Field Guides

Eastern Birds: A Guide to Field Identification of North American Species, by James Coe. 1994. NY: Golden Press, 160 pages. A guide for beginners, illustrated with lifelike color paintings of common species, many in their typical habitats. Species descriptions and range maps on the same page. Introductory sections show various habitats, each with its typical array of birdlife. Other special sections group confusing songbirds together, and give tips on how to tell them apart.

National Geographic Society Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Shirley Scott, ed. 1987. Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society, 464 pages. Contains color pictures, range maps, and descriptions of all North American breeding species, as well as many accidentals. All information on each bird is on the same page. Plumages for different sexes, ages, seasons, and color morphs are shown.

Peterson Field Guides (Eastern or Western Birds), by Roger Tory Peterson. 1980 and 1990. NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 384 and 432 pages. A guide to bird identification with descriptions of each bird. Range maps in separate section from color pictures. Highlights key field marks useful for identification.

Stokes Field Guide to Birds (Eastern or Western Region), by Donald and Lillian Stokes. 1996. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 472 and 520 pages. A unique photographic guide, with each species on its own page, featuring color photographs of male, female, seasonal, and immature plumages, together with range map, species description, and conservation information. Also features colored tabs keyed to each bird group, and special learning pages with helpful tips for challenging groups such as hawks in flight, shorebirds, and flycatchers.

A Field Guide to Birds’ Nests (Eastern or Western United States), by Hal H. Harrison. 1975 and 1979. Peterson Field Guide Series. NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 257 and 279 pages. Detailed descriptions of the nests and eggs of nearly 300 species, including brief information on the breeding range and habitat, as well as special points of interest for each species. Color photographs of nests and eggs, and line drawings of adult birds, for most species.

A Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds, 2nd ed., by Paul J. Baicich and Colin J. O. Harrison. 1997. San Diego: Academic Press, 347 pages. Brief information on the breeding cycle of 669 species, including habitat, nest site, nest material, eggs, incubation, nestlings, and nestling period. 64 color plates depicting eggs and young of many species.

General References

The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds, by John K. Terres. 1991. NY: Wings Books (or 1980. NY: Alfred A. Knopf), 1109 pages. A comprehensive reference book written for both the general reader and the scientific community. Includes the following types of information, arranged in an encyclopedia format: biographies of North American birds, discussions about bird life and bird biology, definitions of ornithological terms, and sho`rt biographies of famous ornithologists and naturalists.

Birds of North America: Life Histories for the 21st Century, Nos. 1–600 (as of October 2001). 1992 until complete. Published by the American Ornithologists’ Union and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Each issue is a separate, in-depth species account, including information about habitat, behavior, ecology, plumage, body size, and conservation. Extensive literature review included with each species. Many accounts still in progress. This is expensive to purchase, but available at many libraries.

The Birder’s Handbook, by Paul R. Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin, and Darryl Wheye. 1988. NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc. (Fireside), 785 pages. Reference book giving brief details about nesting and feeding habits of each North American species, interspersed with short, general essays about avian behavior and natural history. Designed as a companion to field guides.

The Complete Birder: A Guide to Better Birding, by Jack Connor. 1988. NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 285 pages. Authoritative but lively guide to improving birding skills in the field, using the cues of appearance, sound, season, and habitat to master identification of difficult groups such as shorebirds and gulls. Information on choosing and using binoculars.

A Guide to Bird Behavior, Vols. I-III, by Donald and Lillian Stokes. 1979, 1983, and 1989. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 300–400 pages per volume. A different approach to birding through watching the behavior of common birds (25 species per volume), including detailed life history information, illustrated descriptions of displays, and suggestions on how to recognize songs and calls and their behavioral contexts.

Life Histories of North American Birds (23 vols.), by Arthur Cleveland Bent. 1963. NY: Dover Publications. Unabridged re-publication of this classic work (originally published by the United States National Museum, 1919–1968). Contains a wealth of information and anecdotes about breeding, food preferences, plumage, behavior, and migration. Information is from Bent’s own observations as well as those of many other early naturalists. Note that names of some birds are different from current names. Available at many libraries.

Textbooks

The Life of Birds, by Joel C. Welty and Luis Baptista. 1988. Texas: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 398 pages. General textbook in basic ornithology. Very readable, though a little out-of-date on a few topics. Excellent index.

Ornithology, by Frank B. Gill. 1995, 2nd ed. NY: W. H. Freeman & Company, 766 pages. General textbook in basic ornithology. More scientific details though fewer examples given than in The Life of Birds (see above). Also more up-to-date. Index is sketchy and incomplete. Useful appendix describes and illustrates major groups of birds of the world.

