| Introduction | Bird Descriptions | Hits | Misses | Summary |
Smithsonian Handbooks: Birds of Texas. Fred J. Alsop III. DK Publishing, Inc., New York, NY
The first field guide I ever owned was Roger Tory Peterson’s A Field Guide to the Birds of Texas. I was thrilled to own it since I was able to identify the birds I saw around me with its help. On the other hand, I was confounded by the archaic design of the book. I will cite the chief example: The textual description of a bird was separate, sometimes by many pages, from the corresponding illustration. This stimulated me to begin my search for the perfect field guide.
My latest acquisition is the subject of this review. I will say right now I like this book. I haven’t stopped using my Sibley Guide, but I was slow to stop using my National Geographic Birds of North America when I first got my Sibley.
Let me tell you why I like the Birds of Texas: The descriptions of the individual bird species. Oh, it has the usual introductory material and end matter, but none of that is really important to me in a field guide. It’s all about the bird descriptions!
Each species has its own page with a standardized layout. There is a header bar with the family, species, length and wingspan. There is also a footer bar with notes about plumage dimorphism, habitat (using symbols), migratory habits and weight.
I am particularly pleased with an innovation in Birds of Texas: In
the top right-hand corner of each page there is a small silhouette of the bird
superimposed on an outline of this book giving a very useful size reference. (A
“scale silhouette” according to the introductory material.) Of course I
don’t need this at the extremes, for example a Whooping Crane or a
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, but I do find it helpful for shorebirds and
passerines.
In the main section there is a textual description that discusses the bird’s appearance and habits. There are also specific “bullets” covering Song, Behavior, Breeding, Nesting, Population, Feeders (when appropriate) and Conservation.
There is also a photographic illustration that is masked so that the bird is presented with minimal distraction from any background. The photos are all very sharp, and important identifying characteristics are flagged with notes. I suspect that some features that are important to identification have been “digitally tweaked” to emphasize them. The pictures present the bird as you are most likely to see it: perched, flying and sometimes both. If the bird’s appearance varies by sex or season additional photos or paintings are included.
I have to admit that I have a bias against photographic field guides (as opposed to painted field guides): I tend to think that birds must look exactly like a photograph while I can accept some variation from a painting. I know this is … silly, but I’m not the only birder to have this bias. Having said this, I find that the masked presentation minimizes, but does not eliminate, my problem with this format.
There is a small section, discussing similar species. There are notes about the similarities and differences, and there are photos or paintings of these species.
Near the bottom of each species’ page is another small section describing both graphically and in words the bird’s flight pattern. I like this feature; I often rely on a bird’s flight pattern to identity it.
Opposite the flight pattern section is a range map which uses a color scheme that is consistent with both the National Geographic and Sibley guides.
Just above the footer bar is the Nest Identification section which has symbols that show the size and typical location(s) of the species’ nests. A short descriptive paragraph is also included.
Below the footer bar there is a place to record your sighting of the particular species.
I have found quite a few things I like about Birds of Texas. They are:
On the other hand I have a few complaints. They are:
As I said earlier, I like this book. I do not think you would be disappointed owning it. I don’t know right now if I’ll replace Sibley in my birding bag with The Birds of Texas, but I keep it there now when I’m birding in my home state.
Note: the images in this review were used under the principle of Fair Use.
This page was last updated on Monday November 04, 2002 04:17 PM