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The Sibley Guide to Birdlife and Behavio(u)r (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter pduxon
- Start date
Tero
Retired
Probably not. It does not discuss individual birds in that much detail. I do read it from time to time. I prefer a Ken Kaufman book tha has something about bird life in the titl and sells for under 25$.
OK, here
Lives of North American Birds
Kenn Kaufman
Larger view Paperback, November 2001
Other Formats: Hardcover
Our Price: $25.00
The hard cover is a bit flimsy, paperback just as good.
Sibley discusses bird families. It is useful in seeing the relationship of close species and general guidelines of what this and that family generally does, but lots of fun detail missing. It has a lot of experts writing the chapters, so the info is accurate, but a bit too academic.
OK, here
Lives of North American Birds
Kenn Kaufman
Larger view Paperback, November 2001
Other Formats: Hardcover
Our Price: $25.00
The hard cover is a bit flimsy, paperback just as good.
Sibley discusses bird families. It is useful in seeing the relationship of close species and general guidelines of what this and that family generally does, but lots of fun detail missing. It has a lot of experts writing the chapters, so the info is accurate, but a bit too academic.
Last edited:
Beverlybaynes
Mod Squad
I have to agree with Tero -- if you're not coming to the US, then it's probably much too 'American' to be of great interest to you.
The Kauffman book is excellent, by the way.
The Kauffman book is excellent, by the way.
Darrell Clegg
Well-known member
I have to say that this is one of my favourite books. Despite being aimed at the American market, it is very easy to read.
Part 2 of the book splits birds into families, many of which are common to both the U.S. and Europe, so whilst the specifics are American it doesn't detract from providing some very useful information.
Opening the book at random I have chosen the section on Swallows and Martins. Following a very short introduction there are short sections on taxonomy, species variation, food and foraging, breeding, conservation, and accidential species to the U.S.
Part 1 goes into more detail about birds in general, discussing flight, plumage, moult (molt) physiology, origins, evolution, classification,species concepts, behaviour (behavior), migration, communication, breeding, habitats, populations, parasites, conservation, etc.
All in all, well worth getting.
Darrell
Part 2 of the book splits birds into families, many of which are common to both the U.S. and Europe, so whilst the specifics are American it doesn't detract from providing some very useful information.
Opening the book at random I have chosen the section on Swallows and Martins. Following a very short introduction there are short sections on taxonomy, species variation, food and foraging, breeding, conservation, and accidential species to the U.S.
Part 1 goes into more detail about birds in general, discussing flight, plumage, moult (molt) physiology, origins, evolution, classification,species concepts, behaviour (behavior), migration, communication, breeding, habitats, populations, parasites, conservation, etc.
All in all, well worth getting.
Darrell
crispycreme
Well-known member
And I don't think it was intended to be read that way. It's definitely a reference book. But, unlike Kaufman's book, this one can take a bit of lesiurely time discussing overall characteristics of birds: their unique anatomy, their behaviors, and whatnot. I have both in my collection, and I find them quite compatible, almost two sides of one coin; both indispensable. Together they make quite the (poor man's) compendium, far more affordable than the AOU/Cornell "Birds of North America" project (at 1800.00 USD, of which there are only a handful left anyway).
I bought it looking for a good general book on bird behaviour and - mostly - liked it. The very general Part 1 is only the first 120 pages of 564 pages of main text, but since the rest of the book is mostly at a per-genus level than a per-species level there is a decent amount of UK-applicable material. It is also a bit more general than you would expect from the title, with a good bit on conservation info and so on.
It is pretty readable and I found interesting snippets in pretty much every genus account, but then I haven't been interested in this sort of thing for long, so much is new and fresh to me.
It is pretty readable and I found interesting snippets in pretty much every genus account, but then I haven't been interested in this sort of thing for long, so much is new and fresh to me.
dacol
Well-known member
Darrell Clegg said:
Agreed. But it would have been much beter if it had references so one could read more on a given subject if one wanted. In this sense I prefer the Birder's Handbook by Erhlich et al (of which there is also a version dedicated to European birds).
Dalcio
Katy Penland
Well-known member
Is your edition the 1988 and has there been a later one? There are a whole bunch available for sale from various online booksellers but none are later than '88.dacol said:
dacol
Well-known member
Katy Penland said:
I will have to check which year my edition of The Birder's Handbook is, but I suspect that it is the 1988, which looks like to be the only one.
The European one came later and the title starts with "The Birdwatcher's Handbook" instead, published in 1994 by Ox. Uni. Press.
Dalcio