Popular Bird Magazines

Australian Birdkeeper, PO Box 6288, Tweed Heads South, NSW 2486, Australia. Published in six glossy, colourful and informative issues per year. Each issue contains regular features and articles on all popular companion birds. Articles are written by top breeders/aviculturlists and veterinarians from all over the world and includes veterinarian reports and tips on where to find what, where, who and when.

Bird Watcher’s Digest, P.O. Box 110, Marietta, OH 45750. Bimonthly, digest-sized magazine aimed at a broad cross-section of the bird-watching public. Lively articles are often personal experience and anecdotal in style, but all aspects of avian natural history are regularly featured. Also includes regular columns and short bird news items. Illustrated with color photographs and entertaining artwork. Covers feature bird paintings.

Bird Watching (UK), Emap, Bretton Court, Bretton, Peterborough PE3 8DZ, UNITED KINGDOM. A monthly publication, inspiring a passion for birds - how to spot birds in the UK, where to go to see birds, and which birds to see.

Birder’s World, 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187–1612. Handsome, bimonthly, glossy magazine featuring fine color photography. Publishes entertaining and informative full-length articles and photo essays on all aspects of birds and birding. Each issue contains in-depth species accounts, a featured birding hot spot, many regular columns and shorter bird news items, and a gallery of bird photographs taken by readers.

Birding, American Birding Association (ABA), P.O. Box 6599, Colorado Springs, CO 80934. Bimonthly magazine for American Birding Association members. Articles usually slanted toward the technical aspects of birding, helping develop readers’ identification skills. Also promotes recreational birding and fosters public appreciation of birds and their importance in the environment. Illustrated with color photographs, but fewer than in other bird magazines.

Bird Talk (and annual supplement Birds USA), Bow Tie Press Incorporated, P.O. Box 6050, Mission Viejo, CA 92690-6050. A monthly magazine which provides companion bird owners with the latest avian information about health, nutrition, behavior, training, grooming, products, shows and clubs. The magazine answers avian-care questions and publishes in-depth profiles and photos of hundreds of species of birds, from canaries and finches to cockatoos and macaws. Readers participate via surveys, stories and photos about their companion birds.

Companion Parrot Quarterly (formerly called The Pet Bird Report), PBIC(Parrot Behavioral Information Council,), Inc., P.O. Box 2428, Alameda, CA 94501-0254. This quarterly publication (edited by parrot behavioral consultant and Home Study Course in Bird Biology graduate Sally Blanchard) is a unique magazine dedicated to providing companion bird owners with the information they need to have and/or raise the best companion parrots possible. The CPQ is for people who are fascinated by parrots and love to read about their infinite complexities. While the emphasis is on understanding, preventing and solving behavior problems, in-depth articles by many knowledgeable writers also cover topics including nutrition, care, breeding, socialization of chicks, weaning, health, ethics, species profiles, product reviews and humor.

Living Bird, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850. Elegant, quarterly, color magazine for CLO members. Designed to appeal to bird enthusiasts ranging from amateur bird watchers to professional ornithologists. Includes thought-provoking and timely articles on all aspects of birding, bird biology, and conservation. A showcase for the finest bird photography, often featuring portfolios and large spreads.

Parrots, Imax Ltd., 12 Riverside Business Centre, Brighton Road, Shoreham-by-Sea BN43 6RE, UNITED KINGDOM. Now in its 10th year of publication, this UK publication is a leading international magazine dedicated to the parrot world. Monthly issues provide our readers with a variety of articles dealing with veterinary health, breeding, companion birds, conservation, bird behaviour and general parrot information.

WildBird, P.O. Box 52898, Boulder, CO 80322. Colorful, monthly magazine with lively style and layout. Articles emphasize the fun and excitement of birding in the field, featuring both national and international hotspots. Also includes species profiles and regular columns, and has an annual bird photography contest open to readers.

World Birdwatch, BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, Girton Road, Cambridge CB3 0NA, UNITED KINGDOM. BirdLife International's quarterly magazine about birds. Includes recent news and authorative articles about birds, their habitats, and their conservation around the world. Full of articles by leading experts, who continue to provide exciting and informed insights into birds, their ecology and conservation from field projects across the globe. Stunning photographs by leading wildlife photographers capture the vivid beauty of some of the world's rarest birds and the spectacular places where they live.

Scientific Journals
NOTE: Abstracts of articles in current issues of some of these journals may be found at their web sites.

The Auk, The American Ornithologists’ Union, c/o Division of Birds MRC 116, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20560. Features full-length articles on original research findings in bird biology in its broadest sense, from laboratory, field, and museum studies, and with an international contributorship (although biased toward the Americas). Studies may be experimental or descriptive, but information is generally interpreted within a conceptual context. Also presents review articles and short communications.

