Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion（ISBN=9780618236480）

In this book, bursting with more information than any field guide could hold, the well-known author and birder Pete Dunne introduces readers to the "Cape May School of Birding." It's an approach to identification that gives equal or more weight to a bird's structure and shape and the observer's overall impression (often called GISS, for General Impression of Size and Shape) than to specific field marks. After determining the most likely possibilities by considering such factors as habitat and season, the birder uses characteristics such as size, shape, color, behavior, flight pattern, and vocalizations to identify a bird. The book provides an arsenal of additional hints and helpful clues to guide a birder when, even after a review of a field guide, the identification still hangs in the balance. This supplement to field guides shares the knowledge and skills that expert birders bring to identification challenges. Birding should be an enjoyable pursuit for beginners and experts alike, and Pete Dunne combines a unique playfulness with the work of identification. Readers will delight in his nicknames for birds, from the Grinning Loon and Clearly the Bathtub Duck to Bronx Petrel and Chicken Garnished with a Slice of Mango and a Dollop of Raspberry Sherbet.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
INTRODUCTION 
A GUIDE TO THE GUIDE: HOW TO
MAKE THIS BOOK WORK FOR YOU
SPECIES ACCOUNTS 
Waterfowl--Geese, Swans, and Ducks
Game Birds--Chachalaca, Quail, Pheasant,and Grouse
Loons
Grebes
Albatrosses
Petrels and Shearwaters
Storm-Petrels
Tropicbirds
Sulids (Boobies)
Pelicans
Cormorants
Herons, Egrets, and Ibis
Storks, Vultures, and Flamingos
Diurnal Raptors--Kites, Hawks, Eagles, andFalcons
Rails, Coots, Limpkin, and Cranes
Shorebirds--Plovers and Sandpipers
Skuas and Jaegers
Gulls
Terns and Skimmer
……