Introduction. Classification of birds ; Equipment for birding ; Learning to identify birds ; Psychological effects and mistakes ; Variation in appearance ; Geographic variation and subspecies ; Learning songs and calls ; Finding rare birds ; Ethics ; Extinct species -- Bird topography. Parts of a passerine ; Parts of a shorebird ; Parts of a duck ; Molt and plumage -- Key to the species accounts -- Key to the group accounts -- Key to the range maps -- Ducks, geese, and swans. Geese head and bill shapes ; Identification of swans ; Domestic geese ; Domestic ducks ; Exotic waterfowl ; Hybrid mallard identification ; Downy young ; Rare and exotic ducks ; Identification of scaups ; Hybrid Aythya ; Identification of eiders ; Diving motions ; Goldeneye hybrids -- Upland game birds -- Loons and grebes. Loon habits ; Identification of grebes -- Albatrosses, petrels, and shearwaters. Molt in seabirds -- Storm-petrels -- Pelicans, boobies, and frigatebirds -- Cormorants. Identification of cormorants -- Tropicbirds -- Wading birds. Snowy egret vs. little egret ; Snowy egret vs. little blue heron ; Courtship colors ; Identification of dark ibises -- Hawks and vultures. Harrier flight shapes ; Accipiter identification ; Buteo identification -- Rails, coots, cranes, and limpkin. Identification of coots ; Crane behavior ; Habits of rails -- Shorebirds. Identification of yellowlegs ; Bill length in curlews ; Identification of small sandpipers ; Dowitcher identification ; Aerial displays of snipes and woodcocks ; Identifying pharalopes --
Gulls. Identification of gulls ; Identification of hybrid gulls ; Albinism in gulls -- Terns and skimmer -- Skuas and jaegers. Bill details ; Jaeger identification -- Alcids -- Pigeons and doves. Bird families -- Cuckoos -- Owls. Owling ; Branching owls -- Nightjars. Eyeshine -- Swifts -- Hummingbirds. Hummingbird wing shapes ; Hummingbird displays ; Hybrid hummingbirds -- Trogons and kingfishers. Kingfisher behavior -- Woodpeckers. Woodpecker drumming -- Falcons -- Parrots -- Tyrant flycatchers and becard. Identification of Empidonax ; Comparing Empidonax and other flycatchers -- Shrikes -- Vireos -- Crows and jays -- Larks -- Swallows. Molting swallows -- Chickadees and allies. Chickadee and titmouse identification ; Black-capped and Carolina chickadee identification -- Nuthatches and creeper -- Wrens. Sedge wren and grass sparrows -- Gnatcatchers, kinglets, and others. Identification of gnatcatchers -- Thrushes. Identification of bluebirds -- Mockingbirds, thrashers, starlings, accentors, wagtails, and pipits -- Waxwings, silky-flycatchers, olive warbler, and longspurs. Identification of Snow and McKay's bunting -- Wood-warblers. Warbler identification ; Blue-winged x golden-winged warbler hybrids ; Hybrid warblers ; Taxonomic outliers ; Bill shapes of songbirds -- Emberizine sparrows. Sparrow-like birds ; Identification of Spizella sparrows -- Cardinals. Identification of grosbeaks ; Identification of Passinera buntings -- Orioles and blackbirds. Old world and new world names ; Plumage variation in orioles ; Identification of orioles -- Finches and allies. Red crossbill types.
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