This could have been my easiest, shortest review yet:

Arctic Autumn is the latest book from Pete Dunne. You should read it.

I wouldn’t even have to read the book! But, while true, I suppose that wouldn’t be a very satisfactory book review. And I did really want to read it. So here’s a bit more…

Arctic Autumn: A Journey to Season’s Edge is the latest book in Pete Dunne’s exploration of the seasons and place. It follows Prairie Spring and Bayshore Summer, but these books can be read in any order.

The story opens on Bylot Island in Nunavut, Canada, on the summer solstice. Yes, as Dunne points out, that is technically the first day of summer, not autumn. But when you’re that far north (see for yourself), “autumn comes early and surrenders quickly”. The journey ends in November finding Dunne and his wife on a Polar Bear photography tour in Churchill, Manitoba.

In between, we join Dunne as he rafts through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, attempts to meet up with migrating Caribou, birds St. Lawrence Island, and hunts Caribou. Through these travels, Dunne provides vivid glimpses of the Alaskan and Canadian arctic and its wildlife. This includes birds, of course, but also the mammals that, perhaps even more so, characterize this special place.

But Arctic Autumn is more than “just” about arctic wildlife. It also presents other, mainly human, sides of the arctic and introduces us to people who live there along with their historical and cultural background. It’s sad that a book like this wouldn’t be complete without also looking at the human impact on this not-as-remote-as-it-seems environment. Dunne doesn’t shy away from this, discussing the controversial subjects of oil exploration and climate change. He does this in a remarkably even-handed and practical manner.

Until the last chapter, the book had been good, but something was missing: Dunne had yet to have his “conversation”. If you’ve read the first entries in this series you most certainly know what I’m referring to. Arguably, it works much better in this book, where it frames the perfect conclusion to this chapter in the series. I’d go into more detail, but I think it best if you experience it for yourself. I’ll just include one particular quote that spoke to me. It’s one of the main issues that Dunne seems to be taking on in these books:

Most of the members of my species are too distracted and estranged to recognize, much less care about, the natural endowment that supports them, and the interconnectedness that binds them. Polar bears in the Arctic are far less pertinent than getting the car through inspection, making the monthly mortgage payment, or deciding what color to paint the kitchen.

So how do we break free of our distractions? Explore. As Dunne exhorts: “break with the routine of your life and set off to explore the world beyond your own…” This book, and the series as a whole, makes me want to do just that.

Recommendation

Arctic Autumn may not be the best in this series (for me, it’s still Prairie Spring), but it will inform, entertain, and – hopefully and most importantly – open your eyes a little to the natural world and your role in it.

In other words: Arctic Autumn. Pete Dunne. Read it.

I’m sad to say that this book marks the end of the series; the concluding volume on winter will not be published. (At least from this publisher, although I hope that Dunne can eventually get it published somewhere.) The series, although sadly incomplete, is still very much worth reading. Dunne seeks to instill a passion for nature and an appreciation that we are inextricably connected to it. This is a vital ambition, and I believe that he has successfully done that in this series.

This seems like a good time to remind you that there is also a Birder’s Library Facebook page, where you’ll find updates and news (like this about the Sibley guide).

When A Field Guide to the Birds was published in 1934, I doubt that anyone, including the author, even considered that it would still be around over 75 years later. But even though it has gone through many changes, Roger Tory Peterson’s field guide is still here and still relevant. And now it has made the transition into the digital realm as the Peterson Birds of North America app.

Platform

Peterson Birds of North America is an app that runs on the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices. It is a “universal” app, meaning that it is designed specifically to run on the smaller iPhone/iPod as well as the larger iPad. No, no Android version yet.

For this review, I used the app on an iPhone 3GS.

Content

Most of this app’s content – including the art, range maps, and species text – is from Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America. The app contains just about the entire print guide, with the main exception being Peterson’s famous silhouettes. This review will not focus on the content itself, but rather its presentation, as I’ve discussed most of the content in other reviews. Please refer to my review of the Peterson field guide for more information on what you can expect here.

However, I do need to point out that the Peterson app also incorporates information from seven other books in the Peterson Field Guide series: the eastern and western guides to Birds’ Nests, Molt in North American Birds, Feeder Birds of Eastern North America, and family guides to Hawks, Hummingbirds, and Warblers. This is a very welcome, and useful, bonus.

