Sunday, March 13, 2011

Warbler Guy, which books show warbler feathers and reveal warbler molt strategies?


Great question, Harold C. (Fargo, ND).

Finding stray birds' feathers is often both a pleasant and vexing discovery. It's pleasant because finding a feather is a nice treasure to stumble upon on the trail. But then the question often beckons upon examining your find: To which species does this feather belong? Let the identification bidding begin: Do I hear W. Scrub Jay? Stellars Jay? Over here in this corner: W. Bluebird? Hmmm....so many choices for blue-appearing feathers alone.

What's one to do?

The second citation, below, is one remedy.

Another helpful guide to identifying birds when finding feathers or, in general, expanding your understanding of bird biology/birds' life cycle is the initial reference book, below.

Here's their citations (as they've helped me often recently as I continue reading and utilizing them regularly for my work):

1. Peterson Reference Guide to Molt in North American Birds. 2010. Steve N.G. Howell. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. New York, NY 10003 (www.hmhbooks.com).

2. Bird Feathers: A Guide to North American Species. 2010. S. David Scott & Casey McFarland. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, PA 17005 (www.stackpolebooks.com)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanx for the info....Maxine S.

Anonymous said...

Good stuff....Going thru your blog is fun and fact-filled.....Jason