Field Guide to Hotspots and Birds in Illinois
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Description
A field guide to the "hottest" of hotspots to look for birds in Illinois along with over 325 species of birds found regularly in the State. Also includes sections explaining how to get into birdwatching, what birds to look for in each season and where, 325 primary and 30 rare species that can be seen in the state, a glossary with various bird terms, bird field marks, pictures with different types of habitats, a checklist, and much more!
After 15 years of birding throughout Illinois and seeing what it all has to offer, I have decided it was time to share the knowledge I have gained and complete a field guide book of where to bird throughout the state along with a set of species that are regualrly found. Through this 275 page text, I hope anyone, avid birdwatcher to someone who has never even picked up binoculars, gets a better understanding of not just the birds in this great state, but also learn more about ecosystems and get out and explore much more! Below I have a few sample pages from the text. I will be doing this 'presale' for a couple months and plan to offically launch this book after this is published and printed later this spring!
For the introduction, there are sections on how to get into birdwatching, a step by step process from starting from scratch to becoming an experienced birder. "Birding in Illinois" follows in which explains for different regions of the state, where to bird and what birds to key in on each season. A few pictures of birds I discuss are presented throughout this section.
For the introduction, there are sections on how to get into birdwatching, a step by step process from starting from scratch to becoming an experienced birder. "Birding in Illinois" follows in which explains for different regions of the state, where to bird and what birds to key in on each season. A few pictures of birds I discuss are presented throughout this section.
The first main chapter of this text is the hotspots section. Since I wanted to note just provide very short descriptions of hotspots and make this text more of a 'combo' for where to bird and a guide to most bird species that regularly occur in Illinois, I decided to go more in-depth with hotspots. This chapter is broken into five sections (regions of the state) with over 20 hotspots or areas. Each location includes the best time to visit, key species to look for, and description on where to bird at each location. Most hotspots have at least a picture showing a habitat or location discussed in that section
The Primary Species Chapter then follows the Hotspots Chapter. In this section, I describe 325 species that regularly occur in Illinois. The descriptions are short, concise, but still help with identifying a species by sight, sound, habitats its found, when it is possible to see it, how to differentiate from other similar species, and other info! Custom range maps were made for each species and captions for some species are presented when showing different sexes, ages, or morphs. ALL pictures in this section and throughout the book were taking from Illinois as we were committed to make this happen! Not many state field guide texts can say that!
Throughout the Primary Species Accounts, for a few larger groups or families, I present a primer section to introduce the group of species to come. This may include more beneficial or generalized information for the group to come. For example. for shorebirds, and this primer section starts with a generalized layout of the species to come, general migration timing in the spring and fall, as well as a table showing where different species (typically) feed on mudflats.
This is another sample side by side layout. This continues to show the importance of qualitiy pictures from Illinois, specific range maps, and other beneficial information for each specues.
The last main chapter is the Rarity Species Accounts. In this, I showcase 30 species that are irregular in the state, but can be found more often than more 'accidental' species. For this section, most species have a picture or two, along with a short description on when to find, where to find, and how to identify.
Then following this section is the Back Matter, in which I start with acknowledging all of the photographers who contributed and everyone that have helped me along bird career thus far. This is followed by a short glossary, a few pictures showing bird field marks that are discussed throughout the text, pictures of over 20 'bird habitats' that are discussed throughout the text
Then following this section is the Back Matter, in which I start with acknowledging all of the photographers who contributed and everyone that have helped me along bird career thus far. This is followed by a short glossary, a few pictures showing bird field marks that are discussed throughout the text, pictures of over 20 'bird habitats' that are discussed throughout the text
Then following this section is the Back Matter, in which I start with acknowledging all of the photographers who contributed and everyone that have helped me along bird career thus far. This is followed by a short glossary, a few pictures showing bird field marks that are discussed throughout the text, pictures of over 20 'bird habitats' that are discussed throughout the text that may not be known, for example from a fluddle, dunes, breakwall, mixed forests, etc. Lastly, a species checklist is presented of all of the species seen in the state in accordance to the Illinois Records Committee. I delineated a code system for how rare a species is and also noted are species that are regularly breeding and species that are extirpated from the state.