The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds
Richard Crossley
Princeton University Press
<p>This stunningly illustrated book from acclaimed birder and photographer Richard Crossley revolutionizes field guide design by providing the first real-life approach to identification. Whether you are a beginner, expert, or anywhere in between, <i>The Crossley ID Guide</i> will vastly improve your ability to identify birds. </p> <p>Unlike other guides, which provide isolated individual photographs or illustrations, this is the first book to feature large, lifelike scenes for each species. These scenes--640 in all--are composed from more than 10,000 of the author's images showing birds in a wide range of views--near and far, from different angles, in various plumages and behaviors, including flight, and in the habitat in which they live. These beautiful compositions show how a bird's appearance changes with distance, and give equal emphasis to characteristics experts use to identify birds: size, structure and shape, behavior, probability, and color. This is the first book to convey all of these features visually--in a single image--and to reinforce them with accurate, concise text. Each scene provides a wealth of detailed visual information that invites and rewards careful study, but the most important identification features can be grasped instantly by anyone. </p> <p>By making identification easier, more accurate, and more fun than ever before, <i>The Crossley ID Guide</i> will completely redefine how its users look at birds. Essential for all birders, it also promises to make new birders of many people who have despaired of using traditional guides. </p> <ul> <li>Revolutionary. This book changes field guide design to make you a better birder </li> <li>A picture says a thousand words. The most comprehensive guide: 640 stunning scenes created from 10,000 of the author's photographs </li> <li>Reality birding. Lifelike in-focus scenes show birds in their habitats, from near and far, and in all plumages and behaviors </li> <li>Teaching and reference. The first book to accurately portray all the key identification characteristics: size, shape, behavior, probability, and color </li> <li>Practice makes perfect. An interactive learning experience to sharpen and test field identification skills </li> <li>Bird like the experts. The first book to simplify birding and help you understand how to bird like the best </li> <li>An interactive website--www.crossleybirds.com--includes expanded captions for the plates and species updates</li> </ul>