The Birder's Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds

The Birder's Handbook is the first of its kind: a portable library of fascinating information not included in your identification guide. For each of the 646 species of birds that breed in North America, The Birder's Handbook will tell you at a glance:

* Where the bird nests, and which sex(es) build(s) the nest;

* How many eggs the bird lays, what they look like, which patent incubates and for how long, and how the young are cared for;

* Food preferences and foraging habits.

You will also find information about displays and mating, wintering, conservation status, and much more. In addition, The Birder's Handbook contains some 250 short essays covering all aspects of avian natural history.

Amazon.com Review
Compact and yet filled with information, this portable encyclopedia of North American bird behavior is a complement to field guides. Learn more about the species you see in the field, and--when in doubt--use this handy reference as another tool for identification.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Great Complementary Guide on Bird Biology, 2008-05-16
Ok, this is NOT a field guide as the name would suggest. It is a reference book of bird biology. It includes information such as habitat preferences, nesting substrate, clutch size, diet, courtship rituals, which sex sits on the nest, etc. There are also short essays intersperced throughout the guide about various topics of ornithological interest. Not for the passive birder. Useful for researchers and serious birders.


1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

the birder's handbook: a feild guide to the natural history of n. american birds, 2008-02-18
I was very disappointed with this book, I returned it for a full refund. A book that cost that much should at least have color pictures.
thank you,
Sandy Pittman


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

The next step, 2007-11-19
When you are ready to move beyond simple identification of birds, your curiosity piqued by the avians on your feeder or flying over your canoe, this book is the answer. It is a big fat paperback, far too cumbersome for field use, but wonderful in its detail. Why do geese fly in a vee? How does a seagull's wing work? What materials do birds use to line their nests? Owls ears, hatching asynchronicity, communal roosting, head scratching, and promiscuity are a few among the hundreds of topics discussed in this work. There are brief biographies of early ornithologists, discussions of bird names and detailed advice on how a layperson can meaningfully contribute to the study of winged creatures (from the comfort of your feeder-viewing easy chair, if you like). This one's for the serious birder.


7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Odd duck, but good, 2004-07-29
Definately not for the casual reader...

This book is really two books. One is a book on details of specific birds, the other a collection of essays on a wide ranging set of subjects. Both are very interesting and usable, but the book is structured such that the bird details are always on the left page, the essay on the right. Sometimes the essays are a fit with the bird details, sometimes not. Sometimes the essay continues on for several pages...

Purchase of this books should really be combined with either the old three volume Audubon Master Guide, or older editions of Peterson (west and east), or a couple of other older field guides. You may have to hunt used books for a match. As indicated in the reviews below, the detail pages are loaded with cryptic little symbols that reference specific plates and pages in these other older guides.

There is quite a lot of detail here, it is not a thin book, so don't plan on carrying it in the field much past the interior of your car. The size raises another issue. Updating this thing is not going to be an easy task. I suspect this 1988 edition is going to be what you get for a looong time.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Birder's Handbook praise..., 2003-06-23
Great reference book, though NOT portable. Because this book came out in 1988, it needs updating: bird name changes have occured and there is more information from research to add to the wealth of information it already contains. Birder's Handbook uses various editions of field guides as reference points, that is, it points to particular pages of those field guides for a bird illustration or photo as well as range maps. And because those field guides have been updated in the intervening years, the page numbers are not true.
I look forward to another edition of this book!

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