American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America

by Paul D. Hess (Contribution by), David Bird (Contribution by)

Overview

Updated to reflect all the latest taxonomic data, American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America is the complete photographic guide to the 657 species of birds found in the United States and Canada.

Ideal for the armchair bird enthusiast or dedicated bird watcher, this book includes stunning full-color photographs revealing 657 individual species with unrivaled clarity. The 550 most commonly seen birds are pictured with plumage variations, and images of subspecies and information on similar birds are provided to make differentiation easy, from game birds and waterfowl to shorebirds and swifts to owls, flycatchers, finches, and more. You can even discover which species to expect when and where with up-to-date, color-coded maps highlighting habitation and migratory patterns.

Written by a team of more than 30 birders and ornithologists with expertise in particular species or families, and produced in association with the American Museum of Natural History, this updated and refreshed edition of American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America is the ultimate photographic guide to every bird species in the United States and Canada.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781465443991
Publisher:	DK
Publication date:	09/06/2016
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	752
Sales rank:	1,110,600
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 11.00(h) x 2.00(d)

About the Author

Editor-in-chief Francois Vuilleumier has a long association with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, having served first as the Chairman of the Department of Ornithology before becoming a Curator Emeritus. He is the author of 250 papers and one book and once taught ornithology at the College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine. His research has taken him all over the world, with a focus on South America, allowing him to watch birds from the Canadian High Arctic to Mexico; his life list numbers around 4,000 species. He lives in Piermont, NY.

Editorial Reviews

"A massive, authoritative reference book that belongs in every birder's library." — BookPage

"[A] massive and spectacular photographic guide: what Audubon would have done if he had used a camera." — Harvard Magazine

From the Publisher

11/01/2016
This unwieldy, weighty tome from Vuilleumier (curator emeritus, Dept. of Ornithology, American Museum of Natural History) is destined to be of use only on a table in the living room or study. An information-packed single page is devoted to each species, providing information on voice, nesting, feeding, flight pattern, similar species, length, wingspan, weight, status, lifespan, and social characteristics, as well as a range map and an attractive, illustrated sidebar. For each species, there are photographs plus a painting of the bird in flight and photos with brief information on one or two similar species. Valuable as all this is, most of it can already be found in the two ranking, handy-sized field guides, David Allen Sibley's The Sibley Guide to Birds, 2d ed., and Jon L. Dunn's National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America, 6th ed. Similar recent large books exist under the aegis of the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic. Many experienced birders find diagrammatic paintings capture a bird's essence much better than even the good photos here do. VERDICT For birders who do not have the first edition or the two field guides cited above.—Henry T. Armistead, formerly with Free Lib. of Philadelphia

Library Journal