Thomas P. McElroy - The Habitat Guide to Birding

This is a Borzoi Book published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Copyright 1974 by Thomas P. McElroy, Jr.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American
Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States
by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada
by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Distributed by
Random House, Inc., New York.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-307-82808-8

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
McElroy, Thomas P. (date) The habitat guide to birding.
1. Bird watchingUnited States. I. Title.
QL682.M33 1974 598.20730973 739945
ISBN 0-394-47492-9

v3.1

To Tommy and Wendy

and grandchildren everywhere, with
the hope that they, too, may
thrill to the flight of the eagle,
know the beauty of the cardinal,
and revere the cathedral tones
of the wood thrush.

Waterthrush

Arctic Tern and migration routes

Life zones: Snow Buntingalpine; Pine Grosbeakconiferous; Acadian Flycatcherdeciduous; Meadowlarkgrassland; Scaled Quaildesert

American Bittern

Pied-billed Grebe and nest

Bills for specific purposes: Long-billed Marsh Wren, Black and White Warbler, Goldfinch, Grosbeak, Crossbill, Shrike

Wood Thrush

Ruffed Grouse

Forest food chain: Sharp-shinned Hawk, Black-billed Cuckoo, caterpillar, leaves

Hooded Warbler

American Redstart

Diagram of woodpeckers tongue

Downy Woodpecker

Red-tailed Hawk, Barred Owl

Blackburnian Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler and hemlock; Pine Warbler and white pine

Red Crossbill

Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker

Kirtlands Warbler and jack pine; Magnolia Warbler and spruce

Eastern Meadowlark

Bobwhites

Horned Lark

Killdeer: broken-wing act

Vesper Sparrow

Predacious birds hunting the same terrain: Marsh Hawk, early; Short-eared Owl, late

Yellow-breasted Chat

Cedar Waxwing

Indigo Bunting

Brown Thrasher

Eastern Bluebird

American Goldfinch

Ring-necked Pheasant

High, airy perchers: Tree Swallows on utility wires; Sparrow Hawk on isolated stub

Common Crows

Hooded Mergansers

Common Loons nesting

Little Blue Heron

Bald Eagle family: female and young; male

Wood Duck

Belted Kingfisher

Sora Rail

Dowitcher

Virginia Rail and chick

Feet adaptations: Heron and Duck; Woodpecker, Robin, and Osprey

Red-winged Blackbird

Mallard Ducks in takeoff and flight

Surf Scoters

Herring Gull in seasonal plumage: summer (in flight); winter (standing)

Great Black-backed Gull

Gannets

Common Puffins

Wilsons Petrels

Laughing Gulls

Wood Ibis

Everglade Kite

Common Egrets

Brown Pelican

White Ibis, mangroves

Garden birdbath

Baltimore Oriole and nest

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds: feeding and in courtship display

Phoebe and nestlings

Mockingbird: wing flashing

Slate-colored Juncos

Black-capped Chickadee at pine cone feeder

Evening Grosbeak at hopper feeder; Downy Woodpecker at suet feeder

White-breasted Nuthatch and Tufted Titmouse; Cardinal, Purple Finch, and White-throated Sparrow

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Black-crowned Night Heron

Great Horned Owl

Barn Owl and Screech Owl; Barred Owl

Common Nighthawk

Long-billed Marsh Wren and Lesser Yellowlegs

Hawks mountain sanctuary

Sighting with binoculars

Catbird

Eastern Meadowlark and nest

Commercial blind; sporting blind and decoys

Scarlet Tanager

Snow Geese

The sudden realization that man is inherently dependent upon the related functions of the natural community has, in part, initiated a great resurgence of interest in all outdoor activities. People are searching for fundamental truthsthe basic laws of survival and their meanings in terms of human welfare and happiness. Some seek answers in the remoteness of the backcountry; others must challenge the beckoning peaks of high mountains; and others find a degree of solitude in plying wilderness waterways. But for many, the most meaningful rewards are found in following the lives of birds, for birds have represented the enduring qualities of life since eons past.

Although I have been interested in birds since childhood, I must admit that I find it somewhat difficult to pinpoint those qualities which sustained my interest over so long a period. Perhaps I was content, in those formative years, to add a new bird to my list, to know where the oriole or kingbird nested, to thrill at the swift flight of a hunting hawk, and to find solace in the bell-like tones of the thrushes as I returned from my woodland wanderings. The birds were there, and I was content to have them as my daily companions.

Even in this most casual form of acceptance, bird watching was a deeply satisfying experience. In more recent years, however, I have become increasingly aware of more significant attributes to be found in observing wild birds in their natural habitats. Also, the dimension of concern has been added; birds are recognized as the earliest and truest indicators of environmental change. I am not alone in these discoveries, for there is a growing human force, informed and inquisitive, whose intellect cannot be satisfied by the mere facts of existence alone. This is especially true relative to the comparatively new science of ecology. Where the relationships of life and environment are involved, this new force demands positive answers. In the case of bird watching, it is no longer sufficient to say the wood thrush is a brown speckled bird of the forest. Why is it there? How does it survive? What does it contribute to the total forest community? The answers to such indicative questions carry the bird watcher beyond the staid practice of merely listing recognized species.

Recognizing these facts, this book, then, is manifold in purpose. Primarily, its intent is to improve ones skill and to increase ones pleasure as a birder. The pursuit of these objectives is through an innovative approach to the whole field of bird watching: that birders can be helped in locating, identifying, and understanding birds through a knowledge of their physical adaptations and behavioral patterns as associated with the habitats in which they live. Also, this book is based on the premise that birds are an important functional unit in the total natural community, and that through the understanding of these functions and the community, the birder can pursue his interests with a keener knowledge and find greater personal rewards.