Better Birding: Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field, by George L. Armistead, Brian L. Sullivan
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Better Birding: Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field, by George L. Armistead, Brian L. Sullivan
Free Ebook PDF Better Birding: Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field, by George L. Armistead, Brian L. Sullivan
Better Birding reveals the techniques expert birders use to identify a wide array of bird species in the field--quickly and easily. Featuring hundreds of stunning photos and composite plates throughout, this book simplifies identification by organizing the birds you see into groupings and offering strategies specifically tailored to each group. Skill building focuses not just on traditional elements such as plumage, but also on creating a context around each bird, including habitat, behavior, and taxonomy--parts so integral to every bird's identity but often glossed over by typical field guides. Critical background information is provided for each group, enabling you to approach bird identification with a wide-angle view, using your eyes, brain, and binoculars more strategically, resulting in a more organized approach to learning birds.
Better Birding puts the thrill of expert bird identification within your reach.
- Reveals the techniques used by expert birders for quick and easy identification
- Simplifies identification with strategies tailored to different groupings of birds
- Features hundreds of photos and composite plates that illustrate the different techniques
- Fosters a wide-angle approach to field birding
- Provides a foundation for building stronger birding skills
Better Birding: Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field, by George L. Armistead, Brian L. Sullivan - Amazon Sales Rank: #3359837 in Books
- Published on: 2015-11-24
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 360 pages
Better Birding: Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field, by George L. Armistead, Brian L. Sullivan Review One of Audubon's 12 Best Bird Books of 2015 One of The London Free Press' "Great flock of birding books 2015""[A] serious, immensely informative book. . . . The book is like an expertly guided tour--one that visits wetlands, open country, waterways, forests, shores, and other habitats from Alaska and the Pacific coast to Florida's Dry Tortugas and the Gulf Stream waters off Cape Hatteras, making clear, along the way, what members of each group have in common and how they differ, and, indeed, why each bird is."--BirdWatching Magazine"This book, written by George Armistead and Brian Sullivan, is a refreshed approach to species identification. While most field guides focus primarily on plumage, this approach is 'wide angled' and more holistic with habitat, behavior, and other contextual elements coming into play."--London Free Press"The book covers some water birds and hawks, wrens, flycatchers, swifts and more, but wisely confines itself to groups of birds involving relatively few species. Each section includes numerous photographs and in some cases composite photo illustrations for comparisons. The accounts also include distribution maps."--Tom Palmer, Lakeland Ledger"It comes as no surprise that Better Birding is unashamedly directed towards a North American audience. Yet because the book is devoted to better ID techniques of bird families shared across the Northern Hemisphere or vagrant species which show up on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, many of the chapters contain pages of undoubted interest to a UK audience. . . . The authors should be congratulated in sticking to their chosen parameters and not falling into the trap of producing yet another full field guide to North American birds but instead focusing on/singling out a number of bird groups worthy of special mention."--Another Bird Blog"The first 27 pages of Better Birding should be required reading for students of Birding 101. . . . The writing is clear, concise, and witty when it needs to be. The photographs couldn't be any better. In short, I can't think of a good reason not to have this book."--Kirby Adams, National Parks Traveler"An excellent book. . . . Sullivan and Armistead are two of the best birders in the country, each advancing the ways we understand and enjoy birds. . . . The introductory material . . . is particularly strong. . . . The book is richly illustrated with stunning photographs accompanied by concise and informative captions."--Christopher Wood, Program Leader for ebird at Cornell Lab of Ornithology"The writing is . . . accessible but full of new observations about birds whose identification I haven't thought about thoroughly or critically enough in many cases. . . . This latest addition to the arsenal combines not just the finer points of identification (many of these original or obscure) but also a fresh way to look at some really wonderful sets of birds. . . . The approach is a holistic one, a very fresh and modern one, and it's the closest book I've seen that hints at how hardcore birders approach a day's birding in terms of hopes and expectations as well as identifications. In the end, it's the sharp photography that sells this book. Mouthwatering images."--Edward S. Brinkley, author of National Wildlife Federation Guide to Birds of North America"This book is extremely well conceptualized. As you read the text it becomes obvious it is written by two experts in the field, and the plates showing side-by-side comparisons of similar-looking species are brilliantly laid out. Since I am a raptor enthusiast, I read the accipiter section first, and was impressed with the level of detail geared towards field ID written in an easy to understand way!"