It is difficult to imagine a more helpful guide to understanding birds than "The Sibley Guide to Bird Behavior". Illustrated by David Allen Sibley, with contributing text by a host of bird authorities, this work is the ultimate companion to Sibley's field guides. Anyone can gain a greater appreciation for our feathered friends by picking up this book.Crammed with useful information, the guide opens with an understanding of how birds fly, their anatomy, and intellectual capabilities. There are chapters on origins, classification methods, bird behavior, migration, communication, and breeding. Also included are overviews of habitat distinctions, populations, and conservation.
This general format is carried over into the largest section of the book - a comprehensive look at all the families of North American avians. For instance, each family of birds (e.g. - Hummingbirds, Vireos) will have chapters within the text providing specific analysis of:
*Taxonomy
*Adaptations to Lifestyle
*Habitats
*Food and Foraging
*Breeding
*Vocalizations
*Migration
*Conservation
*Accidental Species
This clear breakdown by sections makes it a simple task to compare the migration strategies of Vireos to that of Hummingbirds, for instance. Given that all these sections exist uniformly for each family, anyone seeking to know more about a particular family of birds can easily find what they are looking for. Even complete families of birds that are merely accidental are listed here (e.g. - Accentors.)
"The Sibley Guide to Bird Behavior" benefits not only from its methodical layout, but also a profusion of David Sibley's artwork. And while some have dubbed his illustrations merely functional, I find them to be very good. The superb quality of the guide itself is also a huge plus, making it a sort of "mini-coffeetable" book. Bright, thick pages with clear text and plenty of open space make the guide very easy to read. Because of the layout, it can be read in small chunks, too, so its hefty 587 pages are easily digestible.
There is something here for any birder, no matter their level of expertise, as well. I've been birding for more than twenty-five years and yet I still picked up plenty of great facts.
Lastly, a word on the conservation sections of the book: they are both heartening and disheartening in their factualness about the survivability of different bird families. Yes, Man has harmed some avian families, but many others have been aided by our encroachments. The guide is balanced in its view, too, that some species of North American birds that are extinct (or close to it) were never that populous to begin with and may have been doomed over time anyway, no matter what Man did to their habitats. Still, it does not shrink from blaming us for devastating some species - the passenger pigeon, for instance - nor does it excuse us from continuing to work to better the plight of all bird species around the world.
Absolutely deserving of a five star rating, "The Sibley Guide to Bird Behavior" is a superb book on its own, and even better with the Sibley Field Guide series. Highly recommended to all, particularly bird lovers.
