Fifty meticulously rendered watercolor paintings by a renowned nature illustrator, complemented by detailed descriptions of the individual life cycles, characteristics, vocalizations, food, habitats, distribution, and migratory patterns of each avian species, showcase fifty birds that are uncommon in the Upper Midwest and emphasize the need for definitive conservation efforts.

A compact, illustrated guide to the raptors of the Great Plains region introduces twenty-six different species--along with identification keys and information on their characteristics, plumage variations, status, and migratory patterns--including the red-tailed hawk, merlin, American kestrel, and others. Original.

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Product Description: The American flycatcher is the subject of this enchanting book by a renowned ornithologist, who draws upon personal observations and extensive research to portray this family over its vast range. 16 color plates. 32 drawings.

Product Description: In this work naturalist and ornithologist Alexander Skutch provides detailed accounts of a remarkable aspect of bird behaviour - the aid that one bird gives another who is neither its mater nor its dependent young and who may even belong to a different species.

From blackbirds and orioles to meadowlarks, grackles, and cowbirds, the variety and variation shown by members of the family Icteridae is legend. The family exhibits great diversity in size and coloration, mating and nest building, and habits and habitats. This group of 94 New World species once known as the troupials is well represented in backyards across America; yet most icterids are tropical or semi-tropical species that remain largely unstudied. The least known of these species are perhaps best known to Alexander Skutch, who has studied birds in a Costa Rican tropical valley for more than half a century. In this fascinating book--the first devoted exclusively to the icterids--he combines his own observations with those of other naturalists to provide a comparative natural history and biology of this remarkable family of birds. Devoting a separate chapter to each major group or genus, he delineates the outstanding characteristics of each and includes observations of little-studied tropical species such as caciques and oropendolas. Orioles, Blackbirds, and Their Kin is an eminently readable natural history in the classic style. Enhanced by 31 scratchboard illustrations, this book will delight nature enthusiasts everywhere with its fascinating exposition of avian diversity. Because so much of the published information on the icterids is widely scattered, Skutch's painstaking compilation has created a valuable reference work that will provide students and researchers with a wealth of new insights into the tropical members of this New World family.

Discusses the behavior, voice, courtship, nesting, and temperament of members of the tanager family of birds

Product Description: signed books