Birds of New Guinea: including Bismarck Archipelago and Bougainville

Book by Phil Gregory
2nd ed. 2025. Lynx Nature Books.  477p.  Flexbound.  Prices vary: $72 at Buteo.  from $55.80-$72.99 elsewhere.

This review is largely descriptive since I have limited experience in NG.  The information in the book seems reasonable:  “Covers all 970+ species known to occur, including 570 endemics, 5 introduced, 2 newly described and 75 vagrants. … Over 1800 illustrations, including many new and revised plates, providing excellent visual coverage of the fauna.”

The color paintings, that seem excellent, and the detailed range maps, utilizing 3 colors and arrows for hard-to-see ranges, such as small islands, are on the right hand pages, the facing left pages carry written descriptions of all morphs, and also hit on voice and have ID tips, and if appropriate, list similar species.  They also have “QR codes [that] link to complementary audiovisual content for all regularly occurring species”.

The physical book is very flexible, easy to handle, but it IS somewhat tightly bound so that the rightmost text is a little too close to the binding crease.  Gregory’s book covers all of mainland New Guinea, the World’s second largest island, plus, mostly to the east and northeast, the Bismarck Archipelago (including New Britain, New Ireland, and many other, but smaller islands), as well as Bougainville, and the Solomon Sea islands.  The range maps are set on the pages with the color paintings without place names.  But combined with the excellent color map (the same one is on both the inside front and back covers) it is easy to see where the bird in question occurs.

In this complex area it is interesting that, at this tropical latitude, some of New Guinea has such high altitudes that there is snow and even glaciers.  I worked on a Norwegian freighter all through the South Pacific that stopped here at Lae in 1959.  That was my first experience with drinking and women, neither of which I handled at all well.  Soused Pacific.  Most of my birding was at sea, but when I put down the Norwegian Rignes Pilsner long enough, I do vividly remember a highly-colored Eastern Superb Fruit Dove that collided with one of the masts.  Elsewhere days later the countless seabirds, with many Wandering Albatrosses, off of New South Wales (in September) is the most spectacular bird sight I’ve ever seen.

New Guinea certainly has a rich avifauna.  This title deals with 11 species of pittas, 71 doves, 59 Old World parrots, 12 white-eyes, and 38 kingfishers.

But to return to the issue at hand, I think this is an excellent book.  Gregory has cogent, fascinating, introductory information on climate, habitats, history, sociology, and travel tips for the greater New Guinea region.

One knock on Lynx titles is that the illustrations are largely derivative, from Lynx’s Birds of the World, but one could do worse than lifting materials from THAT magisterial compendium.  There are other very good New Guinea publications (Bruce Beehler et al.), but this is the most recent and includes a larger area.  Highly recommended.

Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea

Book by Eaton, James A., Bas van Balen, Nick W. Brickle, and Frank E. Rheindt.
2nd ed. 2021. Lynx.  536p.  Flexbound or hardcover.  Variously listed at $51 - $57.

Only 4 years after the 1st edition, this new one deals with 1,456 species (628 of them endemics) and has 1,350 maps.  The 2 different maps inside of the covers are key, and excellent, showing the hundreds of islands in this vast area, the most familiar of which is Borneo (the world’s 3rd largest island after Greenland and New Guinea), with separate ownerships of Malaysia (in part) and Brunei.  Other entities include Sumatra, Java, and Bali (not to be confused with the mystical island in Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s celebrated musical ‘South Pacific).

Hundreds of islands comprise the region treated here.  Hundreds.  Many are part of “Wallacea”, the focus of this books’ vast eastern component, named in honor of Alfred Russel Wallace, whose “Wallace’s Line” sets off this area from the more westerly Indonesian Archipelago’s Greater Sundas.

Facing pages have excellent color paintings and detailed range maps on the right and text descriptions on the left, that deals with all a species’ morphs plus a general idea of its abundance, its vocalizations, and similar species.