Interface

When you start the app, you’re greeted with icons of various bird groups – Chickenlike Birds, Diurnal Birds of Prey, Warblers, etc – in taxonomic order. However, this home screen is customizable; you can move the icons around in any order you like, and even add your own searches and lists.

Home screen

Browse by group

Tapping the Browse button on the toolbar brings up more ways to find birds. Groups is the same groupings as on the home screen, but without icons and in alphabetical order. Quickfind is an alphabetic list of birds’ “last names” (i.e. Trogon, Veery, Violoet-ear), mimicking the so-called quickfind index included in many print guides. Taxonomy and Species lists all the included species in taxonomic or alphabetical order, respectively.

Quickfind

Browse by species

Search

Search screen

Plates and Species Accounts

The Peterson app uses the plates from the print guide as its main interface. You can enlarge the artwork as well as turn the pointers and labels on or off. In a neat effect, tapping on an individual bird will “focus” on it by making the rest of the plate appear out-of-focus, and double-tapping will do the same thing while zooming in on that bird. Swiping left or right will change plates, just as if you were flipping pages in the book.

Full plate view

Plate with overlay

You can view the plates with or without the control overlay. The button on the top-right will switch to the text descriptions of each bird on the plate (and from there you can access the family account from the Molt reference guide). The buttons along the bottom do the following (from left to right):

Range maps

• Sound – plays a sound recording (only if a bird is “selected”)
• Toggles on and off the pointers and captions
• Displays the range maps for the birds on the plate
• Record a sighting of the selected bird
• Check off the bird on one of your lists
• Go to the species account

The species account shows an enlarged illustration of the bird, with a swipable series of illustrations along the bottom to select from. Every illustration of the bird from the guide is included here, even when they are on different plates. As on the plate screen, the top-right button will bring up the text, but it is greatly expanded here. In addition to all the text from the Peterson field guide (description, voice, habitat, and similar species), you get the species’ text from the Feeder Birds and Birds’ Nests books. And for hawks, hummingbirds, and warblers, you will find the text accounts from those Peterson guides as well.

Species detail screen

Species text

The buttons along the bottom of the species screen are slightly different (from left to right):

• Sound – tapping toggles the sound on/off
• Illustrations
• Range map
• Photo of the bird’s nest, if available (from Birds’ Nests)
• Quick Facts
• Similar species

Due to all of the sources used, this app includes a large amount of information, more than most similar apps. However, the Peterson app is very lacking when it comes to sounds. Tapping the speaker button will start playback, and the app will play through the recording for the species and then stop. It does not display any information, such as the length of the recording. Even more importantly, the sound selection is extremely limited. For instance, the distinctive calls of Eastern Towhee and Scarlet Tanager are not included, just their songs. A more extensive selection of sounds – including calls and vocalizations from different regions – is needed, along with a graphical interface displaying information about the sound being played.

The art, especially the entire plates, looks great on the screen. However, it did take me a while to get used to the interface and where to find particular information. I also found the overlay on the plates to be annoying. When present, it partially covers the plate. But when it disappears (which it does after a couple seconds), you have no way of going back to the home screen or accessing the other screens without bringing it back. It adds up to a lot of extra tapping.

Lists

To me, this is the best feature of the Peterson app. Like most other bird guide apps, Peterson will allow you to record sightings and keep a life list. But these are very rudimentary, you would be much better off using a dedicated app for listing. No, the real power is being able to create and import your own lists.

User-created list

County list with eBird abundance data

A list in this app is like a playlist for mp3’s – a shortcut to the birds you’ve selected. This would be extremely useful when birding in a new location. Simply create a list of the new birds you might find and you now have a quick, handy reference. You can also share these lists with other Peterson app users. Field trip leaders, for example, can create a list of expected birds and share it with participants.

You can also import some ready-made lists from the Peterson app’s Bird Finder site. They have lists for every county in the U.S. and Canada, as well as all the eBird hotspots. These lists also include abundance information in the form of bar graphs, with the data pulled from eBird.

Extras

Under the Extras button on the home screen you can find help on using the app, as well as material from the introductions of various Peterson guides. The entire introduction from the Peterson field guide is contained here, as well as topics from the Feeder Birds book. The most surprising inclusion is the entire text from Molt in North American Birds, which is a highly recommended reference on the subject.

