Book Review: How to Know the Birds by Ted Floyd

How to Know the Birds

by Ted Floyd (598.072 Flo)

 

As a relative newcomer to birdwatching, I appreciated the unusual format of this guide on how to identify the birds, as each of the 200 entries is a one-page set-piece built around a particular species of bird that, yes, does indeed identify the formal characteristics of the avian in question, but also uses said bird as a departure point to discuss larger issues of bird behavior, the science of ornithology, and the ecological impact humans have on the world that we share with our wild feathered friends.

 

Reading the book brought new levels of context to my birdwatching, I noticed, even though thoroughly understanding how seasonal molt variation and species hybridization affects positive IDs will continue to be out of reach (that’s expert level stuff).

 

How to Know the Birds does not replace standard ID indexes such as the Sibley and Peterson field guides but expands upon them in clear language, touching on whatever main points author and birding expert Ted Floyd thinks are important to mention, thus potentially saving the reader from spending many hours poring over multiple scientific texts. Naturalistic pencil sketches of the species in their environment augment the book’s holistic approach.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior by David Sibley or Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America by Roger Tory Peterson.]

[ publisher’s official How to Know the Birds web page ] | [ Ted Floyd’s official American Birding Podcast ]

 

Recommended by Eric S.
Walt Branch Library

 

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Book Review: The Pollinator Victory Garden by Kim Eierman

The Pollinator Victory Garden
by Kim Eierman (639.97 Eie)

The introduction to this book sums up the entire point of this publication: Pollinators are critical to our food supply and responsible for the pollination of the vast majority of all flowering plants on our planet. But many pollinators are in trouble and our landscapes have little to offer them. Providing habitat that is pesticide-free and carefully choosing plants that are native to your area can help provide a garden that is good both for the environment and for the pollinators. This is an excellent book which describes in great detail the pollinators that work in our environment to help pollinate flowers, trees and plants. I enjoyed reading through this book with its beautiful photographs and excellent charts showing examples of the best plants for your garden and how to attract the animals to pollinate them.

[ official Pollinator Victory Garden page on the official Kim Eierman web site ]

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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DVD Review: Seasons

Seasons
by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud (DVD 590 Sea)

Having watched and been astonished by Winged Migration, a 2001 documentary about migratory birds that included some of the most amazing flying footage I’d ever seen, I was intrigued when I saw this 2015 documentary, also by co-directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud, on the DVD displays at the downtown library.

Seasons looks at the history of the animals that populated the deep forests of Europe, and the ways their lives have changed since in the incursion and proliferation of humans over the past centuries. Much as with Winged Migration, the footage the filmmakers have captured is breathtaking and eye-popping. With minimal narration (which is in French with English subtitles), the filmmakers let the animals speak for themselves. We get to see everything from tiny beetles and mice, to massive bears, wild horses, and wolf packs, all in their native environments. Whether we are watching a bobcat stalking a deer, or a family of hedgehogs trying to safely cross a cobblestone road, or a pair of brown bears fighting for breeding dominance, or a mother wolf tenderly raising her pack of cubs, all the animals have their own distinct personalities. Some of the “special features” on the disc explain how some of the stunning footage was captured — animals raised in close association with humans so they would not be skittish around cameras and cameramen. However, this can still only account for a small percentage of the incredible images included herein.

The directors are honest and open about their goals to get people thinking about the impact humanity has had on the natural world, and about continuing global climate changes, but the message isn’t overly heavy-handed.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Winged Migration and Oceans, two previous documentaries by the same filmmakers. Sadly, Oceans is not owned by the Lincoln City Libraries.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Rocks, Minerals & Gems by Sean Callery and Miranda Smith

Rocks, Minerals & Gems
by Sean Callery and Miranda Smith (j552 Cal)

I picked up this marvelous reference book a few years ago, after my wife and I had gone to the extravaganza known as The Denver Gem & Mineral Shows (2019 show booklet), as a general guide to exactly what the title says — “Rocks, Minerals & Gems” — and am happy to see that this title has also now been added to the libraries’ collection.

