Baby Bird Identification: A North American Guide
Baby Bird Identification is a comprehensive illustrated guide for distinguishing hundreds of North American bird species in their early stages of life. From the just hatched to the fledgling, Linda Tuttle-Adams walks readers through the process of identifying baby birds that they may encounter in the wild—a first step to ensuring proper care and rehabilitation.
Successful rehabilitation of birds found in the wild requires species-specific attention. But the identification of a baby bird, whether altricial or precocial, may seem overwhelming at first, even to a trained ornithologist. Tuttle-Adams lays out an approachable and systematic method for discerning a baby bird's identity, offering descriptions of telling anatomical and environmental features as well as details of a bird's day-to-day growth.
With over four hundred original watercolor paintings and an illustrated glossary, Baby Bird Identification is an invaluable resource for wildlife rehabilitators, those who find baby birds in their yards or recreational places, and anyone who enjoys watching or studying birds in the wild.
Linda Tuttle-Adams is a biologist and wildlife artist. She works as a wildlife rehabilitator and as an advocate for conservation of wildlife through public education.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Rebecca Duerr
Preface
Acknowledgements
A Note to Readers: Ethical Considerations regarding Wildlife
Illustrated Glossary
Introduction
1. The Importance of Correct Identification
2. Anatomy
3. Growth, Development, and Estimating Age
4. The Process of Identification
Species Accounts
- Introduction to the Species Accounts
- Nonpasserine Birds
- Passerine Birds
Plates
Photo Gallery
Appendices
- Color Chart and Terminology
- Identification Worksheet
- Growth and Development Tables
- Species Comparison Tables
Notes
Literature Cited
Index
Publication date: October 15, 2022
Pages: 432
Illustrations: 68 color photo, 1 B&W halftone, 379 illustrations, 2 charts
Reviews
"A groundbreaking must-read for wildlife rehabilitators, field ornithologists, and curious birders. Linda Tuttle-Adam's masterpiece expertly takes on a set of previously neglected topics to make a singular contribution to the identification, anatomy, and development of young birds. "
—Paul J. Baicich, coauthor of Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds
"A remarkable trove of information with exceptionally beautiful illustrations. Tuttle-Adams's fresh, rigorous approach to the process of baby bird identification is a welcome and much-needed contribution to the field."
—Susan Elbin, NYC Audubon
"Invaluable, comprehensive, and utterly original in its scope. By covering multiple stages of nestling development, Baby Bird Identification has positioned itself as the most complete guide to nestling and fledgling identification ever written."
—Robyn Bailey, Project Leader at NestWatch