However, with few exceptions, only the text from Molt and the other books is included, not any photographs or other illustrations. This means that, while it’s nice to have the information here, this app will not fully obviate the need to have these other books. The only exceptions are the photos of birds’ nests and the Warbler Undertail Patterns plate from the Warbler guide. I’m very glad to see the latter included, as it is one of the best features of that guide.

Issues

Here are a few issues with this app that have been reported or that I encountered:

• When viewing the plates in landscape mode, you can’t scroll smoothly, making it hard to view some illustrations
• Some range maps of common species are missing (i.e. Swainson’s Hawk, Red-headed Woodpecker)
• The text for some plates omits the very first species heading, making it a little confusing
• The sections from the Molt book are presented in alphabetical order instead of their order in the book, making it much more confusing if you want to read through the book.

All apps have issues like these, and none are serious. The most important thing is not how problem-free an app is, but how quickly the developers fix them. So far, I’ve found Appweaver very responsive, and would not be surprised if many of these things are corrected in short order (and maybe by the time that you’re reading this).

Free Feeder Birds Version

It’s hard to convey in words, or even pictures, the feel of using an app. Honestly, the best way to decide if an app is for you or not is to use it. Thankfully, you can do that with the Peterson app, even before you buy it. Peterson Feeder Birds of North America is a free, “lite” version of this app. It focuses on backyard and feeder birds, and thus contains 162 species (as opposed to 810 in the full app). But other than the species selection, it is identical to the full-featured one, even including support for lists and the full complement of “extras”.

Recommendation

The Peterson Birds of North America app does a good job of presenting the Peterson field guide, as well as many other sources from the Peterson guide series, in a digital format. If Peterson is your primary guide, then this app is a great way to carry it with you wherever you go. It would also be a good choice for beginners, as the Peterson print guide has always been beginner-friendly, and the ability to see entire plates at once is great.

Otherwise, I would not especially recommend this app for the iPhone over the other apps available. The iPad, however, is a different story. I have not personally used it on the iPad, but from what I’ve seen the larger screen really allows the app to breath and the artwork to be better appreciated. If you have an iPad, you should strongly consider this app, especially if you don’t have the latest print version of the Peterson field guide. And at the current (perhaps limited time) price of $14.99, it’s a no-brainer considering all the extra features that you get.

Cotingas and Manakins

From the publisher (Princeton University Press):

The New World tropics are home to the richest avifauna on the planet, with more than 4,000 species, many of them endemic. Two groups found exclusively in this region are the cotingas and the manakins. Few other families of birds have such widespread appeal. They are much sought after by birders for their colorful displays, unusual plumages, and, in some cases, great rarity. Their natural history and behavior offer fascinating case studies for evolutionary biologists, while the intriguingly elusive relationships of these birds are of profound interest to taxonomists.

Cotingas and Manakins is the definitive work on these jewels of the Neotropics, covering more than 130 species. These range from some of the rarest and most enigmatic birds in the world to some of the best studied of all tropical species. Many are breathtakingly colorful and ornate while some are plain and difficult to see. This stunning volume features 34 color plates by Eustace Barnes, who has observed many of these species in the field, as well as distribution maps and approximately 400 color photographs that cover all but a tiny handful of species. Complete with detailed species accounts describing key identification features, Cotingas and Manakins is the authoritative illustrated guide to these magnificent Neotropical birds.

• Covers more than 130 species of cotingas and manakins
• Features 34 color plates and about 400 color photos
• Includes detailed species accounts and distribution maps
• The must-have illustrated guide to these colorful and exotic birds

This is a gorgeous book, with both painted plates and photographs. This is easily one of the most attractive family monographs that I’ve seen.

Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America: A Photographic Guide
by Steve N. G. Howell

From the publisher (Princeton University Press):

Petrels, albatrosses, and storm-petrels are among the most beautiful yet least known of all the world’s birds, living their lives at sea far from the sight of most people. Largely colored in shades of gray, black, and white, these enigmatic and fast-flying seabirds can be hard to differentiate, particularly from a moving boat. Useful worldwide, not just in North America, this photographic guide is based on unrivaled field experience and combines insightful text and hundreds of full-color images to help you identify these remarkable birds.

The first book of its kind, this guide features an introduction that explains ocean habitats and the latest developments in taxonomy. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features such as flight manner, plumage variation related to age and molt, seasonal occurrence patterns, and migration routes. Species accounts are arranged into groups helpful for field identification, and an overview of unique identification challenges is provided for each group. The guide also includes distribution maps for regularly occurring species as well as a bibliography, glossary, and appendixes.

