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Waterfowl of Eastern North America
This is an attractive handbook for novice birders, new hunters, and others wanting to name waterfowl. Summing Up: Recommended. --Choice
The eastern Continental Divide from Florida to Ontario contains the world's largest network of freshwater lakes, rivers, wetlands and coastal waters. It is home to an astonishingly large variety of ducks, geese and other waterfowl although many of them may be sighted both to the west or to the south at times in the year.
Illustrated with over 400 photographs of waterfowl in their natural environment, this essential field guide illustrates the rich diversity among these birds. It is designed specifically to help birders identify ducks, geese and shorebirds and become familiar with the features and colors to look for upon sighting a bird. Species information is concisely organized and includes the differences between male and female, seasonal and immature plumage, morphs and distinctive markings.
Waterfowl of Eastern North America covers ducks, geese, loons, pelicans, swans, grebes, coots, cormorants, and moorhens. The sections are:
Classification A list of the birds in the book, how they are classified, notes similar shapes and behaviors of the dabblers; the divers; the mergansers; and the loons and grebes.
Identification Annotated photographs show notable physical features used to aid identification.
Waterfowl Look-alikes: Comparative photographs of Gulls, Phalaropes, Aquatic Seabirds, and Rails.
Table of Seasonal Status of Waterfowl in Point Pelee National Park One of North America's most important migration stopovers this is an outstanding place to see and identify waterfowl.
Bird Profiles Double-page spreads of essential information and descriptions to aid in identification.
Features Comparisons Photographs of 33 species that are frequently misidentified and what to look for.
Flight Comparisons Photographs of Dabblers, Geese and Swans, and Divers in flight. Finally, Chris Earley shares how readers can help waterfowl wherever they live, from a simple nesting box to bird counts. Birders and naturalists who want to support conservation groups that protect waterfowl and their quickly disappearing habitats will want to add this book to their library.
The eastern Continental Divide from Florida to Ontario contains the world's largest network of freshwater lakes, rivers, wetlands and coastal waters. It is home to an astonishingly large variety of ducks, geese and other waterfowl although many of them may be sighted both to the west or to the south at times in the year.
Illustrated with over 400 photographs of waterfowl in their natural environment, this essential field guide illustrates the rich diversity among these birds. It is designed specifically to help birders identify ducks, geese and shorebirds and become familiar with the features and colors to look for upon sighting a bird. Species information is concisely organized and includes the differences between male and female, seasonal and immature plumage, morphs and distinctive markings.
Waterfowl of Eastern North America covers ducks, geese, loons, pelicans, swans, grebes, coots, cormorants, and moorhens. The sections are:
Classification A list of the birds in the book, how they are classified, notes similar shapes and behaviors of the dabblers; the divers; the mergansers; and the loons and grebes.
Identification Annotated photographs show notable physical features used to aid identification.
Waterfowl Look-alikes: Comparative photographs of Gulls, Phalaropes, Aquatic Seabirds, and Rails.
Table of Seasonal Status of Waterfowl in Point Pelee National Park One of North America's most important migration stopovers this is an outstanding place to see and identify waterfowl.
Bird Profiles Double-page spreads of essential information and descriptions to aid in identification.
Features Comparisons Photographs of 33 species that are frequently misidentified and what to look for.
Flight Comparisons Photographs of Dabblers, Geese and Swans, and Divers in flight. Finally, Chris Earley shares how readers can help waterfowl wherever they live, from a simple nesting box to bird counts. Birders and naturalists who want to support conservation groups that protect waterfowl and their quickly disappearing habitats will want to add this book to their library.
168 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 9, 2023
I must congratulate myself: I have reached the stage where I have strong OPINIONS about birding books.
Let's get to it. The pictures are quite good. The descriptions are overall decent but I think there's really a missed opportunity to compare similar birds on the actual page of the bird, versus telling you to flip pages and look at other birds or referring you to the back charts (where useful). When I'm reading about a bird, I find it helpful to really know, right then, what distinguishes it from other lookalikes, versus have to page around looking and comparing. For a book about waterfowl of "Eastern North America," it's very slanted to the north, relegating multiple species to very small write ups under "Vagrants and southern and coastal specialties." This selection included such common (at least in my section of eastern North America) birds as brown pelicans and anhinga. It was an odd choice and I'd consider it a bad choice.
On the book's construction, it's the type of paperback where it's glued into the spine with very little give, which requires cracking the spine if you want to really be able to look at the pictures or have it lie flat. I don't think this book would last under heavy use and it's unlikely to be passed down to younger birders, as I suspect it'll fall apart pretty quickly with any extensive use.
In general, if you're looking for a quick, basic look up of waterfowl, this book does an okay job. A lot of room for improvement and I hope to find something better to replace it with, but it'll do for now.
Let's get to it. The pictures are quite good. The descriptions are overall decent but I think there's really a missed opportunity to compare similar birds on the actual page of the bird, versus telling you to flip pages and look at other birds or referring you to the back charts (where useful). When I'm reading about a bird, I find it helpful to really know, right then, what distinguishes it from other lookalikes, versus have to page around looking and comparing. For a book about waterfowl of "Eastern North America," it's very slanted to the north, relegating multiple species to very small write ups under "Vagrants and southern and coastal specialties." This selection included such common (at least in my section of eastern North America) birds as brown pelicans and anhinga. It was an odd choice and I'd consider it a bad choice.
On the book's construction, it's the type of paperback where it's glued into the spine with very little give, which requires cracking the spine if you want to really be able to look at the pictures or have it lie flat. I don't think this book would last under heavy use and it's unlikely to be passed down to younger birders, as I suspect it'll fall apart pretty quickly with any extensive use.
In general, if you're looking for a quick, basic look up of waterfowl, this book does an okay job. A lot of room for improvement and I hope to find something better to replace it with, but it'll do for now.
October 19, 2023
It's a tough one to rate because I'm not sure that its purpose and what I wish its purpose was are the same. The pictures are beautiful, and it makes a nice introduction to assorted types of waterfowl. It doesn't do much to help with tricky IDs, though, and doesn't detail the differences between similar species in a very useful way, so it's kind of a beginner field guide rather than what you'd expect from Sibley or Peterson, for example. It also leaves out (or relegates to an addendum) a number of species that seem worthy of attention. I think "eastern" in this case means "northeast, mid-Atlantic, and Great Lakes" but not southeastern.
So for an introduction to waterfowl of that area, it's a well-done little book. For anyone looking to go deeper with their birding, there are more useful options out there. I'm happy to have it on the shelf, but it's not likely to be my go-to.
So for an introduction to waterfowl of that area, it's a well-done little book. For anyone looking to go deeper with their birding, there are more useful options out there. I'm happy to have it on the shelf, but it's not likely to be my go-to.
January 11, 2020
I love this slim volume, which is a great companion to the digital guides on birds. Lots of photos, range maps, and pertinent facts for each species. The comparison photo guides in the back are a nice addition. I am using this guide to brush up on my waterfowl, which I now realize I didn't know very well at all!
Edit: Jan 11, 2020...I am rereading this a little every day since the winter waterfowl are back in southern Ontario.
Edit: Jan 11, 2020...I am rereading this a little every day since the winter waterfowl are back in southern Ontario.
March 19, 2015
Nicely illustrated with colored pictures of adult and juvenile birds during different times of the year. This is a good book for identifying the birds; however, there is not any info about nesting, eggs, incubation, fledgling, or vocalization.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews