Awesome reference material you should read.
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Birds & blooms : ultimate guide to backyard birding by Sheryl DeVore
| "Attracting birds to your backyard just got a little easier. This publication, brought to you by the editors of Birds & Blooms magazine, shows you how! Filled with expert ideas for creating your own bustling backyard bird haven, it shows the top foods preferred by your favorite winged visitors, how to create a safe environment they'll want to nest in and the very best plants you can grow to keep them coming back year after year." |
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Birder on Berry Lane : three acres, twelve months, thousands of birds
by Robert Tougias
A writer, birder and naturalist presents a month-by-month guide to the birds that flock to his New England backyard, revealing the miracles of the ordinary in the subtle changes, season to season and the ecosystem of the land surrounding him. Illustrations.
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How to know the birds : the art & adventure of birding
by Ted Floyd
A unique blend of narrative and field studies introduces a new, holistic approach to bird-watching, by noting how behaviors, settings and seasonal cycles connect with shape, song, color, gender age distinctions and other characteristics traditionally used to identify species.
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A Birder's Guide to the Chicago Region
by Lynne Carpenter and Joel (Joel R.) Greenberg
Identifying more than 250 top sites for birding within a 65-mile radius from downtown Chicago, this useful guide provides maps, directions, and other information essential for discovering the birds of the area in their natural habitats. The most thorough guide of its kind, it covers nineteen counties of the greater Chicago area.
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Birding is an extremely rewarding and fun hobby, but some situations can be frustrating or unsuccessful because of a variety of challenging viewing conditions. This guide to identifying birds offers the holistic "birding by impression" method, which not only helps with these difficult conditions, but also develops an efficient mental identification process using left- and right-brain skills. It begins with a conscious assessment of a birds unchanging physical characteristics, including general size, body shape, structural features (bill, legs, neck, and wings), and behavior. Using this approach, birders can quickly assess all birds and distinguish new and uncommon species from familiar ones. They can then examine more detailed field marks to fine-tune the identification. Rather than a traditional field guide, this book presents an interactive how-to approach to a more complete identification process.
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| "Perfect for the anti-aviary (or bird fanatic with a sense of humor), this snarky illustrated handbook is equal parts profane, funny, and--let's face it--true. Featuring 50 common North American birds, such as the White-Breasted Butt Nugget and the Goddamned Canada Goose (or White-Breasted Nuthatch and Canada Goose for the layperson), Kracht identifies all the idiots in your backyard and details exactly why they suck with humorous, yet angry, ink drawings. Each entry is accompanied by facts about a bird's (annoying) call, its (dumb) migratory pattern, its (downright tacky) markings, and more. With migratory maps and tips for birding, plus musings on the avian population and the ethics of birdwatching, this is the essential guide to all things wings. No need to wonder what all that racket is anymore!" |
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Midwestern birds : backyard guide : watching - feeding - landscaping - nurturing
by Bill Thompson
"From the editor of the nation's premier birding magazine, a no-nonsense, no-fluff quick guide to the birds you see every day. Of all the classic American pastimes, perhaps none is as widely accessible as watching birds. Our unusually vast, diverse environmental landscape supports fascinating species and variations exclusive to each region of the country. But while birders often spend their efforts in search of the rarest creatures, some of the most beautiful and intriguing birds are the ones that frequent our backyards (or nearby) daily. For that reason, where other, larger volumes focus on bird types that the casual observer is never likely to encounter, Midwestern Birds concisely celebrates those species living under our very noses. Written by Bill Thompson III, the editor and co-publisher of Bird Watcher's Digest, this portable 5"x8" book contains the same variety of entertaining and informative entries that make Bird Watcher's Digest the nation's most popular birding magazine. Inside, you'll find profiles of the 55 most common birds in the Midwest, complete with large color photos, gender-specific physical descriptions, nesting and feeding information, bird call particulars, and interesting stories about each species. Thompson also introduces the reader to the basics of bird watching: essential gear, bird-friendly food and plantings, housing tips, and observational techniques. This guide covers Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri,Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Look for our other backyard bird guides covering the Mid-Atlantic, South, Northeast, and West regions of the United States"
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by James Currie, National Geographic Series
Birds have often held a special fascination for humanity. Venerated as deities and powerful symbols in the mythology of ancient Egypt, China, the Maya, and other cultures, through the millennia birds have remained mysterious, magnetic, and irresistible. In the 18th and 19th centuries, naturalists traveled the earth in search of the most resplendent avian species, and the advent of science has only increased interest in the amazingly varied world of birds. Today this fascination continues in the modern activity of birding, a passionate and well organized pursuit for people around the world.
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by Steve Maslowsi "This innovative, colorful sampler of America's birds has wall-to-wall feathers -- a year's worth of good birding"
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