• The first state-of-the-art photographic guide to these enigmatic seabirds
• Includes hundreds of full-color photos throughout
• Features detailed species accounts that describe flight, plumage, distribution, and more
• Provides overviews of ocean habitats, taxonomy, and conservation
• Offers tips on how to observe and identify birds at sea

A long-awaited guide to these fascinating, but confusing, seabirds. I can’t wait to use this on a pelagic trip in two weeks!

Cotingas and Manakins
by Guy M. Kirwan and Graeme Green
Hardcover; 624 pages
Princeton University Press; February 5, 2012
ISBN: 9780691153520

Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America: A Photographic Guide
by Steve N. G. Howell
Hardcover; 506 pages
Princeton University Press; January 24, 2012
ISBN: 9781400839629

A Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand

From the publisher (Princeton University Press):

New Zealand is commonly described as “the land of birds.” Now, there is an easy-to-use guide for all those interested in this country’s remarkable bird population. A Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand contains over 600 stunning photographs of the more than 350 bird species likely to be seen in this area of the world. Comprehensive and compact, the book includes full descriptions of all native species and regular visitors, distribution maps and measurements, key information on national parks, and useful information on ongoing conservation efforts in the country. Filled with handy tips for nature enthusiasts wanting to make the most of their trip, this is the only bird guide that anyone exploring this region will need.

• 600+ color photographs feature more than 350 bird species with full descriptions
• Distribution maps and measurements
• Key information on national parks helps readers find the best spots for bird sightings
• Useful information on conservation efforts
• Guidelines on sensible behavior for encountering nature at its best

This compact “pocket guide” would be very useful to anyone birding in Middle Earth, er…New Zealand.

A Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand
by Julian Fitter and Don Merton
Paperback; 288 pages
Princeton University Press; January 23, 2012
ISBN: 9780691153513

• Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America: A Photographic Guide
  Steve N. G. Howell
  January 3, 2012; Princeton University Press

  This isn’t the flashiest group of birds, but one I’m fond of. I’m looking forward to studying this before going on my first Florida pelagic trip later this month.

• Cotingas and Manakins
  Guy M. Kirwan and Graeme Green
  February 4, 2012; Princeton University Press

  This is an incredible group of birds that deserve a family monograph as good as this one is reported to be.

• The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds
  Julie Zickefoose
  March 20, 2012; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  Julie Zickefoose is an absolutely amazing writer. When you add in her equally amazing paintings, well, it just isn’t fair.

• How to Be a Better Birder
  Derek Lovitch
  April 22, 2012; Princeton University Press

  There is no shortage of books like this, but I enjoy them, so I’m not complaining.

• The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of North America
  Bill Thompson III
  April 24, 2012; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  The long-awaited follow-up to The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, a field guide I wish I had as a child.

• Bird Sense: What It’s Like to Be a Bird
  Tim Birkhead
  April 24, 2012; Walker & Company

  This book examines “how birds interpret the world [and] the way the behaviour of birds is shaped by all their senses”, a subject I’ve often wondered about. I’m especially excited that Birkhead is the author, as he managed to turn a book on the history of ornithology into one I didn’t want to put down!

• The Armchair Birder Goes Coastal: The Secret Lives of Birds of the Southeastern Shore
  John Yow
  May 1, 2012; The University of North Carolina Press

  I enjoyed the first Armchair Birder, and expect to enjoy this follow-up as well, especially since the southeastern shore is one of my favorite places to bird.

• Hawks in Flight: Second Edition
  Pete Dunne, Clay Sutton, and David Allen Sibley
  September 18, 2012; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  The first edition is a classic of bird-family guides. And with these three authors, I have no doubt this second one will live up to expectations.

I can’t believe it’s been five years since the publication of the fifth edition of the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America! But it has, which apparently means it is time for the sixth edition. This venerable guide, first published in 1983, has long been considered one of this continent’s best field guides. Does this latest one continue that trend, or is it a superfluous update?

This review will start with an overview of the guide, its structure, and features. In this regard, it does not differ greatly from its predecessors. So if you’re already familiar with this guide’s previous incarnations, you may want to first check out this list of changes from the 5th edition, and then skim ahead to the evaluation.

