Seabirds: The New Identification Guide

Book by Peter Harrison, Martin Perrow & Hans Larsson.

Lynx Edicions.  2021.  600 pages.  hardbound.  $90.00.

With 239 color plates and 433 species treated this is not an overpriced monograph.  Seabirds is a marvelous book.  Many of the species here are not very well known.  Consider some of the citations to Hadoram Shirihai in this book’s References with recent notations such as “rediscovery”, “first observations at sea”, “poorly known”, “new species of …”, “first observations of …”.

The excellent color plates capture the inspiring flight manner of these mysterious birds.  For each species the accounts have descriptions of their range plus a colorful range map, identifications, and “confusion species” plus color paintings on the opposite page.

Some of these birds have complex appearances, such as the Wandering and Tristan albatrosses, each depicted in ten plumages. plus 11 more images of “schematic upperparts”.   “The progressive whitening with each moult cycle thus varies between the species, sexes and individually, and the process can take up to 20-25 years to complete.” p. 314.  There are some 28 figures for Northern Gannet. !  21 of Common Gull.

There are also cogent introductory sections for bird groups, such as pp. 84-87 for gulls, with 5 paintings plus discussions of overview of the group, ID, moult & ageing, basic patterns, jizz & flight behavior, head shape  & pattern, upperpart colour, wing pattern, bill size, shape & colour, eye colour, rings & crescents, leg colour, and, finally, tail shape & bands.

The range maps, (2 3/16” X 2 7/16”) are necessarily schematic, for many of these charismatic birds cover thousands of miles, especially in the non-breeding seasons, but they show breeding areas in yellow, non-breeding in blue.  Many seabirds breed only on a few island areas, shown as yellow dots on the maps.  Because of the vast ranges involved the range maps lack place names.  But the high quality maps on pp. 24-27, plus the end papers, show the locations and names of these far flung islands.  Enhancing the species accounts are indications of the population numbers, such as c. 3,700 pairs of Antipodean Albatross.

Harrison is well and deservedly known for his 2 previous titles Seabirds: an Identification Guide (Harrison’s paintings. Houghton Mifflin, 1983, 448p.) and A Field Guide to Seabirds of the World (photographs, Stephen Greene, 1987, 317p.).  His exploits are so outstanding that he was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) in 1995.

The only misgivings concerning the paintings here are mine for the rather brutally schematic ones of frigate birds (p. 496, 498, 499), presumably necessitated by their extravagant wingspreads, the greatest “wing-loadings” of any birds, but totally compensated for by the high quality color paintings on pp. 500 and 500 of frigate birds at rest or on the wing.

Anyone who has ever witnessed the dynamic soaring of an albatross or the various flutterings of storm-petrels ought to be charmed and stimulated by the marvelous color paintings.

71 species of gulls are treated here.  Seabirds is more expansive than other seabird books treating some species that are not especially oceanic or pelagic (e.g., the grebes, Forster’s Tern) because they belong to groups that largely are.  Even birders who never or seldom go to sea, or who are not ID freaks, should find this splendid book fascinating, a treasure.

Who isn’t inspired by Wisdom, the Laysan Albatross banded by Chan Robbins  in 1956, when she was already at least 5 years old, and who has returned to Midway, in recent years to lay yet another egg.  How many million miles has Wisdom flown?

101 Curious Tales of East African Birds

Book by Colin Beale.

London, Pelagic Publishing.  2024.  222p.  flexbound.  $33.00.

Beale, biology professor at the University of York, has selected 101 species that demonstrate wide-ranging aspects of ornithology.  This is a book to be read.  A reader.  For each species there is a well-explained tenet of biology it displays, and two color photographs.

Examples: Augur Buzzard: ultraviolet vision in birds.  Yellow-throated Sandgrouse: arid adaptations.  Marabou Stork: air sacs and bird breathing.   Black-shouldered Kite: nomadism in savannahs.  White-breasted Cormorant: underwater vision.  Jackson’s Widowbird: typical sexual dimorphism.  Grater Painted-Snipe: reversed sexual dimorphism  Speke’s Weaver: racist bird names.  Narina Trogon: colonialism in bird names.

This is all backed up by 238 citations.  These are not listed alphabetically, but by the order in which they appear in the text.  The species chapters do not appear in taxonomic order.

Each species gets a full page describing its exemplary biology phenomena  with a quality color photograph occupying the entire facing page and a smaller photograph on the page with the text.

This is fine reading for anyone who wants to go past a simple listing approach to birding.  Beale’s book might be enhanced by indicating below the photographs the when where and by whom, instead of listing the photographers on p. 215, with Per Holmen and Tom Conzemius, the two most frequent contributors.  In too many books the artists and photographers get the short end of the stick.  Indications of sex, age, and so on accompanying each photo would also be desirable.

On p. 210 the citation 130 “lack” should be the celebrated ornithologist David “Lack”.  A simple map of East Africa might further enhance this fine book.

It is encouraging that this thought-provoking title can take its place among the legion of African identification guides and the many other titles, commendable though they may be, that because of their focus and scope do not give full attention to the fascinating biology and behavioral complexity exhibited so well by African birds.

- Harry Armistead

Birds of Inyo County, California, Including Death Valley National Park

Book by Thomas S. Heindel and Jo Ann Heindel.

