Devorah,

I beg to differ with your claim that Burton Guttman's book is "the first
book available that teaches interested people how to become bird watchers".
You appear to have overlooked the classic "Guide to Bird Watching" by Joseph
J. Hickey, originally published in 1943 by Oxford University Press, and
reprinted with revisions in 1964 and 1975. Although dated in many ways now,
much of the advice presented by Hickey is still highly relevant and useful
today.

I don't mean to criticize Dr. Guttman's book, which I am sure will be very
helpful for its intended audience, but the focus of Hickey's book is quite
different from that of Guttman's. Guttman's book focuses mainly on learning
to identify birds. Although learning to identify birds is a prerequisite to
becoming a "bird watcher", it does not in itself make one a bird watcher.

Hickey's book dispenses with learning to identify birds in about 7 pages.
It stresses things like taking good notes and making daily observations,
something that many birders never do. It provides advice on subjects such as
how to estimate numbers, how to do systematic counts, how to become a bird
bander, how to take part in cooperative projects, and how and where to
publish your observations. It also has a 30-page list of references,
compared with the 5-page list in Guttman's book.

One could argue that Hickey's book starts out just about where Guttman's
book ends, and helps to direct the birder who has mastered the basics of
identification to channel his/her interests into gathering useful data and
to become a serious or advanced "bird watcher". I think we are still in need
of a modern book which covers the same grounds as Hickey, and takes the
beginner beyond the basics of how to identify birds.

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net



-----Original Message-----
From: National Birding Hotline Cooperative (Chat Line)
[mailto:BIRDCHAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Devorah Bennu
Sent: March-07-08 8:39 AM
To: BIRDCHAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Subject: [BIRDCHAT] Finding your wings (link)

hello everyone,

i have reviewed a book that is hot off the presses
that you will also want to read because this is, to my
knowledge, the first book available that teaches
interested people how to become bird watchers. Whether
you use this book as part of self-study or either as a
supplement or required text to a formal class, you
will get a lot out of this well-written and affordable
book;

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/03/finding_your_wings.php

GrrlScientist
Devorah
freezing my butt off high up a tree somewhere in
Central Park, NYC






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