"Dennis Paulson
Have you mastered Stoke's Beginning Guide to Shorebirds? Are you lucky enough to live near a wetland, so you see shorebirds year round? Going to Alaska and want to be prepared for anything? Does your regular field guide not give you enough shorebird depth? Shorebirds of NA (and for once they mean ALL of North America, with Mexico, Central America, Canada and the West Indies represented), with more than 530 photos to illustrate all shorebird species in their varied plumage is for you. The 94 species covered include the 71 shorebird species that occur regularly in North America, 12 casual species, 10 species known from five or fewer records, and one, the Eskimo Curlew, is probably extinct. The author directs us to regular field guides for maps as distribution is included in the text only. Another nice touch is that the photographs not only identify which plumage is shown (age, season) and point out the indentifying factors, they note where the photo was taken, when it was taken and the photographer. After the helpful introduction, each species is treated like a chapter, with several pictures per species. Shorebirds of North America includes a front flap listing the species covered and the page where it can be found.
Paperback, front flap with quickfind index, 384 pp., 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, 534 color photographs, No range maps, Feb. 2005"