Western Field Ornithologists, Camarillo, California, 2023, “Studies of Western Birds 5”.  flexbound.  486 pages.  $35.00 print copy.  Kindle ebook $26.00.

It is hard to imagine there is a better regional bird book than this one.  In Inyo County 441 species have been recorded.  Inyo is the 9th largest county in the U.S., the 2nd largest in California, comprising 10,200 square miles.  Some 1,000 persons contributed records to this monograph; all are listed pp. 475-477.  The Literature Cited has over 400 items.

Other aspects of this fine book include 60 habitat/scenic photographs, 142 bird photos (of varying quality) [there are uses of clickers other than in the field], 2 indexes, and 2 maps.  It measures 7” X 10” and due to the glossy, fine quality paper is rather heavy.  The attractive cover painting depicts 6 species.

Habitats vary wildly including deserts of Death Valley, date orchards, alkali scrub, sagebrush, creosote bush, dunes, joshua trees, oak woodlands, pinyon-juniper woodland, aspen forest, bristlecone pine, limber pine, subalpine forest, white fir.

To give some idea of the avian diversity 34 species of warblers have been found in Birchim Canyon, 13 gull species in Tinemaha Reservoir.  The authors are not trained biologists.  That makes Birds of Inyo County … even more amazing.  Their children also helped with their book.

The exhaustive and thorough species accounts include linear graphs broken down by month and levels of abundance, breeding records where appropriate, lengthy separate sections summarizing status and records of Death Valley N. P., extremes of spring and fall records, and a lengthy comments section, all with observers’ names.

Introductory sections are “adjacent data” (“…how Inyo County data fit into a panorama formed by the eastern Sierra Navada, western Great Basin, and northern Mojave Desert.” (p. 5), habitats (which include lakes, some streams and river, marsh, oases, and meadows et al.), human alterations of habitat, local ornithological history, and the protocol used in the species accounts.

Prominent birders visit or live here, including Jon L. Dunn, who wrote the Foreword.  The book also has a detailed gazetteer.

An outstanding work.  Well-summarized are countless thousands of records.  The printing extends rather deeply into the book’s crease, but laid on the surface of a desk or table it does nevertheless open flat quite
easily.  Most highly recommended.  A masterpiece.

- Harry Armistead.

The Peregrine Observer 2023: Journal of NJ Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory

ed. by Brett M. Ewald.  2023.  236p.  flexbound.

WARNING.  This is not available except to C.M.B.O. members (fide Brett Ewald) and has already been distributed.  BUT there is so much in it that it is worthwhile to review it anyway.  It is not my intension to solicit membership, but by joining now you’ll get the 2024 edition.  CMBO, P. O. Box 3, Cape May Point, NJ 08212.  $39.00.  I have 6 previous issues and have spent many pleasant hours looking through each.

As usual this edition has detailed reports of recurring efforts such as the fall hawkwatch, the Avalon Seawatch, the Winter Raptor Survey, fall owl banding, fall raptor banding, the Ipswich Sparrow survey, the spring watch, fall morning flight at Higbee’s Beach, and fall landbird banding.

There are also 4 butterfly reports, the long-standing monarch studies, the Cape May butterfly count, and the Belleplain butterfly count plus a general overview of butterflies in the C.M. area, including the decline of many.

Of great interest is the “Annual Bird Report” that details the 345 species seen in Cape May County in 2022, accompanied by photographs, dates of occurrence, maxima, status as breeder or non-breeder, number seen on the CBC, etc., with observers exhaustively attributed, pp. 50-138.  A lot of the commentary, which is excellent, has application far beyond the Cape May area.  But the maxima is not recorded for all species.

There are 179 illustrations, most color photographs of birds, but also including various graphs, shots of people in action, and 2 splendid maps showing the location of the most prominent birding areas in Cape May County.

Some of the most astounding bird counts are 8,464 American Redstarts Sept. 14, 76,640 Black Scoters Oct.29, 10,303 Red-throated Loons Nov. 29, 156 Merlin Oct. 6, and many more.  The hawk banding effort here over the years - 2022 was its 55th year - has banded 157,715 raptors, with 1,562 in 2022.  But this fine publication pays just as much attention to less abundant or dramatic species.

It is interesting that as superior as Cape May numbers are to those almost anywhere else, higher numbers of a few are often achieved at Kiptopeke-Cape Charles, Virginia, including Eastern Kingbird, Baltimore Oriole, Blue Jay, and, occasionally, Bobolink.  Kiptopeke is also a great place for Merlins, and banders there have sometimes captured 50 or more in one day.

It’s lucky if I get to Cape May just once a year.  But one year on October 18, in the North Blind with Brian Sullivan, Brian had captured a Rough-legged Hawk, and we saw at close range a juvenile Golden Eagle and a really late Mississippi Kite!

There is an outstanding colony of resident naturalists at Cape May, that I like to compare, in its own way, to Philadelphia in 1776, the age of Pericles in classical Greece, and the Bloomsbury Group in London.  Located not so far from big urban area such as New York City and Philadelphia, Cape May draws thousands of  birders from those localities.

Many of the outstanding photographs are by Ewald, Erik Bruhnke, Michael O’Brien, and the late Tom Johnson.