The style/format of this volume reminds me of the Dorling Kindersley style of publishing, though it is not from that publisher — it’s actually from Scholastic, which I remember as the educational publisher I would order books from when I was going to school, eons ago. The book is broken up into three broad categories — Minerals, Rocks, and Gems. Each category starts with a beautiful photography “gallery” of examples of the different types of materials in each section. Under “Minerals” there is a “mineral gallery”, a “meteorite gallery”, and “more minerals”. Under “Rocks”, there are galleries for “Igneous”, “Sedimentary”, “Metamorphic” and “fossils”. Under “Gems”, there are two large gem galleries. Within each section after the galleries, there two page spreads dedicated to dozens of the different examples of the type of material listed — complete with gorgeous photos, scientific descriptions and little “sidebar” articles associated with the main topics — sometimes historical notes, sometimes related to jewelry, etc.

If you’re looking for an in-depth exploration about any of the topics covered in this broad, general tome, you’re better off looking elsewhere. But if you’d like to learn more information in general about the rocks, minerals and gems of the world we inhabit, along with absolutely beautiful photographs, then I highly recommend sampling this book! The only reason it doesn’t earn a rating of “10” from me is that sometimes the articles seem almost too short!

Note: For some reason, this was classified in the youth non-fiction collection, and while it is appropriate for somewhat younger readers, I strongly recommended it for adults, instead!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Periodical Table, also by Callery, and also published by Scholastic — looks to be identical in style and format to this “Rocks, Minerals & Gems” entry!]

[ publisher’s official Rocks, Minerals & Gems web page ] | [ official Sean Callery web site ]

Check out the October 2015 issue of Scott C.'s library newsletter "It's All Geek to Me!" for more materials about Rocks, Minerals, Gems and rockhounding!

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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National Geographic Pocket Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of North America by Bland Crowder

National Geographic Pocket Guide to the Trees & Shrubs of North America
by Bland Crowder [582.16 Cro] 

The first thing that grabbed my attention about this small, pocket-size, guide was the beautiful photo of the trunk of a majestic Sequoia on the cover. That was enough to make me browse this handy, helpful little tree guide. 95% of this book is dedicated to specific breeds or varieties of trees. The remaining 5% covers general tree-growing information, including charts showing growing zones throughout the U.S. and Canada.

But it is the tree identification pages that are the most fun to page through. Each tree gets a single page in the book, with one large photo of a sample of the tree, fully leafed out. At the top of each page is the tree’s scientific name and its common average height. Accompanying the photo in the middle of each page is a list of “Key Facts”, including info about the tree’s general appearance, the leaves, the flowers/fruits and the growing range (i.e. where in the country you’ll find this variety). The bottom half of the page features a more detailed description of the nature of the tree — things about its appearance, growing pattern, root system, etc., accompanied by artists’ renderings of samples of the leaves, seeds/nuts and/or blooms.

Admittedly, the small size of this volume means that there are not detailed full-length articles about each type of tree, but the libraries have plenty of other books that go into more detail. If you’re looking for a simple, portable guide, perhaps to take while on a leisure hike on a wilderness trail, this will help you identify the trees you encounter, with helpful clear illustrations.

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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The Joy of Foraging by Gary Lincoff

The Joy of Foraging
by Gary Lincoff [581.63 Lin]

I generally do not go out looking for plants to eat in the great outdoors, but after reading this book, I think I could possibly give it a try! The author has taken excellent photos of various fruits, vegetables and nuts in everyday settings to show how easy it is to find food in the most common places. The instructions are very clear: know your plants and do not make the mistake of eating something that is potentially poisonous. What I like about this book is that it gives you a guideline for finding the right plants at the right time of year. I checked out the book to increase my knowledge of edible plants, but ended up with a desire to go out and find some of these remarkable foods. I highly recommend this book.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Edible Landscape, by Emily Tepe, Eat Your Yard!, by Nan Chase, or Edible: An Illustrated Guide to the World’s Food Plants, by the National Geographic Society.] [ official Gary Lincoff web site ]

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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Staff Recommendation - Spineless Wonders

Spineless Wonders: Strange Tales From the Invertebrate World

by Richard Conniff [592 Con]

They're weird. They're creepy. They have disturbing personal habits, and they're all around us. They're invertebrates, and we share our world with them, or maybe they just share theirs with us! Conniff takes us up close and personal with such seemingly common critters as the housefly, the leech and the ant. You will never look at a beetle in quite the same way again after reading this, and you may have new respect for the hagfish and the tarantula. No, these beings are not like us, but they have lives that are just as complex and full of drama. This is a fun way to learn more about a seldom-mentioned part of the animal kindgom. -- recommended by Lisa V. -- Bennett Martin Public Library/Reference

[ New York Times review ] [ article by Conniff on the writing of the book ]

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Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.