Dictionary of Birds of the United States: Scientific and Common Names - Hardcover

Holloway, Joel Ellis, M.D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0881926000 ISBN 13: 9780881926002

Publisher: Timber Pr, 2003

Synopsis

This is the most complete and up-to-date dictionary of names of American birds available. With more than 900 entries, all the resident birds of the 50 states are included, as well as escaped, exotic, and rare visitors. Including the etymologies and meanings of scientific and common names, it will be an indispensable reference for both scholars and amateur birders. The dictionary is the only work of this type that brings the derivation of scientific bird names back to the original Greek. Other names are traced, for example, to Old English, French, Portuguese, or native languages. Names sometimes reflect the birds' behavior, physical appearance, habitat, or the sound of their calls. Some names refer back to ancient myths and local folklore or were bestowed to honor a great naturalist, a world traveler, or a patron of the sciences. The author also discusses errors that arose in the naming of some birds. Crisply written and extensively cross-referenced for ease of access, the book is graced by more than 25 striking pen-and-ink drawings by renowned ornithologist and bird artist George Miksch Sutton.

About this title

Book Description

This is the most complete and up-to-date dictionary of names of American birds available. With more than 900 entries, all the resident birds of the 50 states are included, as well as escaped, exotic, and rare visitors. Including the etymologies and meanings of scientific and common names, it is the only work of this type that brings the derivation of scientific bird names back to the original Greek. The book is graced by more than 25 striking pen-and-ink drawings.

About the Author

George Miksch Sutton was born on May 16, 1898 in Bethany, Nebraska. By the age of twelve he was taking taxidermy lessons at the Northwestern School of Taxidermy. Sutton worked at the Carnegie Museum while attending Bethany College in West Virginia. He became the State Ornithologist of Pennsylvania but later left the position to attend Cornell University, where he became its Curator of Birds. After he fought in World War II, Suttton taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Oklahoma. After a few expeditions, Sutton wrote the books Eskimo Year and Birds in the Wilderness. He later wrote the book Icelandic Summer and designed an Icelandic Postage Stamp, for both of which he was awarded the Knight Cross Order of the Falcon by the Icelandic Government. George Miksch Sutton died on December 7, 1982.

About this edition

• Publisher: Timber Pr
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0881926000
• ISBN 13: 9780881926002
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240
• Illustrator: Sutton George Miksch