Although obviously self-aggrandizing, nevertheless the book’s own wording gives a reliable description of its contents: “The second edition now encompasses over 2,800 illustrations, including some 325 additional new figures and nearly 500 alterations to the original artwork, supplemented by 1,350 maps of all regularly occurring species. … The book describes all 1,456 bird species known to occur in the region. … Together these represent over 13% of global bird diversity.  Importantly, all subspecies are described in detail.”

Even thou mainland Malaysia and southern Thailand are not covered by this book, the range maps, helpfully, do include indications if any of the 1,456 species occur therein.  Singapore is part of the great area treated by Eaton et al. in this fine book.

To give some idea of the richness of the avifauna here the birdlife includes: 83 pigeons, 26 drongos, 43 bulbuls, 25 pittas, 29 flowerpeckers, 13 hornbills, 45 owls (20 of them scops owls), 26 woodpeckers, 34 kingfishers, and 45 parrots (plus 5 cockatoos).

As with New Guinea, as recent publications such as this conspicuously emphasize, much remains to be discovered here, and future publications will no doubt include new species and many changes in distributions.

This fine book I can recommend wholeheartedly.  It makes a (now) armchair traveler such as myself come close to salivating, even if it is a few years old.

Birds of Bucks County

Book by Beck, Barbara & 9 others.
2nd ed. 2024. Bucks County Audubon Society at Honey Hollow, 2877 Creamery Road, New Hope, PA 18938.  bcas@bcas.org  358p.  spiral bound.  $35.50 postpaid.

It is hard to imagine a county or regional book better than this one.  Just over 200 pages are devoted to the species accounts.  These are excellent, completely reviewing the status of each species with complete information on their history in the county with an added section on their worldwide population estimates.  Bucks County is in SE Pennsylvania and adjoins the north limits of Philadelphia including the Delaware River, where a major landfill has led to estimated daily county totals, for example, of 145,259 Herring and 1,130 Lesser Black-backed gulls!  The species accounts include helpful bar graphs that enhance the extensive text.  Equally valuable are over 100 pages describing in detail 70 sites.  These have attractive color photographs with details on facilities, phone numbers, accessibility, habitat, directions, and birding highlights, acreage, and some good maps, etc.  The acknowledgements are exhaustive and include: “First observers of unusual species”, and details on the five sponsoring organizations.  Not surprisingly in a book of this quality, the index is a good one, not just of species names but also of locations.  There are even 7 color paintings.  Separate sections describe accidentals, extirpated and extinct species, “possible”, exotics, and a 3-page bibliography.  I prefer that in publications such as this all species be listed in one sequence, but that is a minor quibble, a personal preference.  There is a separate list of references for many of the birding locations, especially websites.  This guide is good at paying tribute to people important in the history of birding in this county.  A great pleasure to thoroughly recommend this important regional title.  Nothing less than a virtuoso production.  Has some application beyond its limited geographical scope.  The 1st edition, Birds of Bucks County by Ken Kitson, 122 pages, was published in 1998 by Bucks County Audubon Society.

Winging It: The Musings of a Birder

Book by Stephen Brigham.
Otter Bay Books LLC.  2023.  340p.  hardbound.  $29.95.  The verso of the title page states: “please direct all correspondence and book orders to the author at P. O. Box 1047, St. Michaels, MD 21663.”

It would be a shame if this rich, entertaining book suffers from what seems to be its relative obscurity.  Apparently self-published, it boasts 56 chapters, most of them thumbnail sketches of 2-3 pages, quick reads supported by hundreds of excellent color photographs by Brigham.  Many species sport more than one photograph, such as red-shouldered hawk, blue jay, and song sparrow (all with 3 shots).

There are 14 mini chapters on “domestic birding”, ten on international birding, five introductory essays, four on Brigham’s favorite books, 19 on general birding, locations, and birds.  Thoroughly indexed, there are indexes of the birds photographed, a bibliography, birding milestones through history, and abundant information on photographing birds.

