[B]Field Guide to Warblers (North America)[/B] (1 Viewer)

[Andy1]

Field Guide to Warblers (North America)

Admirers of warblers in North America should check out the Stokes Field Guide to Warblers. I found this in a book store last week. It's the best guide to warblers that I have found.

What sets this guide apart from Sibley's, Peterson's, etc. is the amazing photos. Each species gets between two and four photos depending upon the variability in plumages between male and female and spring and fall. The photos are incredible clear and crisp with each bird posing in a similar manner facing right - so it is easy to compare species. Another uniques feature of this guide is the spring and fall migration maps for each species. Each map has progress lines with dates on it so you have an idea when the bird is leaving or passing through your area. The species are arranged by dominant color pattern so, for example if you get a quick look at a bird with a yellow belly, you can easily compare it to other similar species. Each species also gets a box showing a drawing of the undertail pattern, since this might be the best view you get o the bird as it feeds in the tree tops.

The first 35 pages of the book is text giving an overview of warblers - describing and sorting species by attributes such as migration timing, nesting locations, fieldmarks, characteristic behaviors, migration routes and plumages.

If you're looking for an inspiring book on the most beautiful birds around, check it out!

 

[Tero]

Yeah, it is pretty good. Also a slim volume: Chris Earley, Warblers of the Great Lakes Region and Eastern North America. I like it for the pictures. I think the Great Lakes is just to market it to Canadians as well.

 

[Reuven_M]

Yeah, it is pretty good. Also a slim volume: Chris Earley, Warblers of the Great Lakes Region and Eastern North America. I like it for the pictures. I think the Great Lakes is just to market it to Canadians as well.

Not really - It doesn't have a full page about Swainson's warbler- definitely an Eastern Warbler, and the abundance charts are for Point Pelee.

Anyways, this is the only book I use for spring warblers (some species don't have great fall pictures). I also own the sparrows and finches book, which I think is even better than the warbler one

Never see the Stokes guide, and I don't really need another warbler book, but those comparison pages and undertail patterns would be quite useful!

 

[vaubu]

I really like Chris Earley's books, especially the Warbler and Sparrow editions. I've taken Earley's advice and have made my own 'cheat sheets' of the common winter sparrows in my area. Simply taking the time to make the comparison charts has helped me to look for specific plumage, such as a streaked or bare mantle and to look for details in the facial patterns that I hadn't been looking for. I've also added an extra box in my charts that includes each species' common behaviors. Admittedly, many of the little brown jobs still leave me stumped but making the charts are fun to make.

That Stokes guide does indeed look pretty great. The migratory maps look especially interesting.