Getting Started in Bird Watching

Beginning birdwatchers face many frustrations: birds, it seems, are constantly in motion, taking flight before the fledgling birder can turn to a photograph or drawing that might help pinpoint its identification. The experienced birdwatcher, Edward Cronin writes in this friendly manual, is by contrast able to identify a dozen species in a few seconds, which compounds the beginner's lack of self-confidence. Never fear, Cronin reassures us: The "magician's trick of rapidly identifying species is, in truth, based on a logical procedure that anyone can master." One great secret, he goes on to say, is that most often a bird is what it appears to be: a pigeon is a pigeon, a duck a duck. Another great secret is to know that what is missing is often more important than what is there: a bird lacking a broad bill is unlikely to eat much fish and is therefore unlikely to be that duck. Cronin provides a well-structured set of lessons in how to apply these and other principles. The book closes with a sequence of checklists for the United States, broken into regions. --Gregory McNamee