Synopses & Reviews
Cultural Writing. Nature. From the distinctive Mountain Quail and Great Gray Owl to the seemingly indistinguishable small brown birds, the Sierra Nevada is alive with bird life. Here is a brilliantly illustrated, thoroughly annotated, and uniquely arranged guide that anyone-with or without formal training-can use to identify birds in the Sierra Nevada, from the Feather River in the north through Sequoia National Park in the south. And it will fit in your back pocket. John Muir Laws is a Research and Education Associate of the California Academy of Sciences, as well as a wildlife biologist, environmental educator, and artist.
Synopsis
Over 35,000 copies sold As a naturalist managing the field studies program at the California Academy of Sciences, John Muir Laws noticed that novice birders often distinguish birds by color and size rather than species. This inspired him to create Sierra Birds: A Hiker's Guide, a unique book that assumes no prior birding knowledge on the part of the reader. Color-coded keys eliminate the time-consuming frustration of thumbing randomly through a guide, and a cross-index is also included for more advanced birders. All this in a format that is simply organized, lightweight, and small enough to tuck inside a pocket. A first-rate naturalist, Laws is also an accomplished artist. His illustrations are lively, colorful, and accurate, and drawn to represent species in the manner in which one generally sees them in the field.