referencebooks

The Bird Almanac: The Ultimate Guide to Essential Facts and Figures of the World's Birds

By David M. Bird, PhD.

Published by Firefly Books, 1999.

This is a paperback book measuring 5.25" by 8". It's rather thick, running to 460 pages not including the contents pages and preface.

The book is a very handy and compact compilation of information about birds and information of use to bird-lovers.

The major sections of the book are as follows:

• World Checklist of Birds [the longest part]
  
• Classification of the Class Aves
  
• Suggested Fossil History of Birds
  
• Anatomy
  
• Physiology
  
• Reproduction
  
• Mortality
  
• Threatened and Endangered Bird Species
  
• Mascot Birds
  
• Assemblages of Birds
  
• Records in the Bird World
  
• History of Who's Who in Bird Biology and Conservation
  
• Presidents of Major Ornithological Societies
  
• Presidents of Major Bird-Watching Societies
  
• Distinguished Awards Won by Ornithologists
  
• Bird Watching Record Holders
  
• New Jersey Audubon Society's World Series of Birding
  
• Ward World Bird-Carving Championships
  
• United States Federal Duck Stamp Artists
  
• Bird-Watching
  
• Attracting Birds to the Backyard
  
• Resources for Bird Lovers
  
• Resources for Ornithologists
  
• Glossary
  

Among the information included in these sections are such things as contact information for birding festivals by month of the year; listserv addresses for getting rare bird reports; contact information for ornithological and bird-watching organizations in most countries of the world; tips for choosing a pair of binoculars; pictures of different egg shapes and patterns of pigment on eggs; data on altitudes, flight speeds and distances covered by different kinds of birds; data on heart weight, heart rate, and blood content of different birds; British/English/Latin translations of bird names; and a long list of all the known birds in the world, by zoologic Order.

This is a great little book for anyone interested in birds.