CANADIAN Birding BOOKS

If you have any titles that you feel should be here, or that I have missed, please e-mail me the appropriate information. Thanks.

Book publisher/supplier abbreviations

ABC   American Birding Association, PO Box 6599, Colorado Springs, CO 80934
      Phone: (800) 634-7736; E-mail: abasales@abasales.com
AMA   Amazon.com Books; Web Site: http://www.amazon.com
      [A sample showed books to be more expensive than ABA - 
       but what a selection!]
BBC   Birding Book Club, P.O. Box 1088, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
      Phone: (800) 433-4811
BJ    BJ Sales, 8 Midtown Drive, Suite 289, Oshawa, Ontario L1J 8L2.
      Phone: (905) 668-0241  Fax: (905) 668-1626
FON   Federation of Ontario Naturalists.
ERH   Edward R. Hamilton, Falls Village, CT 06031-5000
LLN   LIRE LA NATURE INC., 1699, ch. Chambly, Longueuil, Quebec J2Y 1J1
      Tel.: (514) 357-9626; Fax : (514) 357-9625; E-mail: antoineb@ulix.net
LPP   Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. (800) 661-9017
LPBO  Long Point Bird Observatory
NHBS  Natural History Book Service, 2-3 Wills Road, Totnes, Devon, England,
      TQ9 5XN Telephone: 44-1803-865913; Fax: 44-1803-865280
      E-mail: nhbs@nhbs.co.uk Web Site: http://www.nhbs.co.uk
OAB   Open Air Bookshop, Toronto, Ontario.
RUS   Russ's Natural History Books, Post Office Box 741071, Orange City,
      FL 32774-1071 Telephone/Fax: (305) 293-9818

All prices are quoted in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. 
Note: Prices may be out of date, and vary depending upon where you 
purchase them from.

Quick index to

| Canada | Alberta | British Columbia | Manitoba | New Brunswick | Newfoundland |
| Nova Scotia | Ontario | Prince Edward Island | Quebec | Saskatchewan | Yukon |
| Other Books |

Canada

Fred Bodsworth, The Last of the Curlews, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1995. [$15, rev. Nature Canada, Winter 1996, Pg51]

Elaine Butler, Attracting Birds, Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. [$6.95]

Clive Dobson, Feeding Wild Birds in Winter, Firefly Books, 1981. [$9.95]

J. C. Finlay, BIRD FINDING GUIDE TO CANADA, Hurtig, Edmonton, 1984. [$29.95]

Chris Fisher, Prairie Birds, Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. [$14.95]

Chris Fisher, West Coast Birds, Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. [$14.95]

Tim Fitzharris, Wild Birds of Canada, Oxford, 1989.[BBC $9.95US]

Jon M. Gerrard and Gary R. Bortolotti, The Bald Eagle: Haunts and Habits of a Wilderness Monarch, Western Producer Prairie Books, Saskatoon, 1988. [$18.95]

W. Earl Godfrey, The Birds of Canada (Revised Edition), National Museum of Natural History, Ottawa, 1986 [$49.95]

Geoffrey Holroyd and Howard Coneybeare, Compact Guide to Birds of the Rockies, Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. [$9.95]

Larry McKeever, A Dowry of Owls, Lester & Orpen Dennys Ltd., Toronto, 1986. [$19.95]

Obee, CANADIAN BIRDS, 1993. [$29.95]

R.O.M., CHECKLIST: CANADIAN BIRDS, 1986. [$3.50]

Candace Savage, Peregrine Falcons, Douglas & McIntyre, Toronto, 1992. [$35]

P. A. Taverner, Birds of Canada, National Museum of Canada, 1934.

P. A. Taverner, Birds of Eastern Canada, National Museum of Canada, 1919.

P. A. Taverner, Birds of Western Canada, National Museum of Canada, 1926.

Peggy Van Hulsteyn, The Birder's Guide to Bed and Breakfasts: United States and Canada, John Muir Publications, 1993.[BBC $11US]

Wauer, Visitor's Guide to the Birds OF THE CENTRAL NATIONAL PARKS, USA & CANADA, 1994. [$15.95]

Wauer, VISITOR'S GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF THE EASTERN NATIONAL PARKS (USA & CANADA), 1992. [$15.95

Wauer, VISITOR'S GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARKS, USA & CANADA, 1993. [$15.95]

?, The Bald Eagle: Haunts and Habits of a Wilderness Monarch, Western Producer Prairie Books, Saskatoon, 1988 [$18.95]. [Can anyone provide more info on how to get this book and the author. Thanks.]

