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Princeton Family Guides

The books are listed by publication date with the most recent at the top.

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Raptors of Mexico and Central America

William S. Clark & N. John Schmitt

2017

"The essential field guide to the raptors of Mexico and Central America Raptors are among the most challenging birds to identify in the field due to their bewildering variability of plumage, flight silhouettes, and behavior. Raptors of Mexico and Central America is the first illustrated guide to the region's 69 species of raptors, including vagrants. It features 32 stunning color plates and 213 color photos, and a distribution map for each regularly occurring species. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features, age-related plumages, status and distribution, subspecies, molt, habitats, behaviors, potential confusion species, and more. Raptors of Mexico and Central America is the essential field guide to this difficult bird group and the ideal travel companion for anyone visiting this region of the world."

North American Warbler Fold-Out Guide

Scott Whittle, Tom Stephenson

2016

"This is a handy, pocket-sized foldout reference to the 45 most commonly seen North American warblers. Photos include side-on, underside, and 45-degree views. Drawings of undertail patterns provide at-a-glance comparisons between species. Icons depict generalized color patterns for each bird and where the species is usually found--on the ground, low in trees or vegetation, midstory, or toward the top of trees. Succinct text describes key identification features for each species. A QR code takes you to a range of common vocalizations for each species."

Waterfowl of North America, Europe, and Asia: An Identification Guide

Sébastien Reeber

2016

"This is the ultimate guide for anyone who wants to identify the ducks, geese, and swans of North America, Europe, and Asia. With 72 stunning color plates (that include more than 920 drawings), over 650 superb photos, and in-depth descriptions, this book brings together the most current information on 84 species of Eurasian and North American waterfowl, and on more than 100 hybrids. The guide delves into taxonomy, identification features, determination of age and sex, geographic variations, measurements, voice, molt, and hybridization. In addition, the status of each species is treated with up-to-date details on distribution, population size, habitats, and life cycle. Color plates and photos are accompanied by informative captions and 85 distribution maps are also provided. Taken together, this is an unrivaled, must-have reference for any birder with an interest in the world's waterfowl."

The Warbler Guide

Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle

2013

"Warblers are among the most challenging birds to identify. They exhibit an array of seasonal plumages and have distinctive yet oft-confused calls and songs. The Warbler Guide enables you to quickly identify any of the 56 species of warblers in the United States and Canada. This groundbreaking guide features more than 1,000 stunning color photos, extensive species accounts with multiple viewing angles, and an entirely new system of vocalization analysis that helps you effectively learn songs and calls."

Parrots of the World

Joseph M. Forshaw

Princeton Field Guides

Princeton University Press

2010

"From the macaws of South America to the cockatoos of Australia, parrots are among the most beautiful and exotic birds in the world - and also among the most endangered. This stunningly illustrated, easy-to-use field guide covers all 356 species and well-differentiated subspecies of parrots, and is the only guide organized by geographical distribution - Australasian, Afro-Asian, and neotropical. It features 146 superb color plates depicting every kind of parrot, as well as detailed, facing-page species accounts that describe key identification features, distribution, subspeciation, habitat, and status. Color distribution maps show ranges of all subspecies, and field identification is further aided by relevant upperside and underside flight images. This premier field guide also shows where to observe each species in the wild, helping make this the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to the parrots of the world."

Nightjars, Potoos, Frogmouths, Oilbird, and Owlet-nightjars of the World

Nigel Cleere

2010

"This is the ultimate identification guide to the nightjars, potoos, frogmouths, Oilbird, and owlet-nightjars of the world. Covering all 135 known species of these elusive and cryptically plumaged birds, this illustrated guide features more than 580 superb color photographs depicting every species and many subspecies, including numerous images never before published. Photos of museum specimens are provided for birds for which no images in the wild exist, including species not seen since their original discovery. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features, confusion species, vocalizations, distribution, habitat and altitudinal range, breeding season and sites, egg type and clutch size, downy chick, status, and Red List category. This easy-to-use photographic guide also includes a color distribution map for every species as well as sections on plumage, taxonomy, and more."