There is a tribute to Tom on p. 23.  And also in BWD (formerly Bird Watcher’s Digest), Sept./Oct. 2023 p. 8 as well as Jan./Feb. 2024 p.8-13.   From a tribute from Cornell “… Johnson generously contributed more than 10,000 photos, audio, and video recordings to the Cornell Lab … His warmth, thoughtfulness, humility, and generosity of spirit made him an exemplary ambassador for birds and the natural world and a dear friend to many…”

The Peregrine Observer is such a rich resource, describing so great an amount of field work and research, including pioneering night bird photography, that I think it is worth reviewing here, even though its availability is limited.

- Harry Armistead.

The Birds of Monhegan

Book by Brett M. Ewald.

(Indie Anchor Books, 2023, 287p.)  hardbound or softbound.  Availability, in the author’s own words: “There are softbounds and the limited edition hardcovers. Yes, there are still signed and numbered hardcovers available ($74 includes shipping). The hardcovers are only available directly from me and can be paid for by check (made out to Brett Ewald and sent to 412 Robin Rd., Villas, NJ 08251), Paypal at brett.ewald90@gmail.com or Venmo at @Brett-Ewald-4.  Signed softbounds are available directly from me through the above means ($55 includes shipping). Unsigned softbound copies can be purchased online at www.birdsofmonhegan.com or Amazon.  People can also reach me at 716-628-8226 if they have questions or specific requests.”

Just 12 miles off the Maine mainland, 433 acre (a square mile is 640 acres) Monhegan Island has a bird list of 336 species, including first state records of 13.  This splendid book gives in attractive, great detail lengthy annotations of all 336, including good quality photographs of most.  Sixty-three introductory pages provide expert information on the island’s geology, history, weather, and previous ornithological work with inviting photographs of key spots and two excellent, detailed maps.  Citations and lists of observers give key background information on thousands of records.

Monhegan joins the pantheon of islands with significant bird histories, going roughly clockwise from NE Canada to the Gulf and then the West Coast: Sable I., Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Bermuda, the Dry Tortugas, the Farallons, Attu, St. Paul, St. Lawrence (Gambell).

There is something about islands that impacts many of us.  They can form the basis of one’s world microcosm:  “Oh! you won’t know why and you can’t say how/Such a change upon you came./But once you have slept on an island/,/You’ll never be quite the same.” - Rachel Lyman Field.  For my part I have often fantasized living on Smith Island, Virginia, or Holland I., MD, for an entire year.

Monhegan has attracted thousands of birders plus banding and hawk count efforts, especially in the mid-fall and late May, when rarities and high numbers are most likely to be found.  Consider 72 Peregrine Falcons on Oct. 4, 2020.  Forty-four Western Kingbird records since 1961.  More than 800 Swainson’s Thrushes on Sep. 26, 1994.  Most of the rarities have been western landbirds.

First Maine records include: Bridled Tern, Swallow-tailed Kite, Say’s Phoebe, Bell’s Vireo, Cassin’s Vireo, Varied Thrush, Black-throated Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow.  Shiny Cowbird, Virginia’ Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Townsend’s Warbler.  But Ewald provides just as much detail and history for species that are not unusual, or, at least, not THAT unusual here.: starling, flicker, Herring Gull, Tree Swallow, Cedar Waxwing, catbird, Song Sparrow et al.

Just as impressive are 20+ species that are rare even if not first state records, including Band-tailed Pigeon, White-winged Dove, Corn Crake, Ivory Gull, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Townsend’s Solitaire, Common Chaffinch, Lark Bunting, Yellow-headed Blackbird (21 records), Bullock’s Oriole, MacGillivray’s Warbler, and Lazuli Bunting.

Much of the island is preserved.  There is a burgeoning artist colony.  Jamie Wyeth has a place.  And successful lobstering industry.  Abundant trails.  Some of the best birding spots are in the area of the “town”.  It is impossible in a short review such as this to list all the virtues of this splendid book.  Beautiful prospects are highlighted by the rocky coasts.  “The flashing of the lightning free./The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks./ The stable land, the deep salt sea/around the old eternal rocks.” attributed to St. Patrick.

I’ve only spent time there once.  One day there was a Western Kingbird and a Say’s Phoebe on the same wire.  From the 2nd floor balcony, not having gotten up especially early, as we nursed our coffee along: 60+ species by 9 A.M.  The only feature of The Birds of Monhegan that might further enhance this masterpiece would be if the photographs indicate not just species but also the sex, age, etc. of the birds … when that is possible.  Most highly recommended.  A triumph.

- Harry Armistead.

Birding Under the Influence: Cycling Across America in Search of Birds and Recovery

Book by Dorian Anderson.

Chelsea Green.  2023.  256p.  flexbound.  $24.95.

This is an engaging, picaresque, on-the-road epic as important, perhaps, as Kaufman’s Kingbird highway, Strycker’s Birding without borders, or Dwarshuis’ The (big) year that flew by.  Not to be sniffed at, Anderson is an honors graduate of elite Hotchkiss school and Stanford, has a doctorate from N. Y. University, and was a researcher as a predoctoral fellow at Harvard in molecular embryology, developmental generics, molecular cell biology at Massachusetts Memorial hospital.