Canadian Feathers: A Loonatics Guide to Anting, Mimicry and Dump-Nesting is
available from Simply Wild Publications, 100 Lake Lucerne Close SE, Calgary, AB
T2J 3H8. Phone 1-877-278-5999.

If you would like more details, please check our website at
www.simplywildpub.com

All the Birds of North America from the American Bird Conservancy, is the latest in a series of “new era” field guides. It is admittedly a “concept” book. In fact, it does not seem to have an actual author – the title page says, “concept and design by Jack L. Griggs”. In reality, it takes features from many other guides and combines them into an attractive if somewhat eccentric publication. Illustrations are by a battery of twelve artists. The text is by twelve “ornithological consultants”. With a nod to the computer age, the designer has included seven digital recreations of now-extinct species. These were prepared by a “Digital Illustrator” – something I suppose we will have to get used to.

The book is tall, narrow, and about 2.5cm thick. It fits in your back pocket. The cover is a vinyl-like material. The paper is typical for field guides, but looks a bit more water-resistant than some we have seen.

The book begins with a fairly elaborate section on extinct species, which includes Bachman’s Warbler. Each extinct species is given a full page. This is probably in keeping with the philosophy of the American Bird Conservancy, but it seems a lot of space to devote to species we will unfortunately never see again, especially in a field guide.

After sixty-two pages of bird plates and typical “field guide” information, the text suddenly switches without any warning into a discussion of bird biology. This short section of unnumbered pages seems so out of place that I checked the binding to see if it had been inserted in the wrong place by mistake, but such was not the case. I tried to check the index, and at that point I discovered there is no index. It is supplanted by end plates, which guide the user to the various major divisions of the book. These aspects of the design are troublesome and in my opinion further detract from the effectiveness of the book as a functioning field guide.

A one or two page essay on ecology introduces each major group of birds. The groups are somewhat unusual, in some respects. Some, like “Pelagic Birds” and “Waders”, are familiar. Others, like “Aerialists” and “Ground Walkers”, are not. This leads to confusion when the book is being used. For example, brown pelican is considered an aerialist by the editors, and is included on the same page as the frigatebirds. White pelican, on the other hand, is considered a “Swimmer”, and is in with the swans.

Some geographic divisions are also confusing. A section on “Arctic Birds” includes willow and rock ptarmigan. White-tailed ptarmigan, a “Ground Walker”, is on the same page as gray partridge and chukar, even though there is little need to compare these species. To add to the confusion, one artist painted the white-tailed ptarmigan, while someone else did the other two species.

The book claims to show “all” the birds of North America. In fact, it shows many of them more than once. The warbler plates show eastern and western warblers in different sections. Several species overlap between east and west, and the guide illustrates many of these, twice. Not all overlapping species are treated this way, however, leading again to some confusion. There is no apparent reason for this special treatment of the warblers. It is not extended to other groups of birds, like the vireos. However, the vireos are divided into three categories – “Eyebrowed”, “Spectacled”, and “Drab.

Many of the more obscure species are given fairly perfunctory treatment. In general, they are afforded a “thumb-nail” illustration at about one third to one quarter the size of the “regular” illustrations. While seven extinct species are given seven pages at the front of the book, one hundred and fifteen species, including twenty six which nest in North America, are shoe-horned onto eighteen pages at the back.

There are several “bells and whistles” about this book, which are intended to make it more user-friendly. Color-coding and little icons in the outside margins are supposed to make the search for a particular plate less difficult. I think a more traditional arrangement of information would have worked far better, in this regard, but to be fair I haven’t “field-tested” this design feature, and it may prove effective.

The problems with this guide are largely mechanical. The text and illustrations are generally of very high quality, and in many cases surpass their rivals, Peterson, Golden Guide, and National Geographic. There are twelve illustrators, and twelve styles, represented in the guide, but the severe inconsistency manifested in the National Geographic guide plates is not nearly as evident in All the Birds. (This breaks down a little for the rare and Arctic birds, where the plates are somewhat uneven.) The text is a bit “thin” on occasion, but a special section on Empidonax identification, and a detailed treatment of the gulls, offset this paucity of information to some degree. In many cases, information that is “common” to the birds in a particular grouping is contained within the ecological essay that precedes the identification section. This is good and bad. It reduces repetition and thus makes the book more compact, but it means that the user may have to read the essay from one end to the other, to find that single bit of information.

