Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New York City

by Leslie Day, Trudy Smoke (Illustrator), Beth Bergman (Photographer), Don Riepe

Overview

New York City's favorite naturalist is back with a guided tour of the Big Apple that unveils the beautiful birds living in its midst.

Winner of the Hardcover Nonfiction (Design) of The New York Book Show, Illustrated Text of the Washington Publishers

Look around New York, and you’ll probably see birds: wood ducks swimming in Queens, a stalking black-crowned night-heron in Brooklyn, great horned owls perching in the Bronx, warblers feeding in Central Park, or Staten Island’s purple martins flying to and fro. You might spot hawks and falcons nesting on skyscrapers or robins belting out songs from trees along the street.

America’s largest metropolis teems with birdlife in part because it sits within the great Atlantic flyway where migratory birds travel seasonally between north and south. The Big Apple’s miles of coastline, magnificent parks, and millions of trees attract dozens of migrating species every year and are also home year-round to scores of resident birds.

There is no better way to identify and learn about New York’s birds than with this comprehensive field guide from New York City naturalist Leslie Day. Her book will quickly teach you what each species looks like, where they build their nests, what they eat, the sounds of their songs, what time of year they appear in the city, the shapes and colors of their eggs, and where in the five boroughs you can find them—which is often in the neighborhood you call home. The hundreds of stunning photographs by Beth Bergman and gorgeous illustrations by Trudy Smoke will help you identify the ninety avian species commonly seen in New York. Once you enter the world of the city’s birds, life in the great metropolis will never look the same.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421416182
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	07/31/2015
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	202,859
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Leslie Day is a New York City naturalist. The author of Honeybee Hotel: The Waldorf Astoria's Rooftop Garden and the Heart of NYC, Field Guide to the Street Trees of New York City, and Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New York City, Dr. Day taught environmental science and biology for more than twenty years. Today, she leads nature walks, gives talks, and teaches at the New York Botanical Garden.

Trudy Smoke is a professor of linguistics and rhetoric at Hunter College, City University of New York and a nature illustrator. She is the illustrator of Field Guide to the Street Trees of New York City.

Beth Bergman is a photographer for the Metropolitan Opera who has been documenting nature for forty-one years. Her photographs have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Newsweek, New York Magazine, Opera News, and Paris Match.