Forsaking such accomplishments, Anderson found these pursuits to be increasingly unrewarding and made the courageous decision to do a Big Year by bicycle, in 2014.  Biking 17,830 miles, he found 618 species.  His lively account is full of adventures, unforgettable characters, danger, and vivid descriptions of the many interesting places he traversed.  Several times he experienced dangerous falls.  His was a heroic odyssey.  From winter in New England to Florida, the  Gulf Coast and east Texas, across the arid Southwest to Arizona, up to the Great  Basic, and the Pacific Northwest.

It was a treat by chance to run into Dorian in east Texas at the Sabine Woods and then Anahuac N.W.R., where at the latter site, he showed me a Ruff.  Interspersed in his engaging text are countless anecdotes about his parents, his lady friend, undeserved hostilities he endured while on the road, his diverse lodgings, food, and, of course, his encounters with hundreds of bird species.

In his earlier years he was deeply addicted to drugs and drinking to excess.  He recounts his innumerable late night binges and excessive life style, and his being able to overcome these.  He is a gifted writer.  Anderson also used his adventure as a fundraiser.

“I loved designing, conducting, and interpreting experiments, and I enjoyed the rhythm of lab work even when I was hungover.” p. 65.

“I graduated from Stanford in June 2001 with an honors degree in biological sciences, a position as a research assistant at Harvard, and an abusive relationship with alcohol, one which had prescribed forty to fifty drinks a week …” p. 66.

“Compared to the constricted view from my laboratory, my wider Chiricahua perspective was wonderful.” p. 107.

His Great Gray Owl encounter: “Scanning the trees, I seized on the trademark facial discs, a pair of citrine eyes boring through my binoculars and into my soul.  My camera immortalized the arboreal noble before he fled, but a digital representation would never capture his grace and majesty.” p. 158.

“West Texas is free of light pollution, and the stars shown like a million twinkling eyes as I turned my pedals under their nocturnal gaze.  Passing cars illuminated the desert beyond the meagre reach of my bicycle light, and I tried to imagine what early morning drivers thought as they zoomed by me on one of the most desolate stretches of road in the country.” p. 98.

Hundreds of such passages made it hard to put this book down.  It IS a shame there are no photographs and a map or 2.  An index, even a limited one, would have been an additional though slight enhancement.  But it is a pleasure to most highly recommend this terrific read.

- Harry Armistead.

Terns of North America: A Photographic Guide

Book by Cameron Cox.

Princeton.  2023.  201p.  flexbound.  $27.95.

A very attractive title with over 325 color photographs and a fine text dealing with 19 species with helpful ID information as well as explaining “the fundamentals of molts, plumages, and hybridizations”, as the back cover accurately states.

Unlike too many books that skimp or totally avoid such useful information the captions of the photographs here include the month when taken as well as the state or province, or, in a few cases the foreign country.  If they were not taken by Cox the photographer is indicated.

Almost 100 people are acknowledged with helping author Cox plus 42 contributed photographs in addition to the many taken by the author.  The bibliography contains 98 items with complete citations.

The species accounts are thorough and at times quite entertaining.  For example the caption for a flock of rising Least Terns reads: “ … Tight groups of Least Terns often explode off a beach nearly simultaneously when disturbed, flushed by a predator, or when going to do battle with a threat to their colony, real or perceived.  They tend to stay in small, tightly packed clumps like this (23 in the accompanying photograph), all members calling at the tops of their voices, giving the impression of a small, furious cloud” (p. 131).

The species accounts have measurements and sections on size and structure, behavior, flight, species information, call, range, and plumage information, accompanied with many photographs (16 in the case of Least Tern), each with rich, helpful captions.

Full treatment is given to such as Brown & Black noddies, Aleutian, European Sandwich, Cayenne, White-winged, and Whiskered terns as well as Black Skimmers.  Many of the excellent photographs include related terns or even shorebirds.

There are essays on “Tricky Thalasseus”, “Sterna tern identification”, and other relevant subjects.  At 7.5” X 9.5” this generous size is not intended to be taken afield.  Cox is author of the Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching.

A pleasure to highly recommend.

- Harry Armistead

Field Guide to North American Flycatchers: Empidonax and Pewees

Book by Cin-Ty Lee & illus, by Andrew Birch.

Princeton.  2023.  157p.  flexbound.  $19.95.

John A. Timour, library director at Thomas Jefferson University, where I worked for 25+ years, had a knack for colorful, amusing, and indicative phrases.  One of them described the work of catalogers: excruciating detailed minutia.  That applies very well here with these near identical flycatchers, including Cuban Pewee and Olive-sided Flycatcher (considered a pewee).

17 species are dealt with featuring the splendid paintings by Birch.  Remarkable also are the beautiful range maps with 5 colors, isobar lines for separate date periods, and political boundaries within Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.  They are works of art in their own right.  Broken out from many of these are charts for 4-5 areas depicting the month-by-month occurrence.

By combining disparate features it is possible to ID many of these away from their breeding grounds, where song (extended call, really), habitat, and date give a dead lock on ID otherwise.  Hard to reduce all of this to tabular form, but “the field mark matrix” on p. 43 summarizes much of what is in the text, showing for all 17:

crown shape, forehead angle, bill length, lower mandible, tail length, tail width, primary projection, wingbar contrast, wing panel contrast, eye-ring, upper/under contrast, wing flicking, and tail flicking and characterizes each of these, as appropriate, as strong, medium, weak, often, occasional, wide, medium, etc.  These attributes are, of course, further explained in the splendid text.