Range maps are on the same page as the species description, and appear quite accurate, although the omission of breeding information for eastern Alcids is a glaring error. Unlike some guides, ALL the Birds does not try to present too much information on these little maps.

While the book is very “vertical” in overall design, the illustrations are laid out horizontally, with the plates running across the top of the facing pages. The designers consider this a revolutionary concept, and it is quite attractive in some respects. It allows for a more natural, “in context” presentation of the birds. Gulls, for example, are shown at a landfill. Warblers, vireos, and sparrows are shown in the sorts of environments where they could reasonably be expected to show up. On the other hand, the text is forced to scramble to keep up. Many descriptions are split between two pages, and its presentation seems cramped. The plates are without question the highlight of this book.

All the Birds of North America describes itself as “a revolutionary system based on feeding behaviors and field-recognizable features…for both beginning and advanced birders.” It is ironic that the very features that the book touts as “revolutionary” are likely to be distracting for most birders. Like it or not, the hierarchy for presentation of information has been largely established by the likes of Peterson, Golden Guide, and National Geographic. Most guides have followed this format, with minor variations, pretty faithfully. Deviations from the norm are jarring to experienced birders, who expect consistency from one book to the next. It is a nuisance to have to struggle with different presentations, and the familiar will usually be preferred over the eccentric. For this reason, I expect that most experienced birders will tend to leave All the Birds on the shelf. Then again, experienced birders tend to leave all their field guides on the shelf! On the other hand, beginning birders may not have this problem. You are comfortable with what you are used to. If this is your first major field guide, the “growing pains” will be less severe.

Is this guide worth buying? Yes. The plates are very fine, and that alone justifies the small expense. The text has certain drawbacks, but is generally on par with that of other guides, and some of the innovations and extra information provided make this book superior to others in certain respects. Range map problems are no more or less significant in this guide, than they are in others. The design (or over-design) is problematic in my opinion, and detracts from the book’s functionality, but perhaps other will not agree.

"All the Birds of North America" is available locally. The Canadian list price is $28.50, but it may be available for a lower price from some suppliers. It is published by Harper Perennial, a Division of Harper Collins Publishers.

It was published by Natural Heritage/Natural History in Toronto in the spring of 1996. The ISBN is 1-896-219-11-x.

Considering that the book was not launched with massive media fanfare and is written by a relative unknown, it has been quite successful to this point and is just breaking into the American market. Bird Song is now in its second printing. It has been given a positive reception by Barry Kent Mackay, Clive Goodwin and Gord and Dan Gibson as well as being reviewed by Dr. Murray Speirs and Roger Tory Peterson, shortly before his death. (The nature editor at Houghton Mifflin, Harry Foster sent it to R.T.P. for me and he said it was well received.)

Basically, it is a field guide to the songs of125 of the more common birds of eastern North America. It provides a practical "system" which allows for the identification of birds by their songs, right in the field, without the immediate aid of tapes or C.D.'s. There are four main categories in this system and it is continued in Part II of the book, but this time the priority is habitat, so that the number of choices is limited in each category. For example in Part I there are 11 trills but in Part II, for Marshes and Swamps, there are only 4. At the end of this section I also have included a summary of all 125 songs, using the system and again divided by habitat, this time in the form of one-liner descriptions and mnemonics.

Section III of the book is entitled "Going For A Walk" and it leads the reader through each habitat, telling him or her where to look and what to listen for in each case. I think the main feature of the book is that it provides a "system" which allows access to songs which otherwise remain hidden in guides, tapes and C.D.'s, unless a physical description is made first.

Hope I haven't bored you with the details. I do think the book has something to offer to anyone with an interest in bird song.

Thanks.

Ernie Jardine
Birding @aol.com

Flights of Fantasy Photographing North American Birds
http://www.globalbirdphotos.com/book

Global Air Photos, a subsiduary of Waite Air Photos Inc., specializes in providing oblique air photos for use on the internet to advertise residential and commercial real estate to a world market and creating franchise opportunities to sell aerial photographs on a global scale.

