Midwest Birding Companion: Field Guide & Birding Journal (Complete Bird-Watching Guides) - Softcover

Tekiela, Stan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1647552117 ISBN 13: 9781647552114

Publisher: Adventure Publications, 2021

Synopsis

Get the guide to bird-watching in the Midwest that’s part how-to book, part field guide, and part journal.

Peaceful, relaxing, and inspiring―birding can yield a lifetime of satisfaction. For some, simple observation of birds is enough to fill them with joy. Others prefer to make it more interactive, striving to see a variety of species and learning to identify them. If you’re among the latter, the Midwest Birding Companion is just for you. Written by award-winning author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer Stan Tekiela (known throughout the country for his best-selling bird identification guides), the Midwest Birding Companion is part how-to book, part field guide, and part journal.

Read Stan’s tips for identifying birds, and learn about everything from reporting a rare bird to dealing with injured birds. The field guide section organizes nearly 150 species by color. When you see a yellow bird, go to the yellow section to discover what it is. There, you can also find range maps, as well as such information as nest descriptions, migration habits, and tips for attracting the species to your feeder. At the bottom of every page, there’s room to log information about when and where you saw that species. You can also keep track of your birding life list on the book’s closing pages―so you’ll always have a running total of the different birds you’ve seen.

The Midwest Birding Companion is ideal for birding in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Use your birding companion on its own, or pair it with Stan’s bird identification guides. It will enhance your birding experience and bring even more enjoyment to the hobby that you love.

About this title

About the Author

Naturalist, wildlife photographer and writer Stan Tekiela is the author of more than 175 field guides, nature books, children’s books, wildlife audio CDs and playing cards, presenting many species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, trees, wildflowers and cacti in the United States. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural History from the University of Minnesota and as an active professional naturalist for more than 25 years, Stan studies and photographs wildlife throughout the United States and Canada. He has received various national and regional awards for his books and photographs. Also a well-known columnist and radio personality, his syndicated column appears in more than 25 newspapers and his wildlife programs are broadcast on a number of Midwest radio stations.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

American Robin
Turdus migratorius

Size: 9–11" (23–28 cm)

Male: Familiar gray bird with a dark rust-red breast and a nearly black head and tail. White chin with black streaks. White eye-ring.

Female: similar to male, with a duller rust-red breast and a gray head

Juvenile: similar to female, with a speckled breast and brown back

Nest: cup; female builds with help from the male; 2–3 broods per year

Eggs: 4–7; pale blue without markings

Incubation: 12–14 days; female incubates

Fledging: 14–16 days; female and male feed the young

Migration: partial to non-migrator, moves around to find food

Food: insects, fruit, berries, earthworms

Feeder Tips: comes to seed feeders

Compare: Familiar bird to all. To differentiate the male from the female, compare the nearly black head and rust-red chest of the male with the gray head and duller chest of the female.

Stan’s Notes: Although a partial migrator, some robins stay in low, swampy areas during winter, feeding on leftover berries and insect eggs. Can be heard singing all night long in spring. City robins sing louder than country robins in order to hear one another over traffic and noise. A robin isn’t listening for worms when it turns its head to one side. It is focusing its sight out of one eye to look for dirt moving, which is caused by worms moving. Territorial, often fighting its reflection in a window. Males have dark heads and a brighter red breast than females.

Edition details

• Publisher: Adventure Publications
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1647552117
• ISBN 13: 9781647552114
• Binding: Flexibound
• Number of pages: 384