Many will be relieved that the Pacific-slope and Cordilleran flycatchers, split from Western fly not so long ago, have again been combined, but are nevertheless treated separately here.  Let’s hope that such as Thayer’s Gull will still be lumped with Iceland Gull.  But the 2 willet forms will likely be split soon. (?)  Evolution we know is continuing and splitting is the order of the day most of the time.

Away from their breeding grounds silent Alder and Willow flycatchers are mostly just listed by us as Traill’s Flycatchers, as they were before being split, based originally by their very different “songs” in Connecticut.  Flycatchers are not song birds, but their extended calls serve much the same purpose.  Even in the hand Willow & Alder flys are next to impossible to separate.

Folded wing patterns are shown for many where appropriate as well as sonograms.  The wing pattern diagrams are even more important in separating Old World warblers, a challenge we don’t have here.  There is a good bibliography and, most important, 4 “useful websites”, all of them geared to the all-important vocalizations.

In spite of all this impressive detail, and the authors admit it, there will be individuals that cannot be IDd, even by the most astute and detail-oriented, the most forensic of us.

In some of the paintings the birds appear a bit too pudgy.  The text might have emphasized more the relatively shorter legs of the pewees (compared to empids), and the less whitish wingbars of juvenile birds.  Someone more discriminating than I am maintains the Acadian and Alder  flycatchers on p. vi are the same painting.

But, highly recommended.  Future titles will deal with kingbirds and Myiarchus flycatchers.  In this era of splitting we are up against a broad suite of groups difficult to identify: some of the peeps, storm-petrels, albatrosses, shearwaters, hummingbirds, Bicknell’s vs. Gray-cheeked thrushes, various gulls, the Solitary Vireo complex, and more.  Throw in rampant hybridization in gulls, waterfowl, Carolina vs. Black-capped chickadees, not-so-rampant hybridization in warblers, etc., and we see that birding is challenging.

Complicating things even more is vagrancy; Shape, length, and back color serve well to separate the 5 (or 4) eastern empids, even if you are not a bander, but if you get a western stray, then what?  But … that is part of the allure of our activities.  Not being able to ID everything keeps the aura of mystery alive, frustrating as that may be.  Being able to ID difficult taxa is a triumph.

Harry Armistead.

Birds of Europe: Third Edition

Svensson Lars (text), Killian Mullarney & Dan Zetterstrom, plates & captions. 

Princeton U. Pr.  2023.  476p.  flexbound.  $35.00.

Many consider the previous editions the best field guides ever written.  Over 100 species here are also found in North America, especially waterfowl, shorebirds, and larids.  Birds of Europe also treats completely birds of North Africa and the near Middle East, that might have been indicated in the book’s title..  Outstanding is the extensive text, that so many field guides skim on.

The illustrations depict all phases and forms and young birds recently fledged or otherwise.  Many feature birds in their habitat with charming vignettes of landscapes.  For instance, the snowy owl plate has 8 birds, including a female chasing an Arctic Fox and an adult male perched on a large rock with caribou and distant mountains in the background.

It is hard to believe that earlier editions could be improved.  Best is to quote changes described in the preface on p. 7: “With the addition of 32 more pages several groups have been afforded more space and completely or partly new plates with more descriptive text: grouse, loons, several groups of raptors, terns, owls, swifts, woodpeckers, swallows, redstarts and some other relatives to the flycatchers (formerly often called ‘small thrushes’), tits and a few finches and buntings are some of these.  More than 50 plates are either new or have been repainted, completely or partly. … The section with vagrants has been expanded to accommodate more images and longer texts for several species.  The entire text and all maps have of course also been revised.”

There are also extensive lists of references including 34 citations to sound resources.  The portrait of an Arctic Tern on the cover is very evocative, but does not properly emphasize the dark trailing edge of the primaries and the grayish cast of the underparts of an adult breeding bird.  But turn to p. 209 and there are 9 excellent paintings of this species, 5 in flight and 4 at rest.

The marvelous range maps do not show political boundaries.  They don’t have to since such maps are intended to be suggestive of where birds occur with the expected differing colors for the seasons.  They also include Iceland.

For certain complex groups, such as gulls, birds of prey, and “waders” (shorebirds) there are wordy essays accompanied by rich illustrative matter.

Separate sections detail vagrants (well-illustrated) and accidentals (tabular summary), in both cases with locations and dates (usually years, sometimes seasons, too) indicated.  There is also a section on introduced and escaped species, well-illustrated with substantial text, and locations are cited.

This fine guide cannot be too highly praised in this reviewer’s opinion.  With several thousand quality paintings and such an expert and discursive text, at $35 Birds of Europe is an outstanding bargain.

- Henry t. Armistead

A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life of The World’s Smartest Birds of Prey

Book by Jonathan Meiburg

Vintage Books (Penguin Random House)  2021.  366p.  Paperbound.  $20.00.

Caracaras!  African Gray Parrots, crows, ravens, and jays come first to mind when avian intelligence is the subject at hand.  Recently the ability of chickadees, nutcrackers, and other birds to find hundreds of seeds they have buried, scatter-hoarded, has received due attention.  Meiburg’s fine book should convince anyone that caracaras are right up there when it comes to smarts.