Based out of Maple Ridge BC., Donald E. Waite provides an excellent resource for anyone interested in very high quality Bird Photos

Donald E. Waite, President
Waite Bird Photos Inc.
1 - 23233 Kanaka Way,
Maple Ridge, BC
V2W 2B7
Phone (604) 467-9141
Fax (604) 463-0295
Cellular (604) 812-5114
donalde@globalbirdphotos.com
http://www.globalbirdphotos.com

Great Book if you are traveling in Canada - Sat, 10 Jun 2000

Bird-finding Guide to Canada

Hi,

Just got a copy of Cam Finlay's updated Bird-finding Guide to Canada. Each province has maps and information written by local naturalists on their favorite birding hot spots. It also lists some accommodations in the areas. We used the previous version of this book extensively when we traveled New Brunswick and Nova Scotia a few years ago and found the instructions invaluable. This version just came out and is published by McClelland & Stewart Inc. ISBN 0-7710-3219-6 I know it is available from chapters.ca

Barb Beck

Alberta

The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Alberta, Federation of Alberta Naturalists. [Contains Geographical distribution,Breeding Maps,Nesting Maps, there is a whole page devoted to each species,with pictures, Status,Distribution,Habitat,Nesting and Remarks for each bird . Available from the Federation of Alberta Naturalists, P.O.Box 1472, Edmonton, T5J 2N5 (SG)]

Beck, BIRDS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ALBERTA, CANADA (CASS), 1992. [$11.95]

Robin Bovey, Birds of Calgary, Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. [$11.95]

Robin Bovey, Birds of Edmonton, Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. [$11.95]

George W. Scotter, Tom J. Ulrich and Edgar T. Jones, Birds of the Canadian Rockies, Western Producer Prairie Books, Saskatoon, 1990. [LLN $22.95]

Kevin Van Tighem, Birding Jasper National Park, 1988. [RUS $6.60US]

Joan F. McDonald, A Birdfinding Guide to the Calgary Region, 1993. [$18 available from the Calgary Field Naturalists' Society, PO Box 981, Station M, Calgary, AB T2P 2K4] ISBN 0-921224-05-2.

Salt and Salt,The Birds of Alberta, Hurtig Publishing, 1976. [Contains a wealth of information if you can ever get your hands on one. The pictures are not that great but the text is excellent. Would be a great find at a used Book store or Flea Market. (SG)]

G.W. Scotter, T.J. Ulrich and E.T. Jones, Birds of the Canadian Rockies, 1990.

W. Bruce McGillivray and Glen P. Semenchuk, The Federation of Alberta Naturalists Field Guide to Alberta Birds, 1998, ISBN: 0-9696134-2-3

Return to index

British Columbia

Robin Bovey and Wayne Campbell, Birds of Vancouver, Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. [$11.95]

Robin Bovey and Wayne Campbell, Birds of Victoria, Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. [$11.95]

E. C. Campbell, R. W. Campbell and R. T. McLaughlin, Waterbirds of the Strait of Georgia, 1991.

R.W. Campbell, N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G.W. Kaiser, and M.C.E. McNall, The Birds of British Columbia, Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, 1990.

Campbell, WATERBIRDS OF THE STRAIT OF GEORGIA, 1991. [$9.50]

Robert A. Cannings, Richard J. Cannings and Sydney G. Cannings, Birds of the Okanagan Valley, B.C., 1987.

Keith Taylor, Birder's Guide to Vancouver Island, 1990. [RUS $20.95US]

Keith Taylor, BIRDER'S GUIDE TO BRITISH COLUMBIA CANADA, 1993. [$19.95]

Vancouver Natural History Society, A Bird Watching Guide to the Vancouver Area, 1993.

David F. Fraser and Eric L. Walters, Traveller's List of British Columbia Birds, 1990.

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Vancouver Birds in 1995

The Vancouver Natural History Society has just released a publication detailing bird sightings for the Vancouver, British Columbia, Check List Area from 1995.

This 92-page, bound book with 16 additional pages of colour photographs has been compiled from thousands of records submitted by 193 observers. For each species there are data on arrival dates, migration numbers, high counts, departure dates, noteworthy records and the number of reports received. In addition, for many of the species there are monthly counts for up to three specific birding locations; Iona and Sea Island, Reifel Refuge and Jericho Beach.

Also included are sumaries of Mist Net captures on Sea Island, Burrard Inlet, White Rock and Surrey and Maplewood Flats Bird Surveys and the 1995 Vancouver Big Day Birdathon.

