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