Highly inquisitive, with a diet that is complex, caracaras are noted for their attractions to anything novel, including humans.  Meiburg recounts his and others’ experiences with caracaras, mostly in Latin America.  His chapters take us to places such as the Falklands, Tierra del Fuego, the wilds of Guyana (formerly British Guiana), and elsewhere.  He interviews biologists, shares in their field work, travels with them, and draws heavily on the historic literature of great writers such as W. H. Hudson and Darwin.

There are also lots of caracaras in the U.K., captive or escaped.  Meiburg posits how they may become established there, somewhat as Hudson, from the Pampas, did when he moved to England.  An entire page-worth of references in the index refers to Hudson, and his most famous writings, such as Birds of La Plata, Far away and long ago, Idle days in Patagonia, and Green mansions.  Both Darwin and Hudson had significant exposure to caracaras.

Meiburg reads well.  Philosophical, inquisitive, discursive, and intense.  There are hundreds of passages as wide-ranging and inclusive as this: “Inca rulers and mythmakers loved symbols of duality - heaven and earth, sun and moon, dark and light, male and female - and the caracaras’ black-and-white wardrobe might have appealed to their sense of cosmic order.” (p. 228)

Enhancing a text that doesn’t need enhancing are 37 black-and-white photographs, hundreds of chapter notes, hundreds also of references in the bibliography, and a thorough index.  Many of the chapter notes are extensive and as worth reading as the main text.  Tremendously compelling is the photograph of the world’s largest spider, Theraphosa blondi (Goliath Birdeater, a tarantula), enveloping much of ornithologist Sean McCann’s head … and him not seeming to mind at all.  Another shows a Yellow-headed Caracara grooming a snoozing tapir of “ticks, botflies, and other skin parasites”.  “Tapirs sometimes roll on their backs when caracaras approach and present themselves to be groomed.” (photo caption)

It’s hard to believe caracaras are classed with the falcons.  Some of them search through windrows of kelp at the shoreline, even finding and eating octopuses.  This splendid book can be highly recommended.

-Harry Armistead

American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals of The Great Plains

Book by Dan Flores

University Press of Kansas. 2016. 213p. 26 black-and-white photographs, maps, and petroglyphs. Paperbound.  $32.50.

Flores is Professor Emeritus at the University of Montana.  American Serengeti, although somewhat dated, is his paean to the vast Great Plains, the immense flat lands that extend, or used to, from Texas north into the Canadian prairie provinces.

Aside from his engaging general commentary, the book’s chapters include those on pronghorns, coyotes, horses, grizzly bears, bison, and wolves.  There is much concern about so-called wild horses and the alleged damage they do to native vegetation.  Flores points out that horses evolved in the prairies and were eventually reintroduced by the early Spanish settlers.  He sees bison as analogous to Africa’s wildebeests, pronghorns to antelopes and gazelles, wild horses to zebras, wolves to wild dogs, grizzly bears to lions, and coyotes as jackals.

This fine book focuses on the current large mammals of the Plains, but Flores makes tantalizing reference to the many prehistoric species that were abundant here, such as dire wolves, scimitar cats, saber-toothed cats, short-faced bears, steppe lions, zebras, camels, megatherium, jaguars, various elephants, long-horned bison, hyena, and 2 species of “false” cheetahs.  Originally grizzly bears were very widespread on the Plains.

It would have added much interest to American Serengeti if some or all of these extinct mammals had been illustrated.  Clearly they and the surviving big mammals would have rivaled any place in Africa for their spectacular numbers and movements in this primordial vast sea of grasses and flatlands.

Especially of interest is the story of the coyote, small North American wolves in Flores’ words.  In spite of massive, widespread persecution they have prospered and are now found in eastern states and provinces in good numbers.

Another non-mammalian phenomena of interest are the large number of bird species that in their elliptical migrations populate the Great Plains in the spring, having wintered in Patagonia, and, for the most part, migrated south in the East: American Golden-Plover, White-rumped Sandpiper, Hudsonian Godwit, Pectoral Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, Baird’s Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper et al.  These are outside of the scope of Flores’ book.  I can’t help but think that there are still some Eskimo Curlew out there somewhere.

Flores does an excellent job of reviewing the historical literature of the Great Plains.  He sees that the best chance of a partial re-wilding of the Great Plains, the American Prairie Preserve, is in northeastern Montana, where there are already large preserved areas.

Otherwise there is just a very small percentage of the original Plains remaining, especially areas where Bison have become established or re-established.  A thoughtful look at what was once one of the great ecosystems of the world.  A glossary and a few more maps would have enhanced an already fine book.  There are extensive reference lists for each chapter.

- Henry T. Armistead.

Hummingbirds: A Celebration of Nature‘s Jewels

Book by Glenn Bartley and Andy Swash

Princeton U. Pr., BirdLife International & WILDGuides. 2022.  288p. Hardbound. $35.00.

With over 540 superb photographs and a deeply-informative text this splendid, semi-outsized title (c. 9” X 11”) is almost a bargain at $35.  Perennial favorites, owls and hummers enjoy a new title or two every year.  This one is arguably the best ever for hummingbirds.