--Jerry Liguori, author of Hawks from Every Angle and Hawks at a Distance"Better Birding . . . fills a niche, presenting detailed discussions of bird groups that are not 'sexy' enough to have their own guides, often falling through the cracks of avian publishing, but which pose identification puzzles in the field for even the most experienced birders. . . . The writing style is friendly, expansive, scientifically informed, and draws distinctive pictures of each species."--Donna Schulman, 10,000 Birds blog"Want to be a real birder but don't know how to sharpen your skills? This book will teach you how to identify birds with ease and speed. George Armistead and Brian Sullivan share expert techniques for ID-ing different groups of birds. The book also shows how habitat and behavior can be used as crucial tools for birding."--Emily Silber, Audubon.com"I'm hoping there's a sequel. . . . The writing is clear, concise, and witty when it needs to be. The photographs couldn't be any better. In short, I can't think of a good reason not to have this book."--Kirby Adams, National Parks Traveler"The very readable text is dense and replete with species information and advice on what one can see by taking a wider perspective while birding. . . . [T]his is a well-produced reference for the novice and expert birder alike."--Booklist"So will Better Birding actually help you to be a better birder? Yes, it certainly can. Intermediate birders, especially, will find it extremely useful. And anyone, experts included, should get it if it covers a group you'd like help with."--Birders Library blog"Crisp photography, with side-by-side composite comparisons of similar species accompany detailed, easy-to-read text. The hundreds of photos are nearly worth the price of the book on their own. Above all, Better Birding was a fun read. Engaging, text hits the mark of being specific, but not overly technical. Photos bring birds to life, and show salient identification points described in the text."--Carolina Bird Club Newsletter"Better Birding provides readers with the ability to confidently identify what they are see. Through clear descriptions and by presenting each bird with a history, learning about them through their life story makes the study enjoyable. Better Birding inspires us to make sound identification through the clarity of its descriptions and compelling profiles. This book makes keeping my resolution to be a better birder something I know I can do in the year ahead."--Constantly Explore blog"Providing a foundation to improve readers' birdwatching abilities, the authors furthermore explain why birding is cool. Recommended for all readers who wish to become better birders."--Library Journal
From the Back Cover
"This guide is an outstanding reference and a valuable contribution for birders at all levels. The format is reader friendly and the illustrations are stunning."--Wayne Petersen, director of Mass Audubon's Important Bird Area Program
About the Author George L. Armistead is events coordinator at the American Birding Association and a research associate in the Ornithology Department at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. He has led birding tours on all seven continents. Brian L. Sullivan is eBird program codirector and photographic editor for Birds of North America Online at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. He is the author of numerous papers on bird identification and the coauthor of The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors and Offshore Sea Life ID Guide: West Coast (both Princeton).
Where to Download Better Birding: Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field, by George L. Armistead, Brian L. Sullivan
Most helpful customer reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful. Not To Be Missed. By Edward S. Brinkley I've just read about half this book, which came in the mail yesterday. The photographs are all of very high quality and also very well selected to illustrate some of the more difficult issues in North American bird identification. Throughout, the writing is terse and accessible but full of new observations about birds whose identification I haven't thought about thoroughly or critically enough in many cases. I'm one of those aging birders, and though I don't like to admit it, eyes, ears, and memory are not what they once were! There was a period of some years where I could spit out a dozen field marks for difficult species or groups of birds, but lately I need a refresher course - and a new way of looking at groups of birds like swifts, longspurs, and even those brown ducks ("monochromatic Mallards" they call them). Each generation of birders takes up the challenge of identification in new and different ways, and this latest addition to the arsenal combines not just the finer points of identification (many of these original or obscure) but also a fresh way to look at some really wonderful sets of birds - their habits, their habitats, their natural histories, all balanced in such a way as to make one want to read just one more page. Ever wonder what wintering habitat of Le Conte's Sparrow looks like? There's a great photo that makes one want to walk through the field (and look for Henslow's and Grasshopper Sparrows as well). So the approach is a holistic one, a very fresh and modern one, and it's the closest book I've seen that hints at how hardcore birders approach a day's birding in terms of hopes and expectations as well as identifications. But in the end, it's the sharp photography that sells this book. Mouthwatering images. Even the juvenile Seaside Sparrow is probably one of the best images I've seen of this plumage - one that causes a lot of confusion. The authors take full advantage of the digital age, and their photo-montages of similar species (brown seabirds, anyone?) are among the most useful and tasteful I've seen. The layouts of the screech-owls, for instance, made distinctions among species (and subspecies - about which I learned a lot) very clear and easy to remember. I love a book like this - it stays open when I'm reading it, the images are large and sharp, and space is used economically - the chapter frontispieces are artistic and inspired, very