Albatrosses, Petrels and Shearwaters of the World

Derek Onley and Paul Scofield

Princeton University Press

2007

"This is the first comprehensive field guide to the world's 136 species of albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters, storm petrels, and diving petrels. Because many of these birds spend most of their lives far from the coast, traveling from ocean to ocean in a constant search for food, they are poorly known, enigmatic, and often hard to identify in the field. This guide will make field identification much easier. It illustrates every species and shows the distinct plumages of each. It contains 46 high-quality color plates opposite concise descriptions and a color distribution map, with more complete species descriptions following. Species are illustrated on the same page as their confusion species, allowing direct comparisons for more accurate identifications.

This field guide includes information on breeding, feeding, distribution, migration, and conservation. And it illustrates for the first time several extremely rare species, such as Beck's and MacGillivray's Petrels, and the New Zealand Storm-Petrel, which was rediscovered only in 2004."

Raptors of Eastern North America

Brian K. Wheeler

Princeton University Press

2007

"The Wheeler Guides will help birders and biologists navigate the pitfalls of raptor identification, including raptors' often extreme variation by age and sex as well as the existence of numerous "confusion" species. The plumage section discusses more plumage variations - and in greater consistency, depth, and clarity - than any previously published guide. The text - informed by years of study and consultation with local, state, provincial, and regional experts - covers all aspects of raptor biology in an easy-to-read and consistent format. It provides the most up-to-date information available on status and distribution, taking into account the recent alteration of some species' ranges due to pesticide bans and introduction programs."

Raptors of Western North America

Brian K. Wheeler

Princeton University Press

2007

"The Wheeler Guides will help birders and biologists navigate the pitfalls of raptor identification, including raptors' often extreme variation by age and sex as well as the existence of numerous "confusion" species. The plumage section discusses more plumage variations - and in greater consistency, depth, and clarity - than any previously published guide. The text - informed by years of study and consultation with local, state, provincial, and regional experts - covers all aspects of raptor biology in an easy-to-read and consistent format. It provides the most up-to-date information available on status and distribution, taking into account the recent alteration of some species' ranges due to pesticide bans and introduction programs."

Raptors of the World

James Ferguson-Lees and David Christie

Princeton Field Guides

Princeton University Press

2006

"This new field guide covers all of the world's kites, vultures, harriers, hawks, buzzards, eagles, and falcons. Based on essential sections of the widely acclaimed handbook Raptors of the World by the same authors, but with updated text, maps, and plates, it shows every species in a selection of different plumages, with concise facing texts and distribution maps. It provides an easy-to-use and portable reference to one of the world's largest, most popular, and most challenging avian groups."

Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia: A Guide to Field Identification

Stephen Message and Don Taylor

Princeton University Press

2006

"A quick-reference field guide to the sandpipers, plovers, stints, and other shorebirds found on these continents. The exhaustive and superbly detailed color plates show the birds at rest and in flight, and in every plumage variant likely to be encountered. Species are treated plumage by plumage alongside images of similar species they are otherwise likely to be confused with. Succinct text on pages facing the plates summarizes the key identification features of appearance, voice, and behavior. There is a color distribution map for each of the described species. This guide provides fast, easy, and reliable field identification of this challenging group of birds. 80 color plates show full range of plumage types of all species covered. Concise facing text treats appearance, voice, and behavior. It includes clear color distribution map for each species. It is a definitive pictorial guide to the shorebirds of these continents."