About 225 species are photographed, including many exotic, “foreign” ones.  Good quality shots, making the book a pleasure to thumb through.  Groups well-represented are: warblers 11 with photos, woodpeckers 9, gulls 6, and hummingbirds 8.  Costa Rica, Finland, India, Japan, the Canopy Tower - Panama, et a. are among the places he chronicles.  Brigham is an M.D. (radiologist).

The few mistakes hardly detract from the richness of this book.  The “chipping sparrow” on p. 229 is an imm. white-crowned sparrow.  The “tricolor heron” is a tricolored heron (p. 238).  “Lumbar” should be lumber (p. 83).

There are also descriptions of famous world birding destinations, a few plates by Audubon and other notables, the Cape May hawkwatch platform, Hawk Mountain, archaeopteryx, a tango in Buenos Aires, the American cemetery in Normandy, and the Taj Mahal as well as other places less well known, plus shots of the author and his fellow tourists in action.

A delight.

Guide to the Birds of Cocos Island. Guia de las aves de la Isla del Coco

Book by Serge Arias & Michel Montoya.
With the support of the Costa Rica Birding Board and Costa Rica Birding.  2025.  238p.  paperbound. $25.00.

Located 570 kilometers (c. 354 miles) SW of mainland Costa Rica, rugged, heavily-forested Cocos Island comprises 9.21 square miles (5,894.4 acres) with a maximum altitude of 1,888 feet .  If one keeps going southwesterly similar mileage will reach the Galapagos Islands.  Fittingly, Cocos Island is the sole home of one of Darwin’s finches, the cocos finch (Pinaroloxias inornata), common and endemic here.  Also endemic to Cocos Island are the cocos tyrannulet (abundant) and the cocos cuckoo (common).

This guide lists 181 species recorded here, groups with the most species include shorebirds, larids, seabirds and sulids, and heron types.  Many of the birds are strays, especially North American migrants (incl. 22 of “our” warblers), and are termed “accidentals” (108 species).  Species accounts are predominantly descriptive for identification.  One would be better off using the several good guides to Costa Rican birds along with a ranking North American guide.  It would have been an improvement to state how many records there are for the vagrant species.

Localities are listed for where the birds occur or have occurred.  Twenty-one “birdwatching and hotspots” are described and numerically listed, but the texts go up to as many as 51 with no key as to what those above 21 are.  Cocos Island has few human residents, but is a key destination for divers and marine life.  There is a helpful list of references.

A big plus are the more than 500 color photographs as well as several excellent maps and scenic shots.  Many of us find island birdlife fascinating.  This fine regional guide will stimulate such an itch.  The book has a certain charm, with descriptions such as the Swainson’s thrush’s “notorious” eye ring.  Cocos Island has ten or so mostly tiny satellite islands, breeding sites for sulids, terns, and frigatebirds.

Tour boats leave from Puntarenas, C.R. and the ensuing 540 km trip nets many seabirds.  There is no information on how to hook up with such tours.  “The most beautiful island in the world.” - Jaques Cousteau.  There are abundant waterfalls.  A pleasure to recommend.

The bird.ing dictionary: 1 (noun) A tongue-in-cheek guide for people who find themselves obsessed, against all logic and reason, with birds

Book by Rosemary Mosco.
Workman Publishing, 2025.  171p.  paperback.  $14.99.

Mosco is author of A pocket guide to pigeon watching and creator of the webcomic Birds and moon.  She is also a well-received speaker at bird organization meetings.

This is a highly humorous, alphabetic, near paperback-sized delight taking us through an alphabet of witty definitions.  Examples just from the letter G: gashawk, gestalt, gleaning, glossy, good bird, good looks, goose, GREG, grip, and gull.  Definitions run from a few words to an entire wordy page.

Here is an example: “upending: a feeding behavior in which a duck points its head down so that its butt sticks straight up in the air; also known as mooning.” p. 157.

