Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion: A Comprehensive Resource for Ident

by Pete Dunne

In this book, bursting with more information than any field guide could hold, the well-known author and birder Pete Dunne introduces readers to the "Cape May School of Birding." It's an approach to identification that gives equal or more weight to a bird's structure and shape and the observer's overall impression (often called GISS, for General Impression of Size and Shape) than to specific field marks.

After determining the most likely possibilities by considering such factors as habitat and season, the birder uses characteristics such as size, shape, color, behavior, flight pattern, and vocalizations to identify a bird. The book provides an arsenal of additional hints and helpful clues to guide a birder when, even after a review of a field guide, the identification still hangs in the balance.

This supplement to field guides shares the knowledge and skills that expert birders bring to identification challenges. Birding should be an enjoyable pursuit for beginners and experts alike, and Pete Dunne combines a unique playfulness with the work of identification. Readers will delight in his nicknames for birds, from the Grinning Loon and Clearly the Bathtub Duck to Bronx Petrel and Chicken Garnished with a Slice of Mango and a Dollop of Raspberry Sherbet.

Genres: Birds, Reference, Nature, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published May 11, 2006

Reviews

[Ro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me preface this with: I am the world's worst birder. But I am improving. This book is exactly what it says it is... a companion, not a replacement for a field guide. I have been using it in conjunction with a couple of field guides that I own and find it to be excellently written with very helpful field notes about birds. What may surprise the reader is that there are NO PICTURES, just words...and it is excellent.

One of the problems that I frequently have with field guides when I am birding is that I can get lost in the pictures and forget what bird I am looking for. How I use this book is I compare my field notes and best guesses to the field notes of this book and ascertain whether I am getting close to an identification. Then I look at pictures and compare them to any photos that I may have taken and then narrow the identification down as much as I can. I use the descriptions to find cues that I may follow the next time I see a bird.

This is a wonderful addition to a birder's library.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pete Dunne is a gifted, charming writer and his books pale in comparison to meeting him in the field. If you ever have a chance to bird with him, GO!

[Suzanned99 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, helpful; however, some of the bird descriptions were not. It could have used more comparisons of lookalikes.

[Mara Gaulzetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book to accompany a field guide with photos. Dunne explains how to identify birds with much detail, but if you're a visual learner it can be tricky to decipher. It's a great book for me, but I use it in conjunction with another field guide that has pictures (either Sibley's or Audubon).

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every book I've read on birding said to identify birds by behavior, not field marks. This book finally makes that possible. In lively but not undignified prose, Dunne introduces the character of each bird. Reading about each bird is like finally becoming friends with an acquaintance. This book is essential reading for any bidder.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Identification tips for all North American birds, presented entirely in text form. I find that I do not use this book nearly as much as illustrated field guides.

[Janet]

His names that summarize the bird's jizz are priceless. He calls the piping plover the "sand wraith". What could be a more perfect description?