Many a beginning birder, breathless with excitement at finding
yet another new species in the field or at the feeder, has
turned to his brand new field guide only to find himself
befuddled by the seemingly bizarre arrangement of its contents.
But over time, every birder who regularly uses a field guide
learns that there is, indeed, a well thought out scheme by these
guides. With a little practice, he can amaze his less
experienced friends with his ability to flip quickly to the page
showing Yellow-bellied Sapsucker without consulting In most
field guides and checklists, the birds are arranged (at least
loosely) according to some accepted taxonomic order. While it
may seem somewhat arbitrary to a beginner, this arrangement
actually makes a lot of sense. Within a taxonomy the sequence of
bird types remains constant, whether list is in English or
Swahili and whether the field guide covers the eastern US or
outer Mongolia. There are several major bird taxonomies in use
around the world. In North American publicat