Other familiar birding words and terms thus skewered include; distraction display, tyrant flycatcher, precocial, LBJ, field mark, flush, digiscope, primary projection, zugunruhe, zygodactyl, nictitating membrane, nemesis bird, covert, fecal sac, confusing fall warbler, kleptoparasitism, contact call, morning flight, and convergent evolution.

The fictitious endorsement by a birder who doesn’t exist says it all: “… I cannot recommend this volume to any birder who, like me, lacks a sense of humor or a penchant for the absurd.” (p iii).

Mosco is quite an artist.  Her seriocomic illustrations help to enhance her definitions.  Just from her choice of words to define it is clear she knows a lot about birding.  Delightful.  Just the irreverence we sometimes need.

Dinosaurs to Chickens: How Evolution Works

Book by Nick Lund. Illustrated by Lucy Rose.

Workman Publishing. 2024.  91 pages. Hardbound.  $24.99. 

This somewhat large-sized, very attractive book is richly illustrated in color with c. 265 animals and their pithy biographies.  The fine color paintings, most schematic, especially those of prehistoric animals, should not fail to stimulate any reader.  Appropriate for young adults, but adult readers should find it rewarding, in the same manner as National Geographic’s fine magazine Ranger Rick, that I look forward to each month.

Sections deal with an introduction to evolution and then: chapters on insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and, especially mammals.  Plus end sections discuss where does evolution take us from here.  There is a glossary, and list of references.  In most cases with the books listed in References there is no indication of the publisher and date.

Most but not all illustrations are accompanied by a usually partial scientific name, often limited to genus, plus the English name of the animal in question.  The book, to its credit, does not stint in supplying the difficult but correct “Latin” name for its often obscure animals, such as Melittosphix, Proganochelys, Microbiotheria, Erethizon, and Sahelanthropus, as well as the more familiar Australopithecus, Homo erectus, and Archaeopteryx, not to mention common English names such as Great White Shark, Monarch, Moose, Gorilla, and many others.

After most of the animals is an indication of how long ago they first appeared, e.g. for American Alligator it says: (=8 mya).  It means the animal in question first appeared c. 8 million years ago.  In similar fashion: Common Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina, 2.5 mya.

Accompanying many illustrations are diagrams showing schematically the evolutionary course resulting in specific animals.  Botanic evolution is not the focus of Dinosaurs to Chickens.

An attractive, informative, book.  Highly recommended.

Harry Armistead
Mar 20, 2025

The Gull Guide: North America

Book by Amar Ayyash

Princeton University Press.  2024.  518 pages.  Flexbound.  $39.95.

The Gull guide is a monster.  Monstrously good.  Such richness!  Over 1,800 color photographs.  All of them heavily annotated.  Complete references.  Everything is thoroughly documented.  There is a glossary of 93 terms.

To give an idea of how comprehensive Ayyash has been, here is one example.  For Laughing Gull there are 27 photographs, 8 pages of text, a colorful range map, and sections on overview, taxonomy (including subspecies), range, identification, molt, and hybrids.

This richness of illustration is shown for all species, such as 22 photographs of Ross’s Gull, 28 for Black-legged Kittiwake, 17 Ivory Gull, 27 Bonaparte’s Gull, 30 Heermann’s Gull, American Herring Gull 90, European Herring Gull 38, Thayer’s Gull (Larus glaucoides thayeri) 46, Kumlien’s Gull (Larus glaucoides kumlieni) 50, and Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides glaucoides) 29. !!

Thirty-two species are treated thoroughly including such North American rarities as Swallow-tailed Gull, Gray-hooded Gull, Belcher’s Gull, Kamchatka Gull (race of Common Gull), Vega Gull, and Azores Gull, some of these still the subject of “antiquated classification” and/or have “taxonomic positions” unresolved.  Such complex situations are fully described, to the likely satisfaction of any gull aficionado, a growing sub-culture of birders.

