Review by Choice Review
Three highly qualified authors have written a fine, comprehensive monograph on birds of a region with one of the richest avifaunas in North America. The Texas coast's birdlife combines eastern, western, and some Latin American components. The text consists mostly of detailed but readable species accounts, including sections on habitat and a general discussion on seasonal status. For most migrants, extreme and typical dates are given in additional sections on migration periods. For scarcer species, all occurrences are listed with dates, numbers, and places. Unfortunately, the terms used for seasonal status are unorthodox and obtuse, although easily comprehended with minimal effort. For example, the Nashville warbler is a "fairly common bi-seasonal transient migrant, rare winter terminal migrant," meaning it is a common spring and fall migrant, rare in winter. The introductory material, vital in regional books, is excellent. It offers cogent explanations of geology, climate, habitats, ornithological history, species diversity, nesting, hazards for birds, migration, exotic species, and detrimental species. Two appendixes list plants mentioned in the text and organizations. The illustrations are high quality, including 50 color photographs and three helpful maps. Sixteen tables contain rich information on phenomena of special interest, such as winter hummingbirds and counts of raptors. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty. H. T. Armistead Free Library of Philadelphia
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