Plates

The NatGeo guide follows the now-usual plan of illustrations on the right-hand page, with text and range map on the facing page. The plates consist of paintings from 21(!) artists. With that many contributors, you expect a mishmash of styles. That is the case here, both between pages and even within the same plate. Thankfully, most plates, despite the varying styles, are of very high quality. Many of the illustrations are updated or completely redone with each new edition, and those redone for this sixth edition are a clear improvement. Most of the problematic plates from before are now among the best in the guide (i.e. the Spizella sparrows). There are still some plates that need work (like the vireos), but I suppose they have to leave something for the inevitable seventh edition!

A good amount of variation within species is illustrated, including sex, age, seasonal, and regional differences, as appropriate. Each is clearly labeled, including subspecies names, which is very welcome. Additionally, the illustrations are annotated with field marks, a la the Sibley and Collins guides. I love this feature, as it clearly draws attention to the most important characteristics to look for on a bird, and is a great use of space.

Species Accounts

• Name – English and scientific
• Size – length for all species and wingspan for some; in inches and centimeters
• Notes – identification information, including plumage descriptions and behavior
• Voice – description of song and calls
• Range – habitat, abundance, and other information that can’t be shown on a map

The identification information is extensive, but not exhaustive, as the authors focus on the most important characteristics. The descriptions are largely the same as in the prior edition, but the voice and range sections have, on average, been expanded. Many non-passerines, such as shorebirds and gulls, have a voice description for the first time.

Range Maps

All but a few introduced or rarely occurring birds have a range map, including many that did not in the fifth edition. They are large (for a field guide) and zoomed in appropriately for limited ranges. Many also continue well south into Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, showing much more of the bird’s entire range than most other field guides. Distinct colors illustrate permanent, breeding, winter, and migration ranges, with dotted lines showing the extent of irregular occurrence. All of this is good, but it is two features unique among current North American field guides that make these maps stand out: distinct colors for spring, fall, and both-way migration, and subspecies names and boundaries.

The extra detail on migration is very helpful, but it is the subspecies information that excites me the most. The maps of 59 birds with multiple subspecies are marked to show the ranges of the constituent subspecies. And if this weren’t enough, there is a separate section in the back of the book with larger and even more detailed maps for 37 additional species.

In most cases, if I were to say that the range maps are the best thing about a field guide, it would be a sign that I was struggling to find something good to say about it. Well, I have no shortage of good things to say about this edition of the National Geographic guide, and the range maps just may be the best thing about it. In fact, it may be worth buying for the maps alone!

Other Features

National Geographic includes all the birds that have been recorded in North America north of Mexico – 990 in all. 92 of these are found in an illustrated list of accidental and extinct species at the end of the book. Along with a single illustration, details of the species’ occurrence and a brief description of appearance is included.

An eight-page introduction describes the plan of the book, gives some tips for better birding, and presents diagrams illustrating the parts of a bird, among other things.

The navigation options have been expanded and improved. The seven thumbtabs for major families have been retained from the previous volume. A “quick find index” on the inside-front cover flap lists birds’ “last name” in alphabetical order. Additionally, a visual index to bird families is printed on the inside of the front and back covers.

Issues

The only issue I have with this guide is not specific to this particular guide, but rather with field guides as a whole – slavery to taxonomic order. Most North American field guides follow the species order prescribed by the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) rather closely, at least to the level of family and genus. NatGeo6 is no exception, incorporating the latest changes from the AOU at the time of publication. Most of these changes are to a species’ scientific name, which of course should be kept up-to-date in field guides. But some groups have been moved around. If you want to check out a longspur, for example, you would no longer look after the sparrows (their usual place in field guides since before I’ve been birding), but before the warblers. How does this help birders, especially new ones? More and more, I think field guides should stick to a standard sequence designed to help birders identify birds.

But this review is not the place for such a discussion. And if this is my main issue, that can only be a good thing!

Changes

The sixth edition of the National Geographic guide is not a mere cosmetic change. Dunne and Alderfer have done much more than incorporate the latest AOU updates, add a new species or two, and slightly change the cover. Again, here is a detailed list of changes. This guide is clearly an improvement over the previous edition, even more so than the fifth was better than the fourth.

Recommendation

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Sixth Edition is a great guide. In my review of the fifth edition I qualified my recommendation, especially for owners of a prior edition. Not so with the sixth – it belongs in every birder’s library! From beginner to expert, it will be useful to any birder. And for those interested in geographic variation, it is a must.