Good Birders Don't Wear White

50 Tips From North America's Top Birders

Robert A. Braunfield, Lisa White

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Year: 2007
• eBook ISBN:
  9780547344850
• Print ISBN:
  9780618756421

David Sibley, Don and Lillian Stokes, and many more share their inside tips—and witty observations—on the birding life.
 
The biggest names in birding dispense advice to birders of every level—on topics ranging from feeding birds and cleaning binoculars to pishing and pelagic birding—in these lighthearted essays accompanied by illustrations. Whether satirizing bird snobs or relating the traditions and taboos of the birding culture, this collection of wisdom is as chock-full of helpful information as it is entertaining.
 
"The book is a delight to read and will generate new enthusiasm for the hobby. The 25 black-and-white line drawings are hilarious." — Booklist

Index

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

albatross, 79

Antshrike, Barred, 228–29

Audubon, John James, 260

auklets, 79

B

backyard as wildlife sanctuary, 8–12, 163–64

binoculars

bad weather and, 147–48

children and, 232, 233–34, 239–40

power of, 26–30

recommendations on, 30

See also optics

birders

statistics on, 171

term use, 95, 98, 99

Birders’ Exchange, 165

bird feeding

backyard as wildlife sanctuary, 8–12, 163–64

“good” vs. “bad” birds, 2–3, 4, 16-17

horizontal log for, 4

overview of food/visitors, 13–17

raptors and, 17

squirrels and, 3–4, 17

stress/control and, 1–5

water, 13

birding

bird behavior and, 253

calling birds in, 123–26, 128–30, 233

escaping by, 220–24

expert birders’ profiles, 247, 256–60

“expert” identification/information, 38–41, 42

focusing on birds, 102–5

high-pitched sounds and, 117–21, 253–254

identification disagreements, 207–12

identifying with birds, 112–16

by impression, 63–65

improving skills, 243–48, 249–254

misidentifications, 38–40, 41, 246–47

at night, 89–94

observation with, 199–202

pelagic birding, 79–83, 154–55

peripherals with, 203–6

pishing, 128–30, 233

preparing for, 75–77

slowing down, 225–30

strategies for, 254

vocalizations/identifications, 107–11, 112–16, 117, 119–21, 253–254

Birding by Ear tutorial, 110

birding etiquette

competit...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contents
• Frontispiece
• Copyright
• Foreword
• COME ON-A MY HOUSE
• Relinquish Control for Stress-free Bird Feeding
• Turn Your Backyard into a Wildlife Sanctuary
• Open a Restaurant: A Maître d’ for the Birds
• DRESSING THE PART
• Clean Your Optics: The Unbearable Brightness of Seeing
• Bigger Is Not Better
• Choose Your Wardrobe Wisely: Good Birders Don’t Wear White
• Question Authority: Good Birders Sometimes Wear White
• IDENTIFY, THEN TESTIFY
• Avoid False Starts
• Take Field Notes
• Follow These Rules to See a Mangrove Cuckoo
• Surrender! (Or at Least Wave a White Flag)
• Bird by Impression
• COME FLY WITH ME
• Choose a Birding Tour Carefully
• Hug Your Tour Leader
• Think Like a Migrating Bird
• Don’t Be Afraid of Two-thirds of the Planet: Pelagic Birding
• THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
• Try the Canadian Great Plains in Winter
• Go Birding at Night: The Final Frontier
• LIST LUST
• Birder or Bird Watcher? You Decide
• Linger Even After You’ve Listed a Bird
• Shift Your Focus from Birding to Birds
• CHEER-UP, CHEERILY
• Don’t Forget to Listen
• Go Beyond Identifying Birds to Identifying with Them
• Don’t Play with Firecrackers: Where Have All the Birdsongs Gone?
• Become a Pod Person: The iBirder
• Shush and Pish
• MIND YOUR MANNERS
• Oh, Behave!
• Heed Birding’s Traditions and Taboos
• Play Fair When Sharing a Scope
• FEATHER FORECASTING
• Go Birding in Bad Weather
• Learn about Distribution and Weather
• Use a Storm to Your Advantage
• BUILDING A NEST EGG
• Be a Proactive Conservationist
• Make a Difference for Birds
• Write It Down: Making a Calendar
• CAPTURING THE MOMENT
• Learn from Your Mistakes: How Not to Hide from Birds
• Go Digital for Bird Photography
• Dump the Gear
• Learn by Drawing
• THE JOY OF BIRDING
• Practice Seeing
• Don’t Forget the Peripherals
• If You’re Sure of Yourself, Stand Your Ground: Between a Rock and an Owl
• Share Your Passion: Born-Again Birder
• Let Birds Help You Escape to Paradise
• Slow Down and See More Birds: The Rule of Sandwiches
• LOOK! UP IN THE SKY!
• Go Birding with Kids
• Introduce Children to Birds
• DEVELOPING A BIRD BRAIN
• Work at Becoming a Good Birder (Maybe Even a Great One)
• Cultivate Good Birding Practices
• Recognize True Greatness
• Index
• Coming Soon: GOOD BIRDERS STILL DON’T WEAR WHITE
• About the Editor
• Connect with HMH