Bird Feathers: A Guide To North American Species

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Over 400 photos of representative feathers from 379 species How to identify not only what bird a feather came from but also what kind of feather it is Range maps and wing type given for each bird This guide teaches birders to use the characteristics of wing types and feather morphology to identify feathers--not only by species but also by their place on the bird's body.The introductory chapters give a detailed overview of the feather--how feathers developed, the parts of a single feather, and the variety of types of feathers on a bird. In the feather identification section, more than 400 color photographs show feather samples from 379 bird species from all over North America. Along with the wing type of the species and a map showing its range, several types of feathers are included for each bird; each feather is labeled with its type and its size.

Paperback: 368 pages

Publisher: Stackpole Books (September 3, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0811736180

ISBN-13: 978-0811736183

Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #73,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #57 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Wildlife #63 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Birds & Birdwatching > Field Guides #86 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Field Guides

My review of Bird Feathers actually started at the base of a fallen rotten trunk of an old Douglas fir in a forested ravine on the east slope of the Cascades. At the base of the log, close to the ground we found large chips of wood that had been removed from the log along with a half dozen feathers of an unidentified bird. They were black with a small bit of white close to their base. The longest was about 6 inches long. I guessed it was a woodpecker that had been killed and eaten while foraging on the log.In the past the identity of such a discovery would remain just that, a guess. I collected the feathers and that afternoon I put Bird Feathers to work. Previously, I might have attempt to use a bird field guide to guess at whether or not the feathers I found could be from one bird or another. Or I might have used a text with a few examples of feathers, but it often was missing the species I guessed it might be or look-a-likes which prevented comparison and more certainty in identification. With Bird Feathers in hand I was able to identify the bird quite definitively as a Pileated woodpecker and even specifically which feathers I had discovered.And here is where Bird Feathers excels further as a field guide. Beyond identification, Bird Feathers provides the opportunity for greater exploration. "Why do Pileated woodpecker primary feathers look different than other woodpeckers?" I wondered. This lead me to explore the detailed information in the front of the book on feather types, wing types, various patterns of bird flight. What started out as the desire to identify some feathers found in the woods, ended up with me having a much better image in my mind of how bird feathers WORK.

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