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Birds at Your Feeder
by Erica H. Dunn, Diane L. Tessaglia-Hymes, Erica Dunn (Illustrator: Jeff Price)
Product Group: Book
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (1999-09)
ISBN: 0393047377
EAN: 9780393047370
Dewy Decimal #: 598.097
Hardcover: 418 pages
SKU: 00522
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Minor shelf wear.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
In North America, between 30 and 40 million people purchase bird feed each year. Based on years of study and surveys, this book offers information on feedings habits of North American birds. Learn how a red-winged blackbird may not try a new food until it sees another try it first.
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Customer Reviews
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New to birdwatching?? This can help you identify birds at your feeder.
Rating  (4)
Date: 2006-05-07
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I use the book along with my Peterson Field Guide and am able to distinguish birds from each other by what the birds tend to eat, according to Birds At Your Feeder.
Some birds, from far away, even with your binoculars, may be so similar in appearance (size and color), and their visits to your feeders so short, that you can't get a good enough look a them. However, what they eat will help you to identify the birds. For instance, that small gray bird might be a titmouse, a thrush or a vireo. But what did they choose to eat from your feeders? Was it mixed seed, sunflower or suet? I flip through the Peterson Guide to select which birds might meet the size and appearance, and then refer to BAYF for what those birds most commonly eat, using process of elimination to identify the bird.
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A gem of research and writing
Rating  (5)
Date: 2000-11-10
6 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
The title doesn't do justice to this book's breadth and depth. "Birds at Your Feeder" consists of ornithologically informed and delightfully written accounts of the feeding habits, behavior, distribution, and abundance of 93 North American species that often visit bird feeders. I bought the book knowing nothing more about it than Dr. Dunn's international prominence as an ornithologist at the Canadian Wildlife Service and a prime developer of Project FeederWatch -- and I wasn't disappointed. She and her co-author based the book solidly on an analysis of the data submitted by thousands of observers since 1987 in the immense network of FeederWatch volunteers across the U.S. and Canada. It seems to me that this important publication has not received the wide attention it deserves. A broad range of readers from professionals in ornithology to people with little more than a casual interest in backyard birds should find it both entertaining and worthwhile.
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Attracting More Birds to Your Feeder(s)
Rating (5)
Date: 2000-03-02
9 out of 9 customers found this reveiw helpful
In addition to very interesting and often unique summary information on different species of birds attracted to feeders, the book includes birdfood ratings and maps that are ideal for people who are trying to determine whether the foods, water, etc. that they offer for birds were found to be as attractive by other birdfeeders, and whether particular birds were attracted to feeders in their local rural, suburban, or urban area, or adjoining state. By examining various graphs, they can also tell: how many of each species typically come at one time; how frequently they may come between different periods watched by other birdfeeders; and whether there is any monthly variation in visits between November and April, when most people are feeding birds.
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Great Reference Book for Backyard Bird Feeding
Rating (4)
Date: 2000-02-09
7 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
I found this book to be very helpful, and I refer to it frequently when I see a new species at my feeder. I like the way it lists the seed preferences for each bird. It is a very interesting book and has been very helpful to me in attacting backyard birds!
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Independently recommended
Rating (5)
Date: 1999-11-23
17 out of 18 customers found this reveiw helpful
Here's the complete review from `Library Journal' (15 Sept. 1999), by Henry T. Armistead, Free Library of Philadelphia: "This superb book is distinguished from the dozens of others on attracting birds by its analysis of data from thousands of people who feed birds across North America and participate in Project FeederWatch, a survey begun in 1986 by Dunn and managed by Cornell University and other institutions. For the 93 most widespread feeder species, the authors present several pages of excellent commentary plus two range maps and four bar graphs. For each bird, there is textual and graphic information on its abundance (both geographical and through the yearly calendar), food preferences, behavior, habits, a drawing of the bird, and more. There is also some detail on birds and mammals found less frequently at feeders plus discussions of misconceptions about the perceived risks of feeders: concerns about dependency, disease, predation, and window collisions. A wealth of information is easily accessible here thanks to this massive cooperative program--a prime example of `citizen science'."
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