Well-covered are the introductory sections dealing with gull topography, aging and molt, taxonomy, and eight facets of identification (variation, aberrations, nuances, caveats, and pitfalls, etc.).  Extreme rarities, esp. primarily Asian species or races of commoner forms here, are also investigated: Heuglin’s Gull, Taimyr Gull, Pallas’s Gull, and Gray Gull.  Especially helpful is the multi-colored, so-called “North American Gull Identification Chart” (p. 45) diagraming 6 features of 17 of our species., what might be called a “cheat sheet”, displaying leg color, orbital color, mantle shade, et al.

This is a detailed text giving some of us more than we may want to know.  But such as they may be can marvel at and appreciate the level of detail and the fine illustrative content.  Also included is a section treating the 7 most frequent hybrids.  With their hybridization, years before reaching adulthood, each year with unique plumages, and the tendency of many to wander, a complete monograph such as this is a resounding accomplishment.

Range maps in most bird books are mere representations, hints at where a species is found, lack great detail, and often of a scale that is not completely informative.  Such is the case here where the vast scale of some species’ distribution lends itself to suggestive occurrence in some areas.

For instance the map for American Herring Gull shows all of North America and the indication of its breeding range on our East Coast is almost impossible to detect on the map, although the text dealing with range describes this in some detail.

But the history of the species’ range extension is incomplete.  First breeding in Maryland was not until 1955 and 1956, a few pairs on Sharp’s Island found by Dick Kleen.  Prior to their range extension from northern NJ and Long Island they were known south of there as “Winter Gull”, since that was the time of year when almost all of them were seen.

Borrowing some of Dick’s bands I banded a few of those 1950s birds, sometimes swimming after the errant chicks.  One morning in the 1980s four of us recorded the nest contents of over 1,000 Herring Gulls on Smith I., MD, at Easter Point.  Such details are not possible here, but this book could have given some of them.

Another bugaboo with range maps is they sometimes display huge areas of the world or Northern Hemisphere when the range of some species comprises only very small parts of such.  This is less the situation here yet with the Ross’s Gull map displaying most of the world, it nevertheless shows with small red areas where this charismatic bird breeds.  Many range maps in various books are too small, postage stamp-sized.  Any range map problems here are more than compensated for in the text descriptions of range.

There is not much to nit pick here.  This is a virtuoso performance, yet another splendid monograph from Princeton.  Ayyash has contributed many of the fine photographs.  His list of references is impressive as is the thorough Acknowledgements section.  There is no other American gull monograph with this detail and quality and thoroughness.  A staggering, heroic, achievement, it is most highly recommended.

The Stokes Guide to Finches of The United States and Canada

Book by Lillian Stokes & Matthew A. Young

Little, Brown and Co.  2024.  329+ pages.  flexbound.  5.5” X 8.5”.  $21.99.

This is a thoroughly splendid guide with over 345 excellent color photos and a most attractive format that includes, for every species, “quick take” (but often > one page), identification, subspecies, similar species, distribution, vocalizations, habitat and diet, “at your feeder”, movements and irruptions, breeding behavior, molt, and conservation as well as a section called  “Fun Fact”.

The range maps are most attractive with varied colors and indications of out-of-range occurrences, geared to subspecies as well.  More than this description of the segments, there are anecdotes and expert humor, an abundant sense of wonder, and much to stimulate the reader’s imagination and interest.  There are even scenic photographs of such places as Denali, Attu, the Grand Tetons, Hawaii, et al., 26 Lawrence’s Goldfinches at a pond, and so on.

Full treatment is given to vagrant finches, especially Asian ones, the 17 Hawaiian honeycreepers, and there are separate chapters on feeding and attracting, movements and irruptions, and research and conservation.  Needless to say in a book of this high quality, there are easy-to-use indexes, and a list of 20 or more citations to relevant literature for each species.