The Condor, Cooper Ornithological Society, 810 East 10th St., Lawrence, KS 66044. Features full-length articles on original research findings in many aspects of the biology of wild birds, experimental or descriptive, often conceptually based. Oriented more toward field studies than The Auk. Historically has had a western U. S. focus, but now international in scope. Also presents short communications and occasional review articles.

The Journal of Field Ornithology, The Association of Field Ornithologists, 810 East 10th St., Lawrence, KS 66044. Features articles emphasizing both life history descriptions and experimental studies of wild birds in the field, as well as field methodology, including conservation techniques. Biased toward studies from the western hemisphere. Especially targeted toward bird banders and amateur ornithologists. Strong interest in field studies in the Neotropics, and those involving amateur participation.

The Wilson Bulletin, Wilson Ornithological Society, The Josselyn Van Tyne Memorial Library, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079. Features full-length articles on original research findings in many aspects of bird biology, and short communications describing observations of particular interest. Tends toward field population studies, usually descriptive rather than conceptual. Often includes descriptions of new species, illustrated with a color frontispiece. Historically has had an eastern U. S. bias, but now international in scope (although slanted toward the Americas). Content and style make it accessible to both amateur and professional ornithologists.

The following scientific journals also regularly publish research articles involving birds, though their focus is not restricted to birds. In these articles, birds often are used as models to study current questions in behavior, ecology, and conservation.

Animal Behaviour
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Conservation Biology
Ecology
Journal of Animal Ecology
Journal of Wildlife Management

Leisure Reading

The Feather Quest, by Pete Dunne. 1992. NY: Penguin Books (Dutton), 336 pages. With humor and enthusiasm, this well-known birding personality chronicles a year’s travels with his photographer wife to top North American birding hotspots from Florida to Alaska, sharing his love of birding and birders.

Season at the Point, by Jack Connor. 1991. NY: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 290 pages. Lively storytelling gives us a close-up view of the annual bird migration at Cape May Point, New Jersey—both the birds themselves and the issues facing naturalists whose lives are intimately entwined with them.

Tales of a Low-Rent Birder, by Pete Dunne. 1986. NJ: Rutgers University Press, 157 pages. Pete Dunne’s passion for birds and fresh perspective on the human side of birding combine with his humor to produce 19 unique essays on the birds and birders around Cape May, New Jersey.

A World of Watchers, by Joseph Kastner. 1986. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 241 pages. The fascinating history of birding in North America, told through witty biographies of influential ornithologists and naturalists. Features illustrations from the work of Louis Agassiz Fuertes.

Attracting Birds
NOTE: For this information, please refer to Chapter 2 - Sidebar 1: Attracting Birds to Your Yard (Selected References section).

Audio Guides

Birding by Ear (Eastern/Central or Western Region), by Richard K. Walton and Robert W. Lawson. 1989 and 1990. Peterson Field Guides. NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. Three CDs or audio-cassettes and a booklet. The format of this popular guide works well for beginners as well as advanced birders. Covering 85 species east of the Rockies (or 91 species found west of the Great Plains), it groups birds with similar vocalizations and points out exactly what to listen for to tell them apart. Also available: More Birding by Ear: Eastern and Central. 1994.

Guide to Bird Sounds, by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and The National Geographic Society. 1983. Two audio-cassettes or CDs. Contains page number references to both editions of the National Geographic Society Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Calls, songs, and other sounds of 179 species are included.

Know Your Bird Sounds, Vol. 1: Yard, Garden and City Birds; Vol. 2: Birds of the Countryside, by Lang Elliott. 1994. Published by NorthSound Music Group, Box 1360, Minocqua, WI, 54548. Phone: (715) 356-9800. Also available through “One Good Tern,” Phone: (800) 432-8376. 65-minute CD or audio-cassette. Each tape has songs and calls from 35 common species. Accompanying booklet gives detailed descriptions of the sounds of each bird, including the behavioral context for the calls. Good for beginners or those wanting to learn more than just songs.

Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs, Eastern Region, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes. 1997. Three CDs or audio-cassettes and a 64-page booklet.
Includes more species and more different types of sounds than other guides to eastern bird songs. The booklet has precise call and song descriptions for 372 species, including hints on distinguishing similar species.

Web Sites
Note: The Internet is an immensely useful resource for information about birds. The following list of Web sites pertaining to birding and ornithology was first posted in November 2004. It was last verified in January 2008, however please note that the Internet, by definition, is a dynamic resource—and so web addresses may change, new sites will appear, and some will disappear. There are hundreds of sites devoted to birds, but unfortunately they cannot all be listed here. Following are just a few of those the CLO staff find very useful, and that will help you find your way to other birding resources on the Web.

