Product Description

Thoroughly researched, well-organized, and clearly written, Birding Utah will better your chances of having a successful outing. Each description details habitat, specialty birds, best time of year and day to bird, birding strategies, and easy-to-follow directions. Featuring 100 birding sites, this guide also includes chapters on the state's diverse ecoregions and plant communities, discussing distribution and providing a checklist and bar graphs of nearly 400 bird species.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #389161 in Books
• Published on: 1998-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 424 pages

From the Back Cover
As an exhaustively researched and clearly written guide to more than 100 birding adventures across the state, wildlife ecologist and author D.E. McIvor uses habitat as a base on which to share his years of birding experiences. Each site description is accompanied by detailed written directions as well as a map to guide you to the best birding, suggestions of the best time of year to find the species you seek, and additional travel tips. Also included are chapters on the state's diverse ecoregions and vegetation communities, which play a key part in the distribution of bird species; a helpful checklist; and bar graphs showing distribution of the 408 species occurring in the state. Whether you favor an hour-long stroll in a city park or a backpacking trip of several days into the wilderness, Birding Utah broadens your bird-finding in the state's varied environments.

Customer Reviews

Great resource for birders and outdoor enthusiasts.
Birding Utah provides a comprehensive resource for finding birds in Utah. The extensive information provided should prove extremely useful for novice to expert birders, as well as any outdoor enthusiast.

The book includes 5 chapters and an extensive appendix of birding and travel information sources. It is scientifically accurate and well written in a casual style. Chapter One details the basics of planning a successful birding trip, which should be most useful to novice birders. The second chapter describes Utah's biological environment from a broad-scale description of topography and climate to a finer resolution of habitats. Reading this chapter should give you an intimate feeling of the biological organization and spatial qualities of the state. The majority of the book is devoted to chapter 3, a description of 112 potential birding sites grouped according to region. The sites range from potential day trips to longer overnight excursions. The amount of detail that is provided for each site makes this book much more than a birding guide, but a travel guide for nature around the state. Included for each site are a list of habitats, birds, best times to bird, suggestions on where birds may be seen, directions to the site, general area information, a map, potential hazards, nearest facilities, and camping locations. It is obvious that each site has been researched by the author. The fourth chapter is a listing of birds that occur within the state; and associated habitat type, the regional distribution, and seasonal occurrence within the state. In chapter 5, the author has selected 50 "sought after" birds and details where and when the birds are likely to be found, and the chances for viewing one of these species. This chapter is unique to this birding guide because it also includes fine-scaled distribution maps based on current habitat types.

My only criticism with the book is the manner in which it has been bound. For a field guide that is likely to get a significant amo! unt of use outdoors, I wonder if the binding will hold up very long. A more substantial binding would have been of great value.