There are separate chapters on Hoary and Common redpolls although most recently these two have been lumped.  The start of each account has a relevant quotation from classical literature, modern popular music, or notable naturalists.  The Nesting segment has information on timing, nest description, eggs description, incubation period, nestling period, and number of broods.

But this lovely title is much more than the sum of these disparate parts.  It is handy and inexpensive.  Young is the founder of the Finch Research Network, has worked with the Cornell Lab for 15 years, and is widely published, including papers on the Red Crossbill complex, here described in detail, including pp. 114-155 on these crossbills, with abundant spectograms of their (and other finches’) vocalizations.  Stokes, familiar as author or co-author, of innumerable books, is credited with 80 photographs here.  Get this book if you haven’t already.  If you think this rave review is unwarranted, I believe you’ll change your mind in a minute once the book is in your hands.

The Birds That Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness

Book by Kenn Kaufman

Avid Reader Press (Simon & Schuster).  ix, 387p.  hardbound with dust cover.  $32.50.  bibliography.  index.  45 illustrations (most are full-page color paintings).

This splendid book is a penetrating examination of the many birds Audubon never saw and the possible reasons he didn’t.  Some of the reasons are the birds simply were not in the places he was, and for others their range had not expanded to include those areas.  For some still other species missing them seems inexplicable.  But as Kaufman points out, Audubon and the other early American naturalists lacked field guides, binoculars, and had a very delayed, spotty mechanism for communication.

Kaufman looks carefully at the varied places Audubon explored.  One of the great charms here are the attractive color paintings by him, done slavishly and on purpose in the style Audubon might have done of some of the birds that great artist missed, including setting them in vegetation appropriate to Audubon’s travels.  Kaufman is quick to denigrate these efforts, but I think they are pretty darn good, and what a fabulous, creative idea to do this in the first place.

Kaufman also gives summaries of the work of other early naturalists, especially Alexander Wilson, Charles Lucien Bonaparte, the Bartrams, Bachman, Catesby, et al.  Also examined are recent sources of confusion, such as Bicknell’s & Gray Cheeked thrushes, the varied Red Crossbill vocalizations.  Rivalries, jealousy, and hostility characterized some of the ornithologists’ relationships, especially as regards Audubon.

Audubon was not innocent of exaggerations and falsehoods.  Not without blemish, he was at times a slave owner and had an interest in the skullduggery of eugenics: phrenology.  “Unfortunately, Audubon has a legacy of stretching the truth beyond the breaking point - sometimes exaggerating, sometimes apparently making things up out of thin air.” (Kaufman, p. 7.)  “In trying to pin down details of Audubon’s life, we find ourselves in a dimly lit hall of mirrors.”  (Kaufman, p. 12.)

One should not be too judgmental about some of the confusion back in those times, such as Audubon considering sandhill cranes to be the immatures of whooping cranes.  There are some issues of our current times that are still not completely worked out.

Recent complexes that have challenged our contemporaries include the Traill’s flycatcher(s), western flycatchers, the 2 populations of willets, the various seaside sparrows, green-winged teal, western grebes, great blue vs. great white herons, various forms of cattle egret, surf scoter, the king/clapper rails, the herring gulls, the sandwich terns, the whip-poor-wills, the crows, brown-headed nuthatches, marsh wrens, meadowlarks, solitary vireos, etc.

Kaufman discusses some of these in the context of the “mistakes” or lack of understanding by Audubon and the early naturalists.  Sets of Audubon’s Birds of America, the original double elephant folio, and there are not many still extant, have sold for over $10,000,000.

As Kaufman remarks “Audubon’s reputation was built on his best work … and his best work is phenomenal” (p. 337).  It was a pleasure to see and hear Kaufman discuss much of this at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University on May 22, and to talk with him briefly.  The Birds that Audubon Missed is a unique look, deeply-researched, of early (and contemporary) American ornithology.  Highly recommended.  Should be spell-binding for many of us.

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