A Great
Stocking Stuffer
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Birds Of Alaska Field Guide
by Stan Tekiela
Who must have this book: Anyone looking for
a gift for that special birdwatcher.
Who should have this book: Anyone looking for
a very shallow bird guide to Alaska.
ISBN: 1591930960
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Stan
Tekiela has become a publishing magnate with his state by state field
guide templates. He has created guides for birds, frogs, mammals,
trees, wild flowers and on and on… Currently his only offering
for Alaska is the bird guide. Hopefully in the future he will add
more, especially his bird call book.
This book is kind of a cookie cutter solution, but with its beautiful
photographs and decent content, there is a place for it. This book
is small (6 inches by 4 inches) and will easily fit into a pocket
or backpack. It makes for a very packable guide but with some caveats.
For the serious birder, this field guide does not measure up to a
Sibley or National Geographic guide. I would not take this book on
a birding trip, but I would definitely give it as a gift to any budding
birdwatcher or birder who is planning their first Alaskan birding
trip. Also, it would be great for Alaskan feeder watchers or anyone
you are trying to spark the birdwatching fire in..
Overview
The book is fairly complete for the regularly occurring birds of Alaska.
Each species is given two pages, one for photograph(s) and one for
a brief written description. All birds are organized by color so occasionally
males and females of the same species will be listed in separate pages.
This organization is different from the typical field guide so people
who are used to field guides might be thrown for a loop, but for novices
or non-birdwatcher’s, this may be a big advantage.
Author
Stan Tekiela has made a career out of state field guides
for everything from Birds to Frogs to Trees. He is a first rate naturalist
and we have enjoyed many of his natural history books such as, Nature
Smart and his mushroom finding guide. I had a chance to run into him
in a book store once, and I will also vouch that he is a very nice
guy.