The arresting color photos show all 101 hummer genera and more than two thirds of the world’s 369 hummingbird species.  Pages 256-273 list all species and include their conservation status, a map of their range, if monotypic or with subspecies, pages for further detail, elevational distribution, population trend, written range description, and seasonal distribution.

There is so much more value in this book than the outstanding illustrations.  For instance there are chapters or sections on conservation, hummingbirds and people, taxonomy, iridescence, breeding behavior, pollination, threats, anatomy, flight mechanisms, torpor, bills, and hybrids.  Pages 274-275 list hummers originally described as distinct species, but later research determined these were “the same as another named species”, aberrant, or immature forms of other species.

Especially dramatic are full-page photos of some of the more spectacular hummers, especially those with incredibly long tails, or complex, astounding plumages, such as Sapphire-spangled Emerald, the two Jamaican streamertails, Horned Sunbeam, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Red-tailed Comet, Blue-throated Hillstar, and several dozen others whose names alone hint at their extravagant appearance.

The “Further reading and sources of useful information” is a bit minimalist. On p. 277 only 11 book sources are listed, and just 2 “key papers”, and 5 “online resources and taxonomic lists”.  Granted, the literature on hummers is vast, but Hummingbirds would have been more valuable still if these lists had been more extensive.  I would have liked to have seen an essay on the recent great increase of western hummingbird occurrences in the U.S. East.  And more information about the extraordinary authors!

Photographs of habitat and of hummers on their nests are other features enhancing Hummingbirds, as is an aerial shot of a 300+ foot geoglyph, centuries old, probably inspired by the Sword-billed Hummingbird.

Countries with the greatest hummingbird variety include Colombia (161 species), Ecuador (136), Peru (132), and Venezuela (104).  The authors even list the more exotic sources of hummers’ names, including gemstones (53 names, such as amethyst, emerald, garnet, topaz), metals (33 names, such as bronze, copper, gold), celestial terms (59 names, including comet, star, sun), “manifestations of color” (33 names, e.g. scintillant, glowing, spangled), and colors per se (109 names).

It is hard in just a few hundred words to give enough credit to this splendid book.  Start off just looking at the shots of the unbelievable Marvelous Spatuletail.  The rest of Hummingbirds only will increase one’s awe and wonderment.

- Henry T. Armistead

Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East: an identification guide & Gulls of the Americas

Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East: an identification guide by Peter Adriaens, Mars Muusse, Philippe J. Dubois, and Frédéric Jiguet. Princeton U. Pr.  2022.  320p.  flexbound.  $39.95.  c. 1,400 photographs.  45 species.  5 hybrids.

Gulls of the Americas by Steve Howell and Jon Dunn. Houghton Mifflin, 2007.  516p.  hardbound.  $35.00.  1,160 photographs.  36 species.  14 hybrids.

Most Norteamericanos should make out just fine sticking with Howell.  Both titles treat the problematic Thayer’s Gull as a full species, although, to the relief of many, American authorities now consider it a race of Iceland Gull.

Adriaens gives full treatment to 21 species that also occur in North American, including strays such as Common Gull, Kelp Gull, Slaty-backed Gull, and the so-called European Herring Gull.

To give some idea of the richness of these 2 fine monographs, here are the number of illustrations for selected species, the 1st number representing those in Adriaens, the 2nd in Howell: ring-billed gull (26; 25), Lesser Black-backed Gull (34; 37), and Glaucous Gull (22; 23).  The illustrations are all annotated in both titles, which also go into detail concerning subspecies and hybrids.  Both books give full photographic and written descriptions of all the phases, cycles, of the species they treat as well as range maps, maps lacking in Adriaens for the species that do not breed in the western palaearctic.

These 2 titles should be immensely satisfying for gull fanatics in their great level of detail.  I am not much of a full fanatic, but over the years have had some stimulating gull experiences, nonetheless, as detailed below.  Adriaens and Howell provide more than I want to know about these often difficult to ID taxa,  The field is intensely scrutinized and no doubt will be subject to future changes, especially due to how close some species are to other related gulls, and the frequency of hybridization.

“Birds have wings and sometimes they use them.” Attributed to Frances Hamerstrom, her reaction to extralimital records.  There is a record of a Kelp Gull in Morocco, mentioned in Adriaens.  Also of interest is the recent Ivory Gull at an inland Georgia waterway, that died there.

SOME OF MY GULL EXPERIENCES: Sort of off topic: Many years as a birder not focused especially on gulls, but these show in part how ubiquitous and interesting they are:

As a pre-teen, swimming after fuzzy young “escaping” Herring Gulls at Sharp’s I., MD, and banding them with Dick Kleen’s bands, the 1st breeding record (his) in Maryland, one day in the mid-1950s.  Recording with help from 3 others the nest contents of > 1,000 Herring Gull nests at Easter Point, Smith I., MD, one June morning.

A young kittiwake circling my skiff for half an hour; after a while my non-birding companion would say “Here comes the kittiwake again.”  One hovering kestrel or kingfisher-like over Bodie Island Lighthouse Pond.  Chasing successfully with 3 companions the Back River Sewage Treatment Plant Ross’s Gull near Baltimore.  A Great Black-backed Gull flying with an intact Horned Grebe corpse in its bill near Thoms Creek, VA.  Another one drowning and then eating a Red-breasted Merganser at Pea I. N.W.R.

