National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Birds of North America

From the National Wildlife Federation comes the most up-to-date, all-photographic field guide to North American birds. Birders will find it indispensable: this single, portable volume features more than 750 species, along with more than 2,000 stunning images by leading nature photographers showing birds in their natural habitats. Captions highlight important field marks, and comprehensive species accounts describe habitats, behavior, flight, migration, songs, and plumages. Other features include: more than 600 maps showing bird distribution in every season; strategies for watching and identifying birds; a complete species index plus a quick-flip index; a glossary of terms; and a checklist of birds. The guide's unique waterproof cover makes it especially valuable for use in the field.

Edward S. (Ned) Brinkley is the editor of North American Birds, the American Birding Association's quarterly journal of ornithological record. A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Ned has birded since age six, his interest sparked by the southern warblers of the Great Dismal Swamp and, later, the seabirds of the Gulf Stream off North Carolina. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Film from Cornell University and was formerly a professor of literature and film at the University of Virginia. Ned currently co-owns a birders' bed-and-breakfast in Cape Charles, Virginia, and guides birding tours to the Caribbean and Central America for Field Guides, Inc.