The most up-to-date and gorgeous photographic collection of all 1,144 bird species in North America (including Hawaii!).
A Great Blue Heron, a Wood Duck, a Baltimore Oriole, an Eastern Bluebird, or a Belted Kingfisher – which North American bird species is your favourite? In Birds of North America: A Photographic Atlas, Bruce M. Beehler provides the information and images you need to identify and enjoy each of the 1,144 amazing and diverse bird species recorded in the United States and Canada, including Hawaii and Alaska. Featuring more than 1,200 full-colour photographs and illustrations and more than 700 range maps, this comprehensive reference provides both beginners and seasoned birders with important facts about each bird's ecology, behaviour, seasonal movements, nesting biology, and conservation status.
Birds of North America gives bird lovers everything they could ask for: The photographs and illustrations, selected and curated by Brian E. Small, one of America's most talented nature photographers, depict each species in its most beautiful plumage and natural habitat. The largest, most detailed, and most up-to-date range maps available anywhere provide invaluable insider information on the best birding hotspots. And the special sections rounding out the book offer helpful guidance on birding gear, field trip planning, critical resources, and conservation issues. This is the book for aspiring and veteran bird enthusiasts alike.
Front Matter
Foreword, by Michael J. Parr
Acknowledgments
Geographic Terms, Technical Terms, and Abbreviations
Introduction
The List
The Species Accounts
The Range Maps
Main Species Accounts
1. The Non-passerines (the waterfowl to the falcons and parrots)
2. The Passerines (the flycatchers to the finches and tanagers)
Accounts of Vagrant, Hawaiian, Exotic, and Extinct Species
3. Neotropical Rarities and Vagrants
4. European Rarities and Vagrants
5. Asian Rarities and Vagrants
6. Hawaiian Birds
7. Oceanic Rarities and Vagrants
8. Mainland Localized Exotics
9. Extinct Species
Back Matter
Bird Family Accounts
Birds in Our Lives
Best Birding Apps and Websites
Birding Gear
Planning Your Birding Field Trip
Important Institutions for Birds and Birding
Birds at Home
Bird Conservation
Annotated Bibliography
Contributing Photographers
Index
Ornithologist Bruce M. Beehler is a research associate in the Division of Birds at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, and a scientific affiliate of the American Bird Conservancy. He is the author of more than a dozen nature books, including Birds of Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia and North on the Wing: Travels with the Songbird Migration of Spring.
Brian E. Small is one of North America’s best-known and most accomplished bird photographers, whose images grace more than fifty books.
"Birds of North America gives bird-lovers everything they could ask for: The photographs and illustrations, selected and curated by Brian E. Small, one of America's most talented nature photographers, depict each species in its most beautiful plumage and natural habitat. The largest, most detailed, and most up-to-date range maps available anywhere provide invaluable insider information on the best birding hotspots [...] This is the book for aspiring and veteran bird enthusiasts alike."
– Birdbooker Report
"This exciting new Photographic Atlas provides an exceptional entry point for anyone to better appreciate the remarkable variety of bird species found in North America [...] The more you page through this book, the more interesting information you will glean from the text, photographs, and range maps! You will learn something each time you open the book, and you will be delighted by the remarkable photographs presented page after page."
– Birding Wire
"Everyone who likes birds wants to know what the different species look like and where they occur. Birds of North America: A Photographic Atlas is now the best way to find out, with its superb photographs and large, up-to-date range maps. No more squinting at tiny range maps in field guides! In addition, the text provides valuable information on the behavior and habitats of the birds. This is a book that bird-watchers of all types, from beginners to experts, will enjoy."
– David S. Wilcove, Professor of Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Public Affairs, Princeton University
"This handsome book includes all four components needed to make a useful birder's tool: legible and detailed range maps, more than a thousand beautiful images of the birds, a brief but informative text for each species, and some great guidance on the ins and outs of birding."
– Gary R. Graves, Curator of Birds, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
"This is a work that makes our magnificent bird fauna accessible to users of any level of expertise."
– Michael O'Brien, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours