Bird Feathers

by S. David Scott, Casey McFarland

Over 400 photos of representative feathers from 379 species.

Genres: Birds, Nature, Nonfiction, Science, Field Guides, Reference, Animals

529 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2010

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I passionately loved this book. It is the most amazing guide for the hobby ornithologist, and I'm sure beyond.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive guide of everything you ever wanted to know about feathers and more. The first 60-some pages of text are well worth reading and cover everything from the history of feathers, reading fault bars to determine stress to the bird, why white feathers wear faster than colored feathers, to dynamics of flight. There are many amazing photos such as the one showing a hummingbird flight feather superimposed on a golden eagle flight feather and a close-up of an owl flight feather showing the fuzzy leading edge that allows it to fly silently. The field guide portion shows feathers for 379 North American species grouped by order and family. If you do not read the entire text, at least read the explanation of how to use the guide found on pages 64-66. Rulers are included on the covers: English system on the front, metric on the back. My only thought for improvement would be to have the metric system measurement listed first and the English system in parenthesis instead of the other way around. Any scientific endeavor should always be done in metric! Terrific guide that I've already started using. A must have for every birder.

[Fernleaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic guide to bird feathers, allowing (finally) you to compare a feather found in the woods with the pages here to determine a likely culprit. The introduction does contain a warning to the effect that it is illegal to possess wild bird feathers, although I do think they could have highlighted that fact a little more prominently. Great first section looks at the history of feathers, their structure and function, and the major flight styles of birds. Section 2 includes the actual photographs of wing and tail (some body) feathers for many many species and groups of birds. A great guide overall.

[Eva John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a novel to be read cover to cover, but a reference book and a very good one at that. The author makes it easy for all to use. I consider this particular guide an invaluable teaching aide for my basic birding class geared toward children and the novice birder.

[Nancy Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely useful discussion of the various feather types, with a superb photo gallery to help with field identification

[Marian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for Bird feathers ID. Would definitely recommend!