inviting, and the chapters are dense but never overloaded, never what I would call difficult, never ponderous. That's not easy to do - the layout is deceptively simple, the writing very laid-back, but the concepts conveyed can be quite subtle or complex. But one retains the points well, somehow. While the book might not be ideal for someone who has just started birding, it's a great book for people who feel that they need a bit of help with Fish Crow versus American Crow, for instance, who feel a bit insecure about some of their field work. (If we are not in that place now, we can remember when we were!) Too often, experts, both in writing and in person, fail to spell out all the subtle cues that help them identify such birds at a distance with accuracy. The authors do a great job of validating the difficulty in identifying, correctly and critically, many of our common species - their work in professional bird guiding, in scientific field work, in education/outreach, and in citizen science (with eBird) has surely helped them understand what the most regularly misidentified birds are, and these make up the bulk of the book. Granted, some species that are included require a trip offshore, or to Alaska, but that's not such a bad thing, is it? (I've never seen a Kittlitz's Murrelet, but after that chapter, I'm going to see one in 2016.) There are surely a dozen more groups of species that the authors might have treated - but perhaps there will be a second volume in years to come. We can hope. Anyone looking for a last-minute holiday gift for a birder? Grab one. They'll gift wrap it, I hear.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. A beautiful illustrated, engaging toolbox for improving your birding skills By Tom Johnson I've spent some time perusing my copy of Better Birding already, and I've come away with a very positive impression. This is a well-named book: spend time with it, and you WILL certainly improve as a birder (I initially tried the osmosis-via-book-pillow method, but have had better results by reading the text and examining the hundreds of photos) . While I'm sure that you could use this out in the field, it isn't just another field guide - rather, this book offers a set of tools that readers can use to fine-tune their birding. This book doesn't cover all species, choosing instead to focus on a select group of identification groups (like white herons/ egrets, swifts, sparrows, and crows). The identification information is emphasized through a combination of well-written guidance on how and where to focus your attention and the fantastic selection of images. Indeed, the lessons taught by the book's carefully-picked species groups can be applied widely to birds across the world, and even to any aspect of life that can be enhanced by careful observation. I recommend the introduction for an interesting approach to thinking about meaningful and lasting learning.Armistead and Sullivan are both extremely skilled field birders who have, each in their own way, committed themselves to helping others get more out of their observations of birds (Armistead has a decade of experience as an international tour leader and now works with the American Birding Association; Sullivan works as a Project Leader for eBird, a global database of bird records and one of the most phenomenal citizen science projects on the planet).These guys know what they're talking about, and it really shows in this book.A great Christmas gift, for sure! There is broad appeal for this book - due to the combination of clearly written text and its highly visual format with lots of excellent images, both beginners and advanced birders will benefit greatly from the book.I relish the thought of spending more time with this book during the winter ahead. There's enough information here to keep the active mind occupied for months and bridge that gap until spring migration really kicks in and bird diversity takes its annual uptick across North America - or you can spring right into the field and work on your longspur and waterbird ID!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Stunning photos, great tips to become a better birder By Christopher Wood An excellent book for birders of any level, particularly one looking to advance beyond identification of backyard birds. Brian Sullivan and George Armistead are two of the best birders in the country, each advancing the ways we understand and enjoy birds. This book combines their years of experience to provide tips and techniques that will not only enable you to identify birds more accurately, but also provide context into why birds appear the way they do.Chapters are arranged into groups of species that are difficult to identify including loons, ducks, shorebirds, raptors, sparrows, and longspurs. At first, the selection of species groups may seem odd, but the chapters build and reinforce themselves into a rich tapestry that provides the careful reader with much more than a solid foundation for becoming a great birder. Don't miss the introductory material, which is particularly strong.The book is richly illustrated with stunning photographs accompanied by concise and informative captions. There are hundreds of comparison photos that allow you to really see differences, whether by species, age, molt or time of year. The composite images are among the most successful I've seen, combining a strong artistic element while maintaining clear focus to ensure that each bird is essential and conveys important information.A perfect gift for the holidays!
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Better Birding: Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field, by George L. Armistead, Brian L. Sullivan
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Better Birding: Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field, by George L. Armistead, Brian L. Sullivan
Better Birding: Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field, by George L. Armistead, Brian L. Sullivan