Parrots of the World: An Identification Guide

Joseph M. Forshaw

Princeton University Press

2006

"From the macaws of South America to the cockatoos of Australia, parrots are among the most recognizable, and endangered, birds on earth. But until now, no easy-to-use guide existed for the identification of all species and subspecies of these colorful creatures. Enter Parrots of the World, the most comprehensive handbook for distinguishing some 350 species of parrots from across the globe. Lavishly illustrated, with more than 120 color plates and additional illustrations, the book covers parrots in homes, zoos, and in the wild, providing detailed descriptions of their key identifying features. By allowing readers to easily narrow their search to specific geographic areas, the book will prove especially useful to those interested in parrots of a particular locale. Descriptive distribution maps show the geographic location of the different species, and an entire section is devoted to ecological and behavioral information relevant to identification. In addition, the guide differentiates Old World and New World species and points out significant sex or age differences in plumage coloration. Parrots of the World will provide enormous help to those engaged in gathering important field data and monitoring international trade, two initiatives that are of critical importance to the conservation of parrots worldwide."

Pipits and Wagtails

Per Alstrom & Krister Mild

Princeton University Press

2003

"Pipits and Wagtails is the first comprehensive, one-volume guide to the twenty-six species and all subspecies that occur in the vast swath of Europe, Asia, and North America known as the Holarctic. These birds are a notoriously difficult group to differentiate, and so the authors - the world's two leading authorities in this field - have gone to exhaustive lengths to ensure that no aspect of identification has been omitted. Twenty-six full color plates and some part plates depict all the species and distinct subspecies in different plumages. To help further with identification, the book includes nearly 250 color photographs, numerous line drawings, and color distribution maps for each species. The detailed species accounts cover all aspects of identification: taxonomy, size and structure, plumage, geographical variation, anatomical measurements, molt and aging, sexing, voice, behavior, distribution, and habitat. They also include sonograms of the species' unique songs and calls. Great care has been taken to accurately illustrate and describe plumage differences between all valid subspecies as well as differences relating to sex and aging. Unparalleled in breadth and detail, Pipits and Wagtails is the ultimate reference guide for anyone interested in this group of birds."

Gulls Of North America, Europe, and Asia

Klaus Malling Olsen

Princeton University Press

2003

"The gulls are a large family of seabirds, familiar and distinctive as a group, but one of the most challenging to separate at the species level, especially in their various stages of immature plumage. This guide offers the most comprehensive treatment ever published on the gulls of North America, Europe, and Asia. Klaus Malling Olsen and Hans Larsson treat a total of forty-three species - each depicted in considerable detail, with a full description of every plumage and racial variation. The text is complemented not only by superb color paintings by Larsson, but also by 800 color photographs. Gulls explore a variety of habitats, consume a wide range of food, and are often extremely abundant. They are also great wanderers, with several American species often appearing in Western Europe and vice versa. As well as identification criteria, this book includes an up-to-date assessment of the range and status of every species, together with information on patterns on vagrancy. This important guide is published at a critical time in the development of gull taxonomy. The large white-headed gulls found in North America, Europe, and Asia comprise a superspecies complex, with the precise relationships between various components still under considerable debate. A thorough illustrative and textual treatment of the group is needed, and this book provides the most recent and complete overview. This is the essential reference to a fascinating and endlessly challenging group of birds."

Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse: Including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and their Allies

Steve Madge and Phil MacGowan

Princeton University Press

2002

"This guide brings together, for the first time within a single volume, a comprehensive review of all the world's pheasants, partridges, quails, grouse, turkeys, guineafowl, buttonquails, sandgrouse, and the enigmatic Plains-wanderer - over 250 species in all. The group includes some of the world's most familiar and beautiful birds, such as the Indian peafowl and the stunning tragopans, as well as some of the rarest and most threatened. This book concentrates on detailed identification and distribution, but also highlights conservation issues where relevant. The seventy-two color plates, by leading bird illustrators, show male, female, juvenile, and subspecies plumages, and form the finest set of illustrations of these birds to date. There is also a color distribution map for each species."