The Birding Section of the VNHS have totalled a significant number of volunteer hours publishing these records. It is hoped that success with this edition will enable us to produce a similar publication for 1996 and for subsequent years.

The cover price of this publication is $14.95 Canadian. Only one thousand copies have been produced and a significant number of these were sold during the first week that the book was available. Anyone interested in obtaining a copy should e-mail me directly. For those of you "over the border" the price will be $10.00 US including mailing.

Eric Greenwood
Vancouver, B.C.
egreenw@IntraNet.bc.ca

Manitoba

Bonnie Chartier, A Birder's Guide to Churchill, ABA, 1994. [RUS $12.95US]

Cleveland Et Al, BIRDERS GUIDE TO SOUTHEAST MANITOBA, 1988. [$8.95]

Cal Cuthbert et al., Birder's Guide to Southwestern Manitoba, 1990. [LLN $19.50]

Jon Gerrard, Charles Broley, an Extraordinary Naturalist, White House Plains, 1983. [$4.00]

Manitoba Naturalist Society, Birder's Guide to Southeastern Manitoba, 1988. [LLN $16.95]

New Brunswick

Roger Burrows, Birding in Atlantic Canada: Acadia, 1992.

David Christie, Moosebirds and Sandpeeps: Birds in and around Fundy National Park, 1991.

Brian Dalzell, Grand Manan Birds, 1991.

Anthony J. Erskine, Atlas of Breeding Birds of the Maritime Provinces, Nimbus, 1992.

The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of the Maritime Provinces.

Newfoundland

Roger Burrows, Birding in Atlantic Canada: Newfoundland, Jesperson Press, 1989.[BBC $16.95US]

William A. Montevecchi and Leslie M. Tuck, Newfoundland Birds: Exploitation, Study, Conservation, Nuttall Ornithological Club, 1987. [$25.00?] [As the title suggests this is not "field guide/bird finding" kind of book. It contains in-depth information on the usage of birds and the history of ornithology in the province from early inhabitants (ca. 3000-5000 BC) on up through the early naturalists of the 18th and 19th centuries up to the present. Also included are chapters on major seabird colonies around the province, patterns of diversity, and conservation and preservation. Appendicies include a list of Newfoundland birds, vernacular bird names in Newfoundland and a list of parks and sanctuaries.]

Nova Scotia

Roger Burrows, Birding in Atlantic Canada: Nova Scotia, Jesperson Press, 1988.[BBC $16.95US]

J. Shirley Cohrs, ed, Birding Nova Scotia, 1991.

Catherine L. Murrant, Birding Cape Breton's Historic East, 1995.

Robie W. Tufts, Birds of Nova Scotia, 3rd Ed., Nimbus, 1986. [BBC $15.95US, RUS $19.95US]

The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of the Maritime Provinces.

Ontario

Lise Anglin, Birder Extraordinaire: The Life and Legacy of James L. Baillie (1904-1970), 1992, Toronto Ornithological Club and LPBO. [BJ $5]

Peter Burke, Forest Birds of Carolinian Canada, LPBO & FON, 1995.

Mike Cadman, Paul F. Eagles, F. M. Helleiner, Atlas of the breeding birds of Ontario, University of Waterloo, 1987. [LLN $48.95]

Allen Chartier and Dave Simac, Hawks of Holiday Beach, 1993.

Edward Czerwinski, A Birder's Guide to the Sault Ste. Marie Border Area, 1995, Sault Naturalists of Ontario and Michigan. [$6.75 available from the Sault Nat., P.O. Box 21035, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario P6B 6H3.]

David H. Elder and Gisela Ewald, The Birds of Quetico Park and the Atikokan Area, 1994. [$14.75 + $3.50 postage, Friends of Quetico Park, P.O. Box 1959, Atikokan, Ontario, P0T 1C0]

Chris Fisher, Ontario Birds, Lone Pine Publishing, 1996. [$17.95]

Clive E. Goodwin, A Bird Finding Guide to Ontario, University of Toronto Presss, 1995. [$24.95]

Clive Goodwin, Where to Watch Birds Around Coburg, 1995. [Available from the Chamber of Commerce, 212 King Street West, Coburg, Ontario K9A 2N1, free on receipt of a SASE No 10 envelope.]

Clive E. Goodwin, A Birdfinding Guide to the Toronto Region, 1988.

