Birds of Field and Shore: Grassland and Shoreline Birds of Eastern North America

613 Pages·2000·3.73 MB·English

by  John Eastman

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Page iii
Birds of Field and Shore
Grassland and Shoreline Birds of Eastern North America
John Eastman
Illustrated by Amelia Hansen
Page iv
Text copyright © 2000 by John Eastman
Illustrations copyright © 2000 by Amelia Hansen
Published by
STACKPOLE BOOKS
5067 Ritter Road
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
www.stackpolebooks.comwww.stackpolebooks.com
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or
portions thereof in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission
in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to
Stackpole Books,
5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania 17055.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design by Wendy A. Reynolds
Cover illustrations by Amelia Hansen
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First edition
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Eastman, John (John Andrew)
Birds of field and shore / John Eastman; illustrated by Amelia Hansen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 0-8117-2699-1 (alk. paper)
1. BirdsEast (U.S.) 2. BirdsCanada, Eastern. 1. Title.
QL683.E27 E36 2000
598'.0974 21dc21 99-045522
Page v
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction ix
Chapter 1 1
Pheasant Family
Ring-necked Pheasant 1
Sharp-tailed Grouse 8
Greater Prairie-Chicken 17
Chapter 2 24
Northern Bobwhite
Chapter 3 31
Typical Owl Family
Snowy Owl 32
Short-eared Owl 40
Chapter 4 46
Common Nighthawk
Chapter 5 52
Sandpiper Family
Upland Sandpiper 53
Greater Yellowlegs 59
Spotted Sandpiper 63
Chapter 6 69
Plover Family
Killdeer 69
American Golden-Plover 74
Chapter 7 80
Gull Family
Ring-billed Gull 82
Herring Gull 90
Common Tern 97
Chapter 8 106
Northern Harrier
Page vi
Chapter 9 114
Falcon Family
American Kestrel 115
Peregrine Falcon 120
Chapter 10 128
Eastern Kingbird
Chapter 11 136
Loggerhead and Northern Shrikes
Chapter 12 148
Eastern Bluebird
Chapter 13 158
Sedge Wren
Chapter 14 164
Swallow Family
Tree Swallow 164
Bank Swallow 174
Chapter 15 180
Horned Lark
Chapter 16 186
Finch Family
Common Redpoll 186
Subfamily Emberizinae 193
Sparrow-Buntings 193
Lapland Longspur 193
Snow Bunting 198
White-crowned Sparrow 205
Savannah Sparrow 212
Grasshopper Sparrow 218
American Tree Sparrow 224
Clay-colored Sparrow 230
Field Sparrow 235
Vesper Sparrow 242
Wood Warblers 247
Blue-winged Warbler 248
Golden-winged Warbler 254
Prairie Warbler 258
Dickcissel 262
Blackbirds 269
Eastern Meadowlark 270
Bobolink 278
Selected Bibliography 289
Index 293
Page vii
Acknowledgments
"To draw a bird is to experience it," wrote British bird artist Darren
Rees. By that criterion, my collaborator, artist Amelia Hansen, is a
person of vast nature experience, which has benefited all the books of
this seriesand our plant series as well. Her interpretation of fine detail
makes close inspection of her drawings always rewarding and worthy
of return to them. I am fortunate to have her and her talents on my
side.
Ecologist Richard Brewer, ornithologist, writer, and professor
emeritus of biology at Western Michigan University, and James
Granlund, ornithologist, author, and teacher, have read the manuscript
of this bookas both have done with my previous booksand again have
offered useful comments and suggestions. I thank these distinguished
gentlemen and friends, not only for their efforts this time around but
also over the long haul. Dr. Brewer also graciously permitted the use
of several previously published Hansen illustrations from The Atlas of
Breeding Birds of Michigan, by Brewer, McPeek, and Adams (East
Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1991).
I thank Dr. Michael B. Stuart for providing access to specimen
collections at the University of North Carolina-Asheville.
My friend, naturalist Jacqueline Ladwein, has helped observe and
photograph specimens in the field as well as fought the good fight for
environmental sense and sensibility as long as I have known her.
Other contributors to this effort in both large and small ways include
Jane E. Barrick, Joyce Bertschi, Janea Little, Eric Mills, and Curtis
and Shirley McComis.