Crows and Jays: A Guide to the Crows, Jays and Magpies of the World

Steve Madge and Hilary Burn

2001

"In no other group of perching birds has evolution produced such a degree of variation as in the 120 species of crows and jays that inhabit the world today. They range from the tiny Hume's Ground-jay of the steppe-highlands of Tibet to the huge Thick-billed Raven of the mountains of Ethiopia. Some are exceedingly beautiful in color, grace, and form; others are sinister in appearance. Some appear in tales of mythology and superstition; others are merely regarded as agricultural pests. The great majority, however, remain largely unknown, coming into contact with humans mainly when their specialized habitats are destroyed. Over 20 species are now regarded as internationally endangered and some may disappear before we have a chance to learn much about them. This guide details all species of corvid, combining Steve Madge's authoritative text with 30 superb color plates by Hilary Burn. The text treats each species in depth, summarizing identification techniques and concisely reviewing all aspects of corvid behavior, distribution, population, and taxonomy. The color plates depict all 120 species, with each plate accompanied by an informative caption page containing color world-distribution maps and summaries of the criteria required to identify the species. Some of these, including the Banggar Crow, Mesopotamian Crow, and Flores Crow have never before been illustrated. Crows and Jays is both a source of scientifically accurate information and a user-friendly identification guide. It seeks to provide everyone, from birdwatchers to biologists, with a greater understanding of the lives of these fascinating yet very complex birds."

Sylvia Warblers

Hadoram Shirihai, Gabriel Gargallo and Andreas J. Helbig

Photographic editing, field photography: David Cottridge

Editor: Guy M. Kirwan and Lars Svensson

Princeton University Press

2001

"The culmination of more than a decade of work, this is the most complete manual available on the large family of insectivorous passerines, the Old World warblers Sylviidae, native to Israel and other Mediterranean countries. The authors include detailed information on the phylogeny, distribution, ecology, appearance, and behavior of Sylvia warblers. They draw on tremendous experience and expertise to sort out the complex plumage variations of these notoriously stealthy birds, noting coloration changes by distribution, age, and sex. Attention is also given to the wide variation in song among Sylvia. The volume contains an incredible amount of original data, compiled from field studies and meticulous museum research. Importantly, the authors use a novel approach to systematics, resulting in the proposal of four new species splits. One of Europe's finest bird illustrators contributed the beautiful color plates, and a respected pioneer in field bird photography spent countless hours in desert conditions to obtain the 546 remarkable color photographs of these furtive warblers. No other book has provided such an abundance of detail for one genus of birds, nor the quality and number of illustrations showing individual and geographic variation. All this, combined with DNA information on systematic relationships, makes this book unique among modern identification guides. It is that rare guide that constitutes both a major contribution to ornithology and an excellent reference for birders. It marks a new stage in ornithological literature and will set the standard for future works."

Thrushes

Peter Clement

Additional illustrations: Clive Byers and Jan Wilczur

Princeton University Press

2001

"This is the first book in nearly one hundred years that is solely devoted to thrushes, one of the most widespread and well-known families of birds in the world. It treats comprehensively the world's 162 species of true thrushes and covers some of the best-known garden species as well as some of the rarest and most elusive of all birds. It also includes some of the most musically accomplished singers of any bird family. The book contains a wealth of detailed information on identification and distribution, with a full description of each species, including reference to all recognized races. Emphasis is given to vocalizations-often the key to identifying thrush species. Habitat and range for all species, together with information on movements and breeding behavior, are also covered. For the first time, all species in the family of Turdidae thrushes are described and illustrated in full color. These superb illustrations are complemented by line drawings depicting particular aspects of shape or plumage. The 60 color plates comprise approximately 540 images, covering all but one, long-extinct species. The depictions differentiate adults, immatures, and most of the distinctive races. The plates are accompanied by color maps showing the breeding and wintering range for each species. The detailed and accurate text and spectacular color illustrations will make this book indispensable to all ornithologists and birders. This will be, undoubtedly, the standard work on thrushes for many years to come."

