Mary Taylor Gray

Sixty-eight species are included in this book which is divided into three sections: wetlands, open country, and high country. For each species, you learn the common and biological names (including pronunciation); natural history; when and where to see the birds, and the best feature of the book: a terrific full-page color picture. With other bird books, I am often at a loss to match what I see outside with the picture in the book. I rarely have that problem with this book, although it let me down in the case of the little yellow American Goldfinch. But overall, it is especially helpful for newcomers to the southwest, since the birds included are the ones most commonly seen. My only wish would be for greater coverage of species, since the author does such a good job.… (more)