All About Birds
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds
A resourceful web site brought to you by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which provides comprehensive information on identifying birds, where to "bird" and how to report observations. Also includes a dynamic online guide that includes photos, range maps, songs and calls, information on habitat, food, reproduction, behavior and more.

Bird Monitoring
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/birds.html
This Web site provides links to many bird monitoring programs administered by governmental and nongovernmental organizations throughout the United States and Canada. Many of these programs allow access to bird population data and provide information about how to become a participant. Following are a few examples: The Canadian Bird Checklist Program allows bird observations to be contributed on-line. The Audubon Christmas Bird Count provides bird distribution maps and other information summaries, describes how the data were collected, and suggests potential uses of the data. The North American Bird Banding Program describes why and how bird banding data are used, and how to report a recovered bird band. The North American Breeding Bird Survey provides a continentwide perspective on bird population changes, from summarized data collected annually on Breeding Bird Surveys since 1966. The survey data can be viewed in many different forms, including “Distribution Maps,” “Trend Maps,” and “Trend Graphs.” Links are given to many other programs, including Night Bird Survey, Migration Monitoring, Urban Birds (Birdscape Project), International Shorebird Survey, Marsh Bird Monitoring, Hawk Migration Monitoring, and Colonial Waterbirds Inventory and Monitoring Program.

Birdzilla
http://www.birdzilla.com (NOTE: We had originally been listing http://birder.com as a resource here, however that site does not seem to be active as of January 2008)
One of the largest and most visited Web sites for bird watchers. Birdzilla includes a network of 100 state Web sites, most of which are focused on the "backyard birder," including information on feeding, observation, and gardening. Other parts of the site are designed for the more serious birder and helps birders locate places to bird, places to stay and places to eat. Birdzilla is also home to the Birdzilla Internet Broadcast Network. Visitors will find both streaming video and audio broadcasts. A variety of program sources are presented. A monthly (opt-in) e-mail newsletter is also available.

BirdNet
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET
This site is a service of the Ornithological Council, a public information organization involving eight North American professonal ornithological societies: The American Ornithologists’ Union, The Association of Field Ornithologists, The Colonial Waterbird Society, The Cooper Ornithological Society, The Pacific Seabird Group, The Raptor Research Foundation, The Society of Caribbean Ornithology, and The Wilson Ornithological Society. Provides links to the home pages of each member society. Primarily oriented to the scientific study of birds. Extensive links to research news; professional information including graduate programs in ornithology, research funding sources, and careers in ornithology; and links to biologists on-line. Legislative information and government contacts for ornithlogical issues pending. Also some birding information, including checklists, identification tips, recent publications, and news of major birding events.

BirdSource
http://www.birdsource.org
An interactive site cosponsored by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, this partnership between birders and scientists has created a powerful tool for bird conservation. Birders contribute their birding observations on-line, and these data are analyzed by CLO and Audubon staff, helping to define bird ranges, breeding distributions, migratory pathways, and habitat needs. Results are presented in the Map Room featuring animated maps and charts, allowing contributors to see how their data fit into the continentwide picture. BirdSource currently maintains projects that track the migration and breeding distribution of North American birds.

Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
http://www.birds.cornell.edu
This Web site provides information about the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s many research and education programs. Visitors can access information, including maps, graphs, and tables of research results, on the Lab’s various Citizen Science projects, such as Project FeederWatch, Classroom FeederWatch, and The Birdhouse Network. These projects allow birders and amateur naturalists continentwide to participate in meaningful bird research with Lab scientists. This site also provides information on the Lab’s Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds and photographic slide collection, through which animal sounds and bird slides can be purchased. The Bioacoustics Research Program pages provide information on studying animal communication, such as bird night flight calls, through techniques that use computer software to record and analyze animal vocalizations. Selected articles from the Lab’s Living Bird magazine and quarterly newsletter, Birdscope, are available, as well as on-line versions of BirdNotes—fact sheets that provide information on frequently asked questions about birds. The Web site features “Bird of the Week” and “Sound of the Week” pages that include species profiles, photographs, maps, and sounds. Weekly bird and sound features are archived resulting in a mini, on-line, avian natural history library.

Electronic Resources on Ornithology
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/bird.html
This Web site provides links to a huge variety of bird-related Web sites around the world, including birding and ornithological organizations (local, regional, national, and international), bird clubs in many different countries, museums, research centers, conservation programs, commercial Web sites (for example, birding software and book publishers), and birding chat groups.

NOTE: Please feel free to send any questions or broken link notifications to us at our official course email address: hstudy@cornell.edu.