Shrikes and Bush-shrikes: Including Wood-shrikes, Helmet-shrikes, Shrike Flycatchers, Philentoemas, Batises and Wattle-eyes

Tony Harris

Princeton University Press

2000

"Shrikes are a group of spectacular predators, many with brilliant colors and striking displays and sounds. Located in North America, Eurasia, and Africa, they occupy a wide spectrum of terrestrial habitats, from sparsely vegetated deserts to tropical forests, and have diverse foraging and breeding strategies. Capturing this diversity is the primary goal of Shrikes and Bush-Shrikes, the first field guide to cover the identification, biology, and relationships of all 114 species of shrikes and their close relatives. All species are portrayed in 41 beautiful color plates, consisting of over 480 illustrations that depict differences in sex, age, geographical variation, and flight pattern. Facing the plates are identification captions and color distribution maps for at-a-glance reference. Detailed species accounts provide current knowledge on field identification, plumage descriptions, geographical variation, moult, distribution, movements, foraging behavior, food, sounds, and breeding behavior. The guide provides an explanation of the history of relationships within the group, highlighting issues of conservation and species identification. For each genus, acoustic and visual signals are summarized and used to map similarities in an effort to identify species from the perspective of behavioral communication. Shrikes and Bush-Shrikes responds to the great interest in shrikes that has developed over the last century, along with controversies surrounding their origins and classification. It offers new identification strategies as well as extensive information in a format designed to please everyone from birders to conservationists to ornithologists."

Finches & Sparrows

Peter Clement

Princeton University Press

1999

"Among the most familiar and colorful of birds, finches and sparrows occupy almost every type of habitat throughout the world - from the environs of the Dead Sea to agricultural lowlands to the tops of the Himalayas. However, no comprehensive single-volume treatment of these families has appeared until now. Finches and Sparrows, which combines nearly 950 color portraits with detailed descriptions of every species, is an easy-to-use identification guide for birdwatchers, conservationists, and ornithologists, who, along with cagebird enthusiasts, will find this book an invaluable reference. For the first time all 290 species in the families Fringillidae, Estrildidae, and Passeridae are described and illustrated in color. The color plates feature every species, many races, and most sex and age variations, and the line drawings accompanying the text depict wing patterns, bill and head shapes, and other plumage details. Over 280 color maps show breeding and wintering ranges for all species. Sections on voice, status, behavior, distribution, movements, and measurements, together with information on species encountered in captivity, help make this the most comprehensive and up-to-date guide on these birds."

Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers

C. Hilary Fry and Kathie Fry

Princeton University Press

1999

"Few birds can match the dazzling beauty of kingfishers, bee-eaters, and rollers. Until now no comprehensive treatment of these families has appeared in a single volume. This authoritative guide provides an up-to-the-minute review of all that is known about the world's 123 species. The forty magnificient plates by Alan Harris show every species, all main subspecies, and most sex and age variations - 350 portraits in all. For easy reference, color maps showing breeding and wintering ranges appear opposite the plates. Text and plates are carefully coordinated, with emphasis on behavior, field characters, and identification; and the species accounts, which form the bulk of the book, are liberally illustrated with line drawings."

Starlings and Mynas

Chris Feare and Adrian Craig

Princeton University Press

1999

"The starling family contains some of the most common and some of the rarest birds in the world - ranging from the ubiquitous Common Starling to species restricted to single islands in the South Pacific. Starlings and Mynas is the first comprehensive, one-volume guide to all 114 members of the family. The main text of the book presents descriptions and illustrations of every species and many distinctive subspecies. It offers extensive information about identification, ecology, and behavior, complemented by thirty-two color plates and distribution maps. The authors also reexamine the classification of starlings in the light of up-to-date knowledge of the birds' ecology and behavior. In the introduction, the authors outline their general approach to the family and provide an overview of the birds' distribution, breeding, behavior, ecology, habitat, and moult. They also review the birds' fascinating interactions with humans, explaining how starlings and mynas have been scorned as pests, used for food, valued as pets and as mimics, and even had religious significance in different parts of the world. With its combination of precise, scientific observations and colorful contextual information, this book will become the definitive guide to this diverse family of birds."

