Lives of North American Birds

Lives of North American Birds.-Kenn Kaufman. 1996. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. Sponsored by the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. xxv 675 pp., more than 600 color prints and range maps. ISBN 0-395-77017-3. Cloth, $35.00.

This book is billed as a one-volume encyclopedia on the life histories of 680 species of North American birds north of Mexico, with distributional information on more than 900 birds. It is not written for scientists, but rather for the general public. Although it surpasses field guides as a reference book, it contains no literature citations. This omission does make for easier reading, but it reduces the book's usefulness to ornithologists. An excuse might be that the book was put together after the CD-ROM Peterson Multimedia Guide: North American Birds was produced, but it still puts limits on the book.

Most species accounts have a general section on distribution and natural history, with following sections on habitat, feeding (including comments on diet and behavior), nesting (with subsections on nests, eggs, and young), migration, and conservation status. This information is well written and up to date. A good color photograph accompanies most of the regular species (usually of a male in alternate plumage) as does a small but accurate range map (apparently condensed from the new editions of the Peterson field guides). A 15-page introduction is worthwhile reading and explains how to interpret the information in the species accounts.

Each family of birds is introduced by up to a page of interesting general information, and almost all genera also have an introductory paragraph. For some reason, the avian orders are not similarly introduced; perhaps the publishers did not want the book dated by all the changes expected with the new edition of the AOU Check-list. Ample opportunities are present to discuss the evolutionary connections between genera or families or the biogeographical implications of isolation or sibling species. However, these fascinating interpretations strangely are missing. I believe that a great chance was passed up to inform a growing lay audience about these important facets in the appreciation of birds.

It is recognized that limits exist as to what can be covered, but some important missing concepts include the fact that grebes have lobed rather than webbed feet, and why the American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhyncos) has a lump on its bill during the breeding season. Although the 600 maps seem fairly accurate, there is a strange truncation in the northern portions of many of them. We are shown an empty map of Mexico clear down to the Yucatan, yet the distributions of at least 149 species (25% of the maps) are cut off by the margins at the northern edge of their range and in Alaska. The maps in the Peterson field guides are fine, so it seems as if the images simply were scanned in so that the northern and western edges were cut off.

Even though specific references are not given, an appendix provides some of the sources consulted. Kaufman relied heavily on the available species accounts in the Birds of North America series, as well as on handbooks, life-history books, journals, and Frank Gill's Ornithology text (1995). He makes some questionable claims, though, and without references it is not possible to evaluate them. For instance, Kaufman states that the females of four species of loons incubate more than the males. It is very difficult to sex loons in the field, and I wonder about the validity of these statements. At least in the Common Loon (Gavia immer), the contributions of the sexes to incubation are nearly identical (J. Paruk pers. comm.).

The real value of this book comes from Kaufman himself. He has a tremendous knowledge of North American birds, and writes in an exciting and compelling manner. He captures your imagination with such phrases as "Trogans are gorgeous birds of the forest. . .," or magpies call attention to themselves with ". . their white wing patches flashing like beacons. . ," or waders ". . . are long-legged fishermen of the shallows." All of these comments make the text a fun read. Many people will probably benefit from this book because it is so informative, up to date, and well written. It may not belong in a university or museum library, but certainly it should be in community and public school libraries. In addition, it would make a great gift for your mother if she is into birds.-C. H. TROST, Department of Biological Sciences, Box 8007, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho 83209, USA.