Seeing the Ross’s Gull near its nest at Churchill, one of the inspirations for George’s interest in birding.  Learning of extralimital breeding of Herring Gulls at Key West and the Texas coast.  A Glaucous Gull on coastal Texas near High Island.  Us finding a Lesser Black-backed Gull near Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Baja California.  An Asian species, Black-tailed Gull on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

On a pelagic trip off of Avalon, NJ, it was disconcerting to see Laughing Gulls hitting on Ruby-crowned Kinglets that had been blown offshore.  A couple of times when we’d flushed Short-eared Owls on the Virginia  barrier islands and in a strong NW winds they also got blown offshore Herring Gulls would attack and sometimes kill them.

Somewhat relatedly once in August when Gull-billed Terns - larids at least - were hunting over the soy bean fields a Grasshopper Sparrow, which nest in the fields when the beans are low, rose up and attacked one of the terns.

Unrelatedly but at least with some larid overtones, there is the Gull-winged Mercedes-Benz 300SL coupe, the best-looking sports car ever designed.  If my family had much much deeper pockets than they do, one would be fine for Father’s Day.  In German racing gray, please.

Henry T. Armistead

Turtles of the World: A Guide to Every Family

Book by Jeffrey E. Lovich and Whit Gibbons

Princeton University Press. 2021.  240p. Hardbound. $29.95. 

More than a guide to “families”, since some families consist of only 1-3 species, there is often information down to individual species or else to genus level.  Over 250 excellent color photographs accompany this admirable title.  An overview of the world’s 354 species.

For each entry there is information on distribution (with a map in most cases), genera, habitats, size, life span, activity (diurnal vs. nocturnal, etc.), reproduction, and diet.  “Size” always lists length with respect to “CL”, carapace length, but lacks weight for smaller taxa.

Some extremes listed here: Alligator Snapping Turtles can reach 249 lbs., Eastern Box Turtles can live to be over 100, some Galapagos Tortoises get up to 882 lbs. and some recent ones were probably alive when Darwin visited.  Leatherback Sea Turtles can reach 2,016 lbs.

Detailed introductory material describes turtle anatomy, physiology, global and regional distribution, behavior, feeding habits, extinct turtles, reproduction, evolution, systematics, taxonomy, growth, longevity, ecological and cultural importance, and conservation.

Full of interesting facts.  Ranges of some species are restricted to small river systems in Australia and Africa.  Some species have only been discovered in the past few decades.  Burrows of Gopher Tortoises are used by “over 250 species of vertebrates and invertebrates” (p. 153).

Helpful are appendices with a 72-term glossary, a list of 7 turtle conservation organizations, 18 general books, and 15 relevant journal articles.  Reference is made at several spots on the deleterious effects of the pet trade, often an illicit phenomenon. There is a large sub-culture of illegal reptile captivity.

This book is solid and well-reproduced.  Highly recommended.

Henry T. Armistead
March 3rd, 2023

Birds of The Mesozoic: An Illustrated Field Guide

Book by Juan Benito and Roc Olivé Pous

Lynx. 2022. 272p.  Flexbound.  $39.50.

An extraordinary title featuring 208 species for which there is fossil evidence during the periods of the dinosaurs.  For every species there is text on known material (which fossil remains that there are), morphology, plumage & soft tissue, biology, and notes.

On the facing page are the impressive illustration(s), accompanied by brief information on location, geological setting, age (number of millions of years ago), body length, and wingspan.  Of course, given the usually limited fossil record, a lot of the color paintings are highly conjectural, especially concrning plumage coloration.

This is a highly technical book with descriptions such as “the skull is subtriangular, with a short edentulous beak probably covered by a horny rampthofeca, and slender lower jaws with a spatulate anterior end.” (p. 188 for Archaeorynchus spathula).  Following the scientific name is an English name, usually a translation of the former, in this case “Spatulate ancient beak”.  Many of these Mesozoic birds had teeth.

The technical writing is probably off-putting for most of us, but this should not matter in view of the marvelous color plates, many of them either of stubby, short-tailed, rather comical-looking creatures, or, by way of contrast, birds with very long tails.

The majority (159) of these species are known from only one fossil, or part of one, but in some few cases, there have been hundreds or even thousands of finds, such as for Confuciusornis sanctus (Holy Confucius bird), permitting depictions of males and females, or as is the case with Sapeornis chaoyangensis (SAPE bird from Chayoang), adults, subadults, and juveniles based on remains of at least 100 specimens.

Areas with the greatest number of fossils, in descending order, highest first, are China, U.S., Germany, and Argentina but Madagascar and even Antarctica are also represented.  Originally the famous Archaeopteryx was the only known fossil bird (discovered in 1860), but fortunately for us there have been huge expansions of findings and knowledge of others since.

This fine book has an expansive list of relevant journal articles, a not-so-expansive 3-page glossary (that lacks many of the terms on the text, such as “avialans”, “avialae” or even “Mesozoic”), and a surprisingly long list of previously-described forms (91) that are no longer considered valid.

If one has a time machine it would be hard to resist the temptation to get on board for a tour of the Jurassic and Cretaceous to see some of these unbelievable creatures.  Perhaps you would be able to add species of Songlingornithidae, Longipterygidae, or Scansoriopterygidae to the list of new birds in your favorite birding patch.

Henry T. Armistead
March 4, 2023