New World Blackbirds: The Icterids

Alvaro Jaramillo and Peter Burke

Princeton University Press

1999

"New World Blackbirds is a comprehensive guide to the 103 members of the family Icteridae, also known as the icterids or troupials. The icterids are a diverse family, ranging throughout the Americas from Alaska to the Caribbean and south to Cape Horn. Despite the name "blackbird," the group contains such highly colored birds as the orioles. It includes common and intensively studied species - the Red-winged Blackbird and the Brown-headed Cowbird, for example - and such rare and obscure birds as the Colombian Mountain-Grackle and the Montserrat and Martinique Orioles. Two species in the family, the Selva Cacique and the Pale-eyed Blackbird, were not described at all until as recently as the 1960s and 1970s. The thirty-nine highly detailed plates in this book depict all the species and many subspecies and age types never illustrated before. The book also contains over one hundred color range maps as well as black-and-white illustrations to aid identification. The extensive text summarizes the characteristics and natural history of each species, giving details on behavior, nesting, geographic variation, distribution, vocalizations, and in-depth plumage descriptions for all age types. Clearly written and exhaustively researched, this book will be the standard reference work for this major family of birds."

Warblers of Europe, Asia and North Africa

Kevin Baker

1997

"Warblers are the archetypal "little brown birds" that pose so many identification problems for birdwatchers. These problems are sometimes complicated by the fact that not all warblers are brown and small; some are brightly colored and relatively large. Jeff Baker helps novices and experts alike to steer away from such confusion in a unique book covering all old world warblers in Europe and Asia. The book describes in detail 145 species, including all aspects of identification and those species that are likely to be confused with one another. Sections on geographical variation, moult, voice, habitat and behavior, distribution, and measurements complete the guide, together with forty-eight color plates and numerous line drawings presenting every species and 140 color distribution maps showing breeding and wintering ranges. Very few books have covered Asia in such detail, and none until now has brought together all the warblers of Europe and Asia in one place. Groups and species such as prinias and tailor birds are described extensively as never before. Warblers of Europe and Asia also presents warblers new to science and brings us up to date on the latest thinking on taxonomic treatment."

Gulls: A Guide To Identification

P.J. Grant

Second edition

1997

"The Second Edition of Gulls: A Guide to Identification incorporates a great deal of new information discovered since the last edition. Most of the entries have been updated, and the species drawings and distribution maps have been improved. Gulls details 31 species, and includes a new section on eight extra species which occur on the west coast of Canada and the United States. The book now features all species and subspecies which occur regularly in the whole of North America."

Chickadees, Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers

Simon Harrap

Princeton University Press

1996

"The chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, and treecreepers include some of the best-known birds in the world. They also number among them some species so rare that they have been seen by only a handful of birdwatchers. This is the first guide to cover all of these families across the globe. The comprehensive text provides extensive information about each species, including identification, description, vocalisations, geographical distribution and variation, habits, habitats, breeding biology, and relationships. Beautifully drawn full-colour plates detail all of the species, and the book includes over 100 colour maps and additional line drawings. This is the only guide of its kind. It covers the many members of these popular bird families, which count among them chickadees, titmice, penduline tits, Verdin, Bushtit, longtailed tits, nuthatches, treecreepers and Wallcreeper. With its world-wide coverage, the book reaches far beyond Europe and North America to encompass the many exciting species to be found in Africa and Asia."

A Guide to the Identification and Natural History of the Sparrows of the United States and Canada

Editor: James D. Rising

Princeton University Press

1996

"Comprehensive and up-to-date information on all the features that make possible identification of all 62 species of sparrows that occur in North America. The text gives detailed descriptions of the summer, winter, and juvenile plumages of each species, as well as comparisons with similar species. The species accounts are illustrated with range maps and superb line drawings showing behavioral postures and, where useful, fine features of tail feather patterns. The 27 color plates splendidly illustrate the various plumages of each species with the emphasis on the distinctive appearance of birds of different sex, age, and geographic regions."