout, the book provides authoritative and systematic accounts of every bird family, covering form and function, distribution, diet, social behavior, breeding biology, and conservation and status. More than 1,000 superb color photos reveal the enormous diversity of birds in their natural habitats, from arctic tundra to tropical rain forest, and a wealth of beautifully detailed color and line illustrations depict representative species from each family and highlight characteristic behaviors. The main articles are complemented by detailed coverage of special topics, such as how ibises and spoonbills feed by touch, how pigeons find their way home, and how crows store food. And throughout the book, numerous “Factfile” panels with color distribution maps and scale drawings provide at-a-glance overviews of key data. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Birds is the definitive one-volume reference–an essential guide for amateur bird enthusiasts and professional ornithologists alike.

• Covers all the bird families of the world
• Describes form and function, distribution, diet, social behavior, breeding biology, and conservation and status
• Features more than 1,000 spectacular color photos and illustrations
• Includes “Factfile” panels with color distribution maps and scale drawings for at-a-glance reference
• Explores special topics in depth
• Written by leading biologists and conservationists

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A comprehensive and authoritative guide to the fascinating mysteries of bird migration.

Every year, billions of birds leave their North American breeding grounds for winter quarters farther south. That so many birds migrate so many miles, through life-threatening conditions, and to the same place each year, is simply stunning.

The editor of this important and lavishly illustrated new book has selected a cross-section of both the most typical and the most interesting migrants. Colorful maps, photographs, calendars and fact files, with easy-to-read symbols and abbreviations, present an accurate and up-to-date profile of each species.

The introduction provides comprehensive background on migration and its great mystery: how do the birds know where to go? The latest scientific discoveries are explained here.

The bulk of the book is the directory, which chronicles the routes of more than 500 species, including:

• North American birds of prey
• Hummingbirds, grosbeaks and starlings
• Eurasian shorebirds, storks and cranes
• Winter visitors from the Far North, such as swans, geese and finches
• African, South American and Australasian migrants
• Migratory sea birds, such as penguins, albatrosses and terns.

The results of new satellite tracking methods are covered, as are current environmental threats and conservation initiatives. The book closes with a comprehensive catalog of migrating species from all continents.

(2008)

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This is a fully updated new edition of the award-winning Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife, the most comprehensive and authoritative guide to the birds and marine mammals of the vast and beautiful Antarctic region. Covering Antarctica, the southern ocean, and the subantarctic islands, this unique guide illustrates all of the region’s breeding birds and mammals with some 920 color photographs and illustrations, including 300 new photographs. It features 128 color distribution maps and up-to-date species accounts that expertly detail abundance, seasonal status, and conservation prospects. The volume also covers numerous nonbreeding species, migrants, and vagrants, and the sections on albatrosses and petrels have been fully revised to make them current with the latest taxonomic knowledge.

Regional chapters describe all of the subantarctic islands, in addition to most of the regularly visited sites in Antarctica, and are accompanied by maps and photographs of each area. These chapters present detailed information on geography, climate, geology, general ecology, and flora. They also address conservation efforts–past, present, and planned. The book concludes with practical information about visiting the area, including details on the best landing sites and notes on seasonal weather conditions.

This is an indispensable companion for any trip to the far south, as well as an informative volume for anyone interested in the Antarctic region’s remarkable, occasionally strange, and frequently beautiful animals.

• Features 35 color plates and some 920 color photographs
• Illustrates and maps the distribution of all of the region’s breeding birds and marine mammals
• Includes information on many nonbreeders, migrants, and vagrants
• Features expert text reflecting recent advances in taxonomy
• Covers all of the subantarctic islands as well as Antarctica’s regularly visited sites
• Offers travel tips, including weather considerations and landing sites

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The moist, sultry northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico hosts a remarkably diverse bird community of more then three hundred species. Waders and seabirds, waterfowl, hummingbirds, warblers, grosbeaks, tanagers, larks, blackbirds, sparrows, and finches all thrive in the various ecosystems of the Gulf Coast and swirl in and out with the seasons. Featuring 170 color photographs by nature photographer Brian K. Miller and essays by natural history expert William R. Fontenot, Birds of the Gulf Coast depicts the mystery and majesty of these beautiful creatures and highlights the importance of the region to the bird’s conservation.

Fontenot introduces the conditions peculiar to each season on the temperate Gulf Coast, and Miller’s images are arranged by the calendar. The waterfowl, raptors, and seabirds of winter; the songbirds and shorebirds of spring and fall; and the wading birds of summer–their numbers peak and wane on schedule, and the chapters vividly reflect the dramatic variation in the bird population throughout the year.

Miller captures sights that thrill human eyes–the stately gaze of a bald Eagle; the splendor of an Osprey in full flight; the quiet concentration of a Sora studying his reflection in the marsh. His vibrant portraits illustrate the brilliant hues of nature: the dazzling pinks and reds of the Roseate Spoonbill, the rainbow plumage of the Painted Bunting, the bright splash of the Yellow-throated Warbler.

Together with Fontenot’s edifying essays, these captivating photographs will inspire seasoned birders and novices alike to explore the region’s woodlands, marshes, and beaches and discover for themselves the avian riches that await.

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