United States
£ GBP
This unique photographic field guide to North America's gulls provides a comparative approach to identification that concentrates on the size, structure, and basic plumage features of gulls-gone are the often-confusing array of plumage details found in traditional guides.
Featuring hundreds of colour photos throughout, Gulls Simplified illustrates the variations of gull plumages for a variety of ages, giving readers strong visual reference points for each species. Extensive captions accompany the photos, which include comparative photo arrays, digitized photo arrays for each age group, and numerous images of each species-a wealth of visual information at your fingertips. This one-of-a-kind guide includes detailed species accounts and a distribution map for each gull.
An essential field companion for North American birders, Gulls Simplified reduces the confusion commonly associated with gull identification, offering a more user-friendly way of observing these marvellous birds.
Pete Dunne is Birding Ambassador at Large for New Jersey Audubon. His books include Hawks in Flight, Birds of Prey (with Kevin T. Karlson), and Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion.
Kevin T. Karlson is an accomplished birder, tour leader, and wildlife photographer. His books include the Peterson Reference Guide to Birding by Impression and The Shorebird Guide.
"Around 50 years ago almost any birdwatcher when confronted with a large flock of gulls, resting on a beach or inland reservoir, could perhaps be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed at the spectacle and moving onto something a little easier to identify. The field guides of the time barely scratched the surface of the complexities and variety of plumages exhibited. [...] Since then numerous books have been dedicated to the subject and of course a vast range of references is available via the internet. However, some of this resource is rather dry and not especially user-friendly for someone with a fear of distinguishing gulls. There seemed to be a niche for more accessible guides and, as suggested by its title, Gulls Simplified is one such that has been produced with this in mind. [...] The subtitle of this book is A Comparative Approach to Identification and this is illustrated perfectly throughout with many examples of potential confusion species depicted together, accompanied by detailed explanatory captions. [...] this is a very affordable book and is as much an appreciation of aesthetics as well as identification [...] I would recommend it as an addition to any larophile's library, and for anyone who still has a fear of sorting out gulls it would be an ideal starting point."
– Nic Hallam, Ibis 161(4), October 2019
"[...] This is a book on the gulls of North America, aimed to complement other gull books on the bookshelf (even for the American audiences) as stated by the author. It provides an enjoyable read, is easy on the eye and for those of us who are gull mad, it makes one look at gulls from a simplified perspective once more. For those new to gull identification, this book probably isn’t going to be very helpful when learning gull identification in the UK, but for those who are already hooked and searching for vagrant gulls from the other side of the pond here in the UK, it really is a lovely book and now sits proudly between my other gull books! [...] A highly recommended book for North American and UK gull geeks of all abilities."
– Sarah Harris, BTO book reviews
"Dunne and Karlson's beautiful and engaging book fills a need and will be much appreciated by the birding community."
– Dennis Paulson, author of Shorebirds of North America
"Gulls Simplified fills a major hole in the birder's library. Dunne and Karlson share the joys and challenges that make gull watching so much fun."
– Derek Lovitch, author of How to Be a Better Birder
