Birds (Fandex Family Field Guides)

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BALTIMORE ORIOLE

Icterus galbula

Halloween comes to mind when a male Baltimore oriole, with its flame-orange and black plumage, flashes into view. By late October, however, this songbird may be seen only occasionally at feeders, as it migrates in colorful flocks from its summer territory throughout the East, It's named not for the Maryland port city on Chesapeake Bay, but for its color scheme, which is the same as that of Lord Baltimore's family, the 17th century founders of the Maryland colony.

Other orioles - Bullock's in the West, the spotted in Florida, and the orchard throughout the East and South - are similar in size, coloration, habits, and diet. Indeed they're known to interbreed and produce hybrids.

Orioles are most commonly seen in broken woodlands, forest edges, parks, open fields, garden, and at feeders. They forage for a wide variety of insects and spiders, and also like berries, other fruits, and flowers nectar.

Versatile singers, orioles can chatter like squirrels, whistle a long melody, and deliver a somewhat forlorn two-note call.

Field Notes

Habitat: Wooded areas, parkland in city, suburb, and country, alongside roads and streams.

Range: Everywhere east of the Rockies except the lower Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf Coast. Bullock's oriole is found throughout the western states.

Diet: Insects and spiders of all kinds, fruits, flower nectar.

Nest: Sack of fibrosis materials suspended at the end of a drooping branch in a deciduous tree.

Eggs: Usually 3 to 5; blue-gray to white with some darker markings.

Status: Not threatened.

Excerpted from Fandex Family Field Guides: Birds. Copyright (c) 1998 by Workman Publishing. Reprinted by permission of Workman Publishing.

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Fandex(tm) continues! Combining 50 individually die-cut cards with full-color illustrations, plus hundreds of intriguing facts, stories, statistics, and trivia, Fandex is the newest breakthrough in information-packed, family publishing. Now adding to the series are four new titles, including Birds: With its large images, bright colors, and die-cut profiles, the bird and the bird card could almost be one and the same, making this the ideal way to identify 47 wild birds in North America. Fandex--it's for grown-ups to get it straight again and for kids who have it all ahead of them. And it's the gift of knowledge with pleasure.

From the Back Cover Copy

BIRDS

Bringing the world of Birds to your fingertips, Fandex presents the ideal field guide.

The images are large, the details sharp, the colors bright. Each die-cut profile is unmistakable - it's like having the real bird in your own hand.

There are instantly accessible details about each bird's habitat, range, diet, nest, eggs and conservation status, as well as appearance, habitats and even song pattern, Plus "pigeon milk" and the Indigo Bunting's ability to navigate by starlight, how the Killdeer fakes injury to distract predators, and Benjamin Franklin's surprising nominee for America's national bird.

- 50 individually die-cut cards
- Full color throughout
- For the whole family

Publisher's Comments

Now BIRDS is added to the series which includes: DOGS: Discover the exemplary character of the Airedale, the working-class background of the aristocratic Yorkshire Terrier, the spiritual aura surrounding the Lhasa Apso. Here's a field guide to 47 favorite breed. Includes a complete guide to appearance and temperament, PRESIDENTS: Which President won a Nobel Peace Prize? Which President also served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? From the historic Founding Fathers (three of whom died on the Fourth of July) to the 19th-century forgettables (Fillmore, Tyler, Pierce, et. al.), TREES: It's the easiest and most practical tree identification guide available. Four visual keys - die-cut leaf, bark pattern, flower, seed or nut, and photo of the full tree - plus descriptions of habitat and more combine to give a complete picture of North America's forest and backyard trees, CATS: It's a celebration of America's #1 pet. Learn all about their mysterious ways - one breed, the La Perm, is a face-kisser. Fascinating and often legendary history - the Egyptian Mau was once worshipped in ancient Egypt as a goddess. And unusual quirks - the Norwegian Forest Cat has special claws for climbing rocks. Includes a complete guide to each breed's appearance and temperant, MYTHOLOGY: Illustrated by artwork through the centuries, here are the tales and legends of the ancient Greek and Roman world, from the Mt. Olympus pantheon to the depths of Minotaur's labyrinth, CIVIL WAR: An illustrated cultural history of the Civil war, it is told through the stories of men and women who lived and fought it, and the battles, accoutrements, issues, and events that defined it, AND STATES: It's a portable, information-filled atlas of the United States, with customs and culture, natural wonders and treasures of all 50 states plus Washington D.C.