Table of Contents

Foreword Don Riepe 9

Acknowledgments 11

Introduction 15

1 Illustrated Bird, Wing, and Feather Anatomy 23

2 Bird Terminology 29

3 Birds 35

Cormorant 35

Double-crested Cormorant 38

Waterfowl 42

Brant Goose 44

Canada Goose 46

Mute Swan 50

Mallard Duck 54

Bufflehead Duck 58

Northern Shoveler 60

Ruddy Duck 62

Wood Duck 64

Hooded Merganser 68

Gulls and Terns 72

Ring-billed Gull 74

Great Black-backed Gull 78

Herring Gull 82

Common Tern 86

Wading Birds 88

Great Blue Heron 90

Great Egret 94

Green Heron 98

Black-crowned Night-Heron 100

Glossy Ibis 102

Shorebirds 106

American Oystercatcher 108

American Woodcock 112

Spotted Sandpiper 116

Ground Birds 118

Wild Turkey 120

Hawks 124

Red-tailed Hawk 126

Osprey 130

Cooper's Hawk 134

Falcons 136

American Kestrel 138

Peregrine Falcon 140

Owls 144

Eastern Screech-Owl 146

Great Horned Owl 148

Barred Owl 150

Northern Saw-whet Owl 154

Hummingbirds 158

Ruby-throated Hummingbird 160

Parrots 164

Monk Parakeet 166

Doves 170

Rock Pigeon 172

Mourning Dove 176

Woodpeckers 180

Red-bellied Woodpecker 182

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 184

Downy Woodpecker 188

Hairy Woodpecker 190

Northern Flicker 192

Flycatchers 196

Eastern Wood-Pewee 198

Eastern Phoebe 200

Eastern Kingbird 202

Vireos 204

Red-eyed Vireo 206

Jays and Crows 208

Blue Jay 210

American Crow 214

Swallows 216

Tree Swallow 218

Barn Swallow 220

Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches, and Creepers 222

Black-capped Chickadee 224

Tufted Titmouse 226

White-breasted Nuthatch 228

Brown Creeper 230

Wrens 232

House Wren 234

Carolina Wren 236

Kinglets 238

Golden-crowned Kinglet 240

Ruby-crowned Kinglet 242

Thrushes 244

Veery 246

Hermit Thrush 248

Wood Thrush 250

American Robin 252

Mimids 256

Gray Catbird 258

Brown Thrasher 260

Northern Mockingbird 262

Starlings 264

European Starling 266

Waxwings 270

Cedar Waxwing 272

Warblers 276

Ovenbird 278

Black-and-white Warbler 280

Common Yellowthroat 282

American Redstart 286

Northern Parula 290

Magnolia Warbler 292

Yellow Warbler 296

Yellow-rumped Warbler 298

Black-throated Green Warbler 300

Sparrows and Their Allies 302

Eastern Towhee 304

Chipping Sparrow 308

Song Sparrow 310

White-throated Sparrow 312

Dark-eyed Junco 314

Cardinals, Tanagers, and Grosbeaks 316

Scarlet Tanager 318

Northern Cardinal 322

Rose-breasted Grosbeak 326

Blackbirds and Orioles 330

Red-winged Blackbird 332

Common Grackle 334

Brown-headed Cowbird 338

Baltimore Oriole 340

Finches and Old World Sparrows 344

House Finch 346

American Goldfinch 350

House Sparrow 352

Birding Organizations And Resources 357

Birding Hotspots 363

Bibliography 369

Photographer Credits 371

Index 373

What People are Saying About This

Rita McMahon

Visually beautiful, Leslie Day's Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New York City manages to be clear and concise while including lesser-known salient features of each bird. With this book in hand, you will know where to go to see the woodcock's hunting dance or hear the ruby-throat's call.

Anthony A. Pilny

Leslie Day has compiled this long-awaited and superb book filled with stunning illustrations, photographs, and concise information. This welcome anthology of species that harmoniously coexist in our urban environment will be cherished by and is a must-have for anyone interested in the diverse avian community of New York City.

Susan B. Elbin

Leslie Day provides a visually arresting and fascinating introduction to our city’s most common birds, including details on behavior and ecology not found in typical field guides. Sections covering New York City birding spots as well as birding and conservation organizations will serve to connect readers to the rich birdlife and habitats of the city’s five boroughs.

From the Publisher

Leslie Day provides a visually arresting and fascinating introduction to our city’s most common birds, including details on behavior and ecology not found in typical field guides. Sections covering New York City birding spots as well as birding and conservation organizations will serve to connect readers to the rich birdlife and habitats of the city’s five boroughs.
—Susan B. Elbin, PhD, Director of Conservation and Science, New York City Audubon

Visually beautiful, Leslie Day's Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New York City manages to be clear and concise while including lesser-known salient features of each bird. With this book in hand, you will know where to go to see the woodcock's hunting dance or hear the ruby-throat's call.
—Rita McMahon, Director, Wild Bird Fund

Leslie Day has compiled this long-awaited and superb book filled with stunning illustrations, photographs, and concise information. This welcome anthology of species that harmoniously coexist in our urban environment will be cherished by and is a must-have for anyone interested in the diverse avian community of New York City.
—Anthony A. Pilny, DVM, The Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine

Editorial Reviews

These three fabulous New York women have been to every park in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx, seeking out their feathered material. Their pooled talents have yielded a field guide that runs from Double-Crested Cormorants to Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers, revealing the richness of diversity in the lives of our fellow New Yorkers from the natural world.

Huffington Post

Day's deeply researched and richly illustrated Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New York City will be indispensable to locals and tourists alike.

Sierra

Will fill a niche for beginning birders and backyard watchers in the northeastern US . . .

Choice

An excellent guide for New York City residents. If you have any interest in the birds around you (and there are plenty of birds around you, even in NYC), this guide will really open your eyes.

Birder's Library

Overall, this guide is not just a source of information, but fosters an appreciation for the wildlife that surrounds us every day.

American Reference Books Annual

You don't have to live in or be visiting New York to enjoy this book.

Times Literary Supplement

"Day's deeply researched and richly illustrated Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New York City will be indispensable to locals and tourists alike."

Sierra

'Take this guide wherever you go,' [Day] implores readers in the introduction. And we hope many do, since it reveals a New York we long to see, the wild, beautiful city of birds known to Audubon, Chapman, and Griscom.
—Chuck Hagner, BirdWatching Magazine

An excellent guide for New York City residents. If you have any interest in the birds around you (and there are plenty of birds around you, even in NYC), this guide will really open your eyes.
—Birder's Library

Day's deeply researched and richly illustrated Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New York City will be indispensable to locals and tourists alike.
—Sierra

Will fill a niche for beginning birders and backyard watchers in the northeastern US . . .
—Choice

You don't have to live in or be visiting New York to enjoy this book.
—Times Literary Supplement

These three fabulous New York women have been to every park in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx, seeking out their feathered material. Their pooled talents have yielded a field guide that runs from Double-Crested Cormorants to Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers, revealing the richness of diversity in the lives of our fellow New Yorkers from the natural world.
—Huffington Post

Overall, this guide is not just a source of information, but fosters an appreciation for the wildlife that surrounds us every day.
—American Reference Books Annual

From the Publisher

'Take this guide wherever you go,' [Day] implores readers in the introduction. And we hope many do, since it reveals a New York we long to see, the wild, beautiful city of birds known to Audubon, Chapman, and Griscom.

BirdWatching Magazine - Chuck Hagner