Birds of North America book review

If like us you are facinated by bird migration, rare birds and vagrants then this is a must have book! Rare Birds of North America is not only packed with information but fires you up to get out into the field to see more birds. The style is readable, even has some humour in there, so not some dry tomb packed with facts and figures, the authors really love their birds and this comes across in the text. Then of course there are the illustrations, worth buying the book for alone! Amazing paintings by Ian Lewington bring each species to life and make you want to dash out and see one right now.



This book looks at the patterns of occurance of rare birds to provide an overview of where and why they occur, and how to identify them. Many of the species treated here are not covered in the standard field guides so much of the information will be new to most readers. New identification criteria are given and I doubt anyone could read this book without learning a lot! Two hundred and sixty two species are covered in the 421 pages of this beautiful book.

The book includes an amazing array of birds from all points of the compass and this makes for a fascinating read, one minute your learning about Green Violetear Hummingbird and then you could turn to Steller's Sea. Each species has latin name, measurements, a summary of its occurance, taxonomy listing sub-species, distribution and status in its normal range. Next comes a comments section where the species history of vacrancy is discussed and previous records are listed. Last but no means least is the informative field identification section. In the last section the authors have a splendid job of reviewing known ID and presented it in a readable and consice way.



From a UK perspective you might think this may not be a book for you, but we think it is a very valuable reference for not only North American birders but for anyone interested in bird migration, identification and or rarirty finding. Any keen birder anywhere in the world will love this book.



Some of the species covered will be familiar to UK readers such as Hoopoe and Wryneck but it is very interesting to see a new take on their identification! We never stop learning, even about familiar birds, so do read the text on the birds you think you know! Always something to pick up and store away for future use. We always watch common birds and beleive there is always more to learn even about the most frequently seen birds.



How many British birders would have appreciated this page when the Long-billed Murrelet arrived in Devon? There are many potential vagrants to the British Isles covered in detail here and its always good to be prepared when your on the Isles of Scilly on some remote Scottish island on an October morning! Many of the birds here are not covered in our field guides so a great reference work and an inspiration to get out and look harder.



We think that the authors have done a magnificent job with The Rare Birds of America and we know anyone who has an interest in bird migration, rare birds and bird identification will love this book. The publishers, Princeton press, have made a lovely job, quality throughout, well bound, great reproduction of the plates - if only all books were printed like this!



Meet the authors - Ian Lewington, Steve N. G. Howell and Will Russell - top men!

Rare Birds in North America is published by Priceton Press, ISBN 978-0-691-11796-6.

We highly recommend Rare Birds of North America.