Any birder is familiar with the format that even the best guides use to convey the likelihood over time of finding a given species in a particular location. Because of the scope of those guides, they are limited to conveying the timing to seasons and the locations to regions.

This book tells the reader exactly when specific bird species are generally found in specific counties of the state. A field guide will tell you that a certain bird migrates through the state in the spring, but some birds migrate in March, and some in June. This book will also tell you how populous the bird is (ie. how rare it is). You can also see the general movements of resident birds in the state over seasons.

I live in Wisconsin, so I use this book all the time. I have been frustrated trying to find similar information for states that I visit regularly. It is an invaluable resource for concentrating observation and understanding the animals being studied.

This book is an ideal companion to a field guide to Eastern birds. Primarily designed as a reference guide (it contains no pictures, descriptions, or field marks) it contains a wealth of information on the likelihood of finding a particular species by county and time of year in Wisconsin. Based on at least 15 years of birding reports, the book is organized in standard order of species with one bird species per page. Each page contains the probability of spotting the species somewhere in the state in a given year, a map of the frequency of reports by county, a chart of the reporting frequency by week for the year, and a trend line by year of the total relative number of reports. I would recommend the guide primarily to the intermediate or advanced birder who is knowledgable about each bird species and their likely habitats already, but needs to know what is likely to be found in a given part of the state.

IMHO, this book is a template of how every state or regional guide should be designed.

The most stunning photography of warblers you will ever see, bar none. The pictures are worth the price alone. The author lives on the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico and setup a blind with strobes near water in his backyard during migration. If you love warblers, buy this book.

Schorre has taken some of the finest photographs of warblers ever seen. Unlike some of the other bird photographers, he has pictures of wild birds, not mist-netted or aviary warblers. A stunning achievement. Warblers are, next to rails, the hardest birds in North America to photograph, and Schorre has superb photographs of them including the rarest, most secretive warblers. When reading this book, you can sense Schorre's passion for these most-beautiful of birds and for photography.

The photographs are accompanied by some introductory information on each warbler and this book would serve as a richly illustrated guide to these birds.

I grew up on the Texas Gulf coast and spent a lot of time beachcombing. This book pulls together fascinating "lifestyle" information about dozens of creatures I've always wondered about. Very readable Q and A format.

it was gooooood............verrrry gooooood

Being a zoologist frquently contracted by universities, zoos and TV companies, this book has saved much time in the research of locating specimens. The text is well written, concise and accurate. The natural history sections answer most of the questions that would immediately come to mind when trying to plan a trip to Trinidad to study the heptofauna. Worth every penny to the serious scientist in the field!

John,

Thank you for your work compiling this information.

This is the anthology readers and scholars of John Burroughs (1837-1921) have been waiting for. Charlotte Walker, a professor of English at the State University of New York at Oneonta, has gathered selections from Burroughs's vast oeuvre and assembled them in a handsome volume. The words are set in modern type, and the subject matter is as fresh and timely as ever. Burroughs is often remembered as a naturalist, but he was much more than that: a perceptive and accessible literary critic, a philosopher, a radical thinker who advocated the overthrow of traditional religions in favor of an open-eyed nature worship steeped in science and wonder. Earlier anthologies of Burroughs's work have tended to ignore or suppress his thorny and provocative side, but Walker gives us the man in all his dimensions. As the author of a concise biography of Burroughs, I was pleased to open this collection and find it crowded with favorites---philosophical essays such as "Faith of a Naturalist," travel pieces such as "A Hunt for the Nightingale," an excerpt from "Our Rural Divinity" (about the dairy cow!), perceptive criticism of Emerson and Thoreau, studies of Catskill farm life, and more. This book makes a fine addition to any library and offers the best intorduction to Burroughs in print. Bravo! Highly recommended!

This book has very good photographs of Western birds and has a very pleasing format. The book itself is well made and has a very sturdy binding. The notations in the field marks almost always include a behavior easily noticed in the birds, making them easier to identify.

EVERY one of my friends interested in birds has loved this book and has wanted one. I have given 6 or 7 of them as gifts.

The key to using this book and its companion field guides is to regard it as a learning tool, not as your primary field guide. The book teaches a methodology for identifying birds aimed at people with an analytical thinking style. No book can replace an experienced birder at your side for learning the basics, but no other book teaches you how to systematically observe several bird characteristics as this one does. Yes, Sibley is much better on feather patterns, and the new National Geographic guide is more comprehensive and up-to-date, but these don't teach you how to classify characterisics of bird appearance, behavior, and habitat. Sibley's new Birding Basics covers some of this ground, but not in systematic fashion. Use Farrand's companion field guides to see how his system is applied, then use the more popular guides in the field.

I am a masters student studying birds in the urban environment, so this book was just the tool I needed to help me get interested and educated on urban ecology and birds. The authors are leaders in urban ecology, or up and coming. They all write magnificent chapters that outline the need for study, the pertinent questions we should be asking, and even case studies. The bibliographies alone are a wonderful source.

While this book seems designed mostly for researchers, bird clubs and birders would do well to have a copy of this text on their bookshelves. It will provide fascinating insights and ideas for understanding birds in the urban ecosystem and its adjacent areas.

80% of the US population lives in urban or suburban areas. Finding ways to understand the birds closest to people will be a necessary challenge in the coming years if we are to successfuly manage our landscapes for wildlife and get the popular support to do it. This book is the first tome on how to do it.

Very pricey, but worth it if you're a club or wildlife department.