All the Birds of North America by American Bird Conservancy

All the Birds of North America by American Bird Conservancy

At last, a guide that successfully organizes birds by field-recognizable features for quick identification. For lack of a better method, bird guides have traditionally placed birds in evolutionary sequence, resulting in birding's classic Catch-22 -- you must recognize an unknown bird and know its place in the sequence before you can took it up

All the Birds arranges species by their feeding adaptations -- features that are easily observed. How a bird feeds largely determines its form. It's nature's way of organizing species to fit ecological niches. The powerful bills and tree-climbing habits of woodpeckers, for instance, are prominent feeding adaptations. Recognizing birds' adaptations for feeding is the natural, no-nonsense way to identify; learn, and understand them.

Jack Griggs is the author of the bestselling All the Birds of North America and the creator of the Cornell Bird Library series. He lives in South Haven, Michigan.

Margaret A. Barker was the coordinator of Project FeederWatch for six years. She lives in Freeville, New York.