Product Description

Sparrows and Finches offers birders information on this rich variety of species right in their own backyard. It's hard to keep all those little brown birds apart. This handy, bring-along guidebook is designed to help beginner and advanced birders to identify accurately over 48 types of sparrows, finches, and their look-alikes.

Sparrows and Finches focuses only on these two families within a defined geographical location: the Great Lakes and eastern North America. As result, it offers comprehensive coverage in a small, convenient format.

The book is heavily illustrated with 220 full-color photographs taken by award-winning photographers that show these birds in their natural habitats. Comparison pages group similar-looking birds on a single spread for quick reference. Concise and accurate information on each bird includes:

• Common name
• Biological classification
• Song description
• Identifying features
• Seasonal changes to plumage color

Sparrows and Finches will prove indispensable to naturalists, students, and birders at all levels of experience. A special section entitled What Can I Do to Help the Sparrows offers simple ways to attract sparrows and finches to your own backyard. This is an engaging and friendly guide that reveals the rich diversity among a seemingly common family of birds so often taken for granted.

Review

Referred to a 'little brown jobs' when identification of some of these birds becomes especially vexing. This book can help... 220 excellent color photographs. (Donald S. Heintzelman International Hawkwatcher)

Well-done, birder-friendly guides that fit easily into any field pack and are recommended for both beginning and advanced birders. (W.H. Gross BirdWatcher's Digest)

Essential field guide ... features 40 species detailing their similarities and subtle differences and including valuable "nature notes" with most entries. (Essex Free Press 2003-05-21)

These tidy little books provide nice introductions ... well chosen clear photographs accompany each species ... terrific primer. (Nancy Bent Booklist 2003-07-01)

Concise and well-written... The color photographs of various species and the accurate field notes make this an excellent reference work and field guide. (William H. Adams Science Books and Films 2003-12-15)

Makes identifying these remarkable and diverse families of birds as easy as possible. (Princeton Times of Trenton 2003-12-14)

The author of these guides is a naturalist/teacher who clearly knows how to present bird-identification information in an organized, attractive, and educational format. (Charles Leck American Reference Books Annual, Volume 35)

Lovely books ... the range maps are the first I've seen in any guide that fully delineate both breeding range and wintering range. (George Bryant Toronto Ornithological Club)

Colorful photographic guides... delightful companions for beginning birders in eastern North America. (Diane C. Schmidt E-Streams)

The most comprehensive information on several targeted species, packed in a colorful, convenient format. (Bird Times 2003-10-15)

About the Author

Chris Earley is the Interpretive Naturalist at the University of Guelph's Arboretum. He is an active birder whose field guide to warblers is also available in this series.