A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America
Peterson Field Guide by Sheri Williamson
Flexi-bind paperback; 275 pages; published Jan, 2002
Have you completed your bird reference library? Hold
it, here is another book, and an important one. We first
heard of this impending hummingbird reference and guide
almost a year ago. It has arrived, is very worth while,
and is simply titled Hummingbirds of North America.
Sheri L. Williamson, co-founder of the Southeastern
Arizona Bird Observatory, is the author.
This reference is organized in the same fashion as
the more modern present day field guides. That is, sections
on What Is a Hummingbird, Parts of a Hummingbird, How
to Identify Hummingbirds, How to Use This Book, etc.
However, with the subject being a single bird family
(Trochilidae), hummingbird natural history, each genius,
and each specie is treated in-depth.
There are very informative sub-sections on plumage,
molt, hybridization, territory, and migration. Twenty-six
species recorded in North America are covered, including
of course all 17 species which have bred in North America,
plus five additional species found in northern Mexico,
as yet not recorded north of the border.
Each specie account is in depth. That is, an overview,
description, similar species, sound, behavior, habitat,
status, and taxonomic relationships on each species.
Very refreshing are the range maps, for they are in
extreme detail. In such detail compared to other general
field guides that we will have to revisit our own TMBC
bird specie check list!
Magnificent photos of each specie are augmented by
detailed close-ups of tails, wings, and heads. These
pictures are assembled in a plate section including
close to 500 photos. Being in the Peterson Field Guide
Series, the authored also uses arrows to pin point important
identification features.
The author has included a glossary. I really appreciate
this. Covering a single family, and probably a bird
which should be in its own order, there are terms not
often encountered outside the world of hummingbirds.
For example, flame-throated, gorget, and platelet.
We encourage you to add this worthwhile new guide to
your library.
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