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Summary: I love these Fandex Guides!
Review: A fantastic "quick & dirty" reference tool! The PERFECT aid for persons in the online auction selling business. For example, I had a lovely antique plate that I wanted to put up for auction. This particular plate featured a bird sitting in a tree. I got out my trusty Fandex Bird Guide and there it was ... a Yellow Warbler. I then got out my equally trusty Fandex Tree Guide and there it was ... the Downy Hawthorne Tree. Therefore, instead of describing my treasure as a plain ol' "Bird Sitting in Tree - Plate", I was able to give it the justice it deserved and described it as a "Lovely Yellow Warbler Nesting Atop a Downy Hawthorne Branch - Plate".

Rating:
Summary: I love these Fandex Guides!
Review: A fantastic "quick & dirty" reference tool! The PERFECT aid for persons in the online auction selling business. For example, I had a lovely antique plate that I wanted to put up for auction. This particular plate featured a bird sitting in a tree. I got out my trusty Fandex Bird Guide and there it was ... a Yellow Warbler. I then got out my equally trusty Fandex Tree Guide and there it was ... the Downy Hawthorne Tree. Therefore, instead of describing my treasure as a plain ol' "Bird Sitting in Tree - Plate", I was able to give it the justice it deserved and described it as a "Lovely Yellow Warbler Nesting Atop a Downy Hawthorne Branch - Plate".

Rating:
Summary: I love these Fandex Guides!
Review: A fantastic "quick & dirty" reference tool! The PERFECT aid for persons in the online auction selling business. For example, I had a lovely antique plate that I wanted to put up for auction. This particular plate featured a bird sitting in a tree. I got out my trusty Fandex Bird Guide and there it was ... a Yellow Warbler. I then got out my equally trusty Fandex Tree Guide and there it was ... the Downy Hawthorne Tree. Therefore, instead of describing my treasure as a plain ol' "Bird Sitting in Tree - Plate", I was able to give it the justice it deserved and described it as a "Lovely Yellow Warbler Nesting Atop a Downy Hawthorne Branch - Plate".

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Summary: A nice way to introduce kids to birding...
Review: My kids find the Fandex format easy to use, and the information on them accessible. We have several, and they're fun for all of us to use together.

This Fandex covers a number of wild birds of North America. Each page has a large photo of the bird in question, its Latin name, a description of it, and the following Field Note categories: Habitat; Range; Diet; Nest; Eggs; and Status. Mind you, this is not a scientific, adult field guide, but a fun way to introduce children to the joys of birding.

The only quibble I have about these decks is that sometimes when they're completely fanned out, the edges of the illustrations get caught up in each other, making it hard to close them properly. But other than that, they're cute, informative, and a nice format for kids.

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Summary: These books are so much fun!
Review: These books are so much fun! They are great gift items for adults or children. I try to keep one copy in my car on Trees and Birds. What a great idea!

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Summary: A good guide for beginners.
Review: This was either the first or second guide that I started out with when I was very young. I will always have respect for it. It contains full-color drawings of the most common birds that a person is likely to see. A total of 129 of the most common American birds is included. Text and range maps are also included in this pocket-sized guide. The drawings display spring plumages of adult male birds, and normally females or young if they are very different. The text is good and gives the common name, length, description, behavior, verbal descriptions of vocalizations, and sometimes abundance. The text also points out the differences between males and females, and related birds that are similar. This guide contains some nice introductory information. Some of the information deals with how to use the guide, how to identify birds, equipment, where to look, bird classification, and attracting birds. There are also two illustrations that detail the parts of a bird. I find all of the drawings throughout this guide to be pretty good. Most of the drawings share the same page as the text and range map, but a few of the drawings are on the right page, while the text and range maps are on the left page. This guide has some very useful information that is located in the back. For each bird that is illustrated, there is information dealing with migration, eggs, nests, and feeding habits. The back of the guide also contains a listing of scientific names for the birds illustrated and an index. I used to take this guide out with me when I first started birdwatching. I still have the older and also the newer edition. Whenever I would identify a particular species of bird, I would write all of the important information about it on the page. Even though I don't take this guide into the field anymore, it's not because I don't like it. I feel confident with the organization, drawings, and information; however, this guide does not contain all of the birds of North America--only the common ones. That aside, I still think that this guide is a good choice and starting point for beginners.