Ross D. James, Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Ontario (2nd Edition), Royal Ontario Museum, 1991. [$12]

Gerald McKeating, Birds of Ottawa, Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. [$11.95]

Gerald McKeating, Birds of Toronto, Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. [$11.95]

G. K. Peck and Ross D. James, Breeding Birds of Ontario. Nidiology and Distribution, Volume 1: Nonpasserines, ROM, 1983. [?]

G. K. Peck and Ross D. James, Breeding Birds of Ontario. Nidiology and Distribution, Volume 2: Passerines, ROM, ?. [?]

Doug Sadler, Our heritage of birds: Peterborough County in the Kawarthas, Orchid Press, Peterborough, 1983. [$7.50]

Steve M. LaForest, Birds of Presqu'ile Provincial Park, 1993. [$21.95 + $3 postage from The Friends of Presqu'ile, P.O. Box 1442, Brighton, Ontario K0K 1H0]

Ron D. Weir, Birds of the Kingston Region, Quarry Press, Kingston, 1989. [$39.95]

William C. Mansell, Birds of the Cottage Country, McBain Publications, Kitchener, 1985. [BJ $7.95]

Martin K. McNicholl and John L. Cranmer-Byng, eds, Ornithology in Ontario, 1994. [BJ $24.95] [Special Publication Number 1 of the Ontario Field Ornithologists. This excellent book documents the history of ornithology in Ontario and Ontario's birds. Available from: Sid Hadlington, RR 1, Box 27, Bramhall Park, Midland, Ontario L4R 4K3 Canada. $24.95 +$5.00 postage.]

Dan Paleczny, A Bird Finding Guide to the Cochrane Area, 1993. [Available from Dan Paleczny, R.R. 1, Cochrane, Ontario, P0L 1C0 - Donations to offset postage + printing costs.]

George K. Peck, Ontario Nest record Scheme: Twenty-fourth Report (1956-1992), 1993. [No charge, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6]

John Sankey, Enjoying the Birds of the Ottawa Valley, 1987.

Richard M. Saunders, Flashing Wings, McClelland and Stewart, 1947. [Review in Birding Dec 1995, Pg.468.]

J. Murray Speirs, Birds of Ontario, Vols I and II, Natural Heritage, 1985. [Vol I $49.95, Vol II $24.95]

Dan Strickland, Birds of Algonquin Provincial Park, Friends of Algonquin Park, 1990. [$2.95]

Ron G. Tozer, and J.M. Richards, Birds of the Oshawa-Lake Scugog Region, Ontario.

Birds of Ontario

Nature lovers in Ontario have something to celebrate - the arrival of a new field guide, Birds of Ontario. Written by Andy Bezener, with a technical review by Ross James, former Curator of Ornithology for the Royal Ontario Museum, this book features 318 of Ontario's finest feathered friends.

Detailed, full color illustrations accompany insightful text that will better acquaint you with the bird's behavior, habitat, nesting, feeding, voice and much more. Each group is color coded, for quick identification, and all the birds are shown in a comparative reference chart.

Birds of Ontario is a wonderful introductory guide for the novice birder and a handy reference for the more experienced enthusiast.

Available from your local bookseller, or order directly from
Lone Pine Publishing at 1-800-661-9017.

· $26.95 · 5.5" x 8.5" · 376 pages · rounded corners
· 318 species · ISBN 1-55105-236-9

Posted on behalf of Lone Pine Publishing

I have received a copy of this excellent field guide, and find it quite easy to use. It is ideal for the beginner and intermediate birder, and useful for the experienced birder as well! The book is colour coded and laid out in a manner to make it easy to find what you are looking for, thus making it easier to identify species. It only has the birds that have been recorded in Ontario, therefore you are not looking through many species that you would not likely find here. There is a lot of detailed text on each species, actually one full page per species. The guide also has lots of information pertaining to Ontario, which will be an aid to Ontario birders, and visiting birders. I believe that this field guide is a must for most birders. Check it out in bookstores and nature stores in your area soon.

Sincerely,
Gord Gallant
gord@web-nat.com

Prince Edward Island

The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of the Maritime Provinces.

Quebec

Pierre Bannon, Birdfinding in the Montreal Area, 1991.

Sylvie Girard, Birdwatching Itinerary of the Gaspe Peninsula, Club des ornithologues de las Gaspesie, 1989.

