logo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birding Arizona

Cover
Back Cover

 

Inside CoverBird Songs

 

TOC

 

Birding Arizona - Where to go, What to know

Book Reviews

R. W. Morse Company has gone into a new genre in bird books, a combination bird-finding guide and natural history. The author, a long-time resident of Arizona, explains in detail the birding opportunities in different regions of this rich and varied state. He blends time and space by taking a birding trip around Arizona through the course of the year, something over and above a standard bird-finding guide.

The book excels in the amount of basic information it presents about birds, about finding and identifying them, and about both the joy and the responsibilities of birding. We should all keep records and submit them to citizen-science projects, thus continuing the contribution that amateurs have made for so long to the science of ornithology. And if you have no time for an ornithology text, try this book. Full of information about the behavior and ecology and conservation of Arizona birds, it's truly a birder's companion.

Dennis Paulson, Slater Museum of Natural History, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA.

How convenient for the R.W. Morse Company to publish Birding Arizona just as I am planning a trip to this great birding state.  The author states that Birding Arizona is “written primarily for beginning and intermediate Arizona birders, as well as for visiting out-of-state birders”.  I am in that last group.  This is an easy to read, informative overview of Arizona birds in total.  Most AZ bird guides concentrate on the southeast corner of the state and the specialty birds that creep over the border from Mexico.  This book covers the other three corners of the state and where to find the many species that migrate through AZ or whose ranges extend into Arizona.

Mr. Babbitt uses a conversational style to present anecdotes of his exploits in finding birds throughout the year and throughout Arizona.  Essentially Birding Arizona is a travelogue of where and when to find both rare birds for Arizona and common breeding birds that are locally found in AZ.  His review of various special birds for Arizona, such as certain warblers, woodpeckers and wrens, is engaging to read.  I appreciate Mr. Babbitt’s encouragement to birders to participate in ‘citizen science’ activities such as bird counts and Birdathons.  The author briefly touches on the services birds provide to us and the unfortunate ways we treat the habitats birds need.  His comments are on point and not overdone.  Birding Arizona; What to know and Where to go is a welcome addition to the reference books on Arizona birds. 

Thomas Schooley, Seattle Audubon and Washington Ornithology Societies, WA.

Easy-going, informative, and entertaining, this very well-written account of birding in Arizona will have you itching to head out the door and soak up the avian beauty of the Grand Canyon state. Birding stories--like fishing tales--often deteriorate into boring exaggerations or--worse--shameless boasting.  Not here.  Charles J. Babbitt's anecdotes illuminate a real master's insights into a world he obviously finds integral to a well-lived life. If you love birds and nature, it's hard to disagree! 

Richard Cachor Taylor, Whitetail Canyon, AZ

 

 

 

 

 

Banner

 

Copyright R.W. Morse Company © 2022

instagramfacebook