Saskatchewan

Blud Jay Bookshop
Nature Saskatchewan
Room 206, 1860 Lorne Street,
Regina, SK S4P 2L7
Within SK: 1-800-667-4668; outside SK: (306) 780-9273

Here are some titles for your section on books for Saskatchewan.

Mary Gilliland
Special Publications Editor
Nature Saskatchewan

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NATURE SASKATCHEWAN
announces new publications of interest to naturalists nationwide.

_The Atlas of Saskatchewan Birds_ by Alan R. Smith -- maps, text, historical and recent records for all of Saskatchewan's 409 species. Includes appendices, gazetteer, checklist, overlays to help you make your "own" checklists, the most complete bibliography available on Saskatchewan birds. Paper, 8.5 x 11, 456 pages, illustrated by the author. $45.

_Birds of the Elbow_ by J. Frank Roy -- a vivid accounting of 301 species in one of Canada's premier birdwatching areas. Detailed site and route maps showing Lake Diefenbaker, Luck Lake, the Coteau Hills, the Matador Grasslands, and many others. Checklist, bar graph, appendices. Paper, perfect or coil, 8.5 x 11, 325 pages. Maps, colour, b/w photos, drawings. $30.

_Birds of the Besnard Lake Area, North-Central Saskatchewan, 1968-1994_ by Jon Gerrard, Gary Bortolotti and Karen Wiebe -- an annotated list of over 200 species in this increasingly important area where the mixedwood forest meets the Canadian Shield. Maps and routes for birdwatchers. Checklist. Paper, 5.5 x 8.5, 97 pages, maps, b/w photos plus drawings by Wiebe. $12.

_The Isabel Priestly Legacy, Saskatchewan Natural History Society, 1949-1990_ by Margaret Belcher -- the evolution of a major conservation organization from a handful of naturalists to its present significance in environmental work throughout the Prairies. A good model for any group preparing its own story. Paper, 286 pages, b/w photos, drawings. $25.

Available from Nature Saskatchewan, Room 206, 1860 Lorne Street, Regina, SK S4P 2L7. Within SK: 1-800-667-4668; outside SK: (306) 780-9273. Payment by Visa, Mastercard or cheque made out to Nature Saskatchewan or Blue Jay Bookshop. Postage and handling: Canadian orders: 1st book $3.00, each additional $2.00. International orders: 1st book $7.00, each additional $4.00. Credit card orders reflect actual postage cost. All prices above are in Canadian dollars.

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Peter Jonker, and Bernie Gollop eds. 1992 A Guide to Nature Viewing Sites in and around Saskatoon. Saskatoon Natural History Society and Extensiion Division, U. of Saskatchewan. vii + 122p [$6.95] [It includes descriptons, maps, a bird list which gives species presence and seasonal abundance at each of the 19 sites. I have used it and found it quite useful. It also contains plant, mammal, amphibian, reptile and butterfly checklists and field guide references. (LdM)]

Introducing the first magazine to celebrate Saskatchewan in spectacular photography and captivating story. Saskatchewan Naturally Magazine is located at http://www.sasknaturally.com on the web. You can subscribe to the printed magazine there if you wish.

Yukon

Robert Frisch, Birds of the Dempster Highway, Yukon Territory, 1987.

Helmut Grunberg, Birds of Swan Lake, Yukon, 1994.

Other useful books

Review- Peterson Field Guide - Warblers

I have just picked up my copy of Peterson Field Guides on Warblers by Jon Dunn/Kinball Garrett, published by Houghton Mifflin. After quickly reviewing the book and reading up on a few species I can enthusiastically recommend this book as a MUST for the serious birder. The book is no lightweight. It is the standard field guide size…but is 1.25" thick…covering 656 pages!

Just about everything you wanted to know about warblers is here. There are plates of each species shown in various plumages as well as a species accounts with excellent photographs. The authors have done an absolutely superb job on this monumental task! The typography is also first rate as are the maps. Most field guides use very small range maps, but not in this book, they are large enough to show the outline of each state. There is so much here that it would probably be overwhelming to anyone new to warblers if they were to take this book in the field.

My only recommendation would be for Houghton Mifflin to leave this book as it is, but also publish it in a full-sized "special edition" version as it is much more than just a field guide.

I recommend this book without any hesitation.

Kerry Grim
Hamburg, PA
kagrim@enter.net