Birds in Kansas: Volume II

When you think of birds, you think of songbirds--bluebirds, robins, bluejays, chickadees-and that group of birds, the passerines, is featured in Volume II of Birds in Kansas.

Of the 424 bird species that have been recorded in Kansas, 208 are passerines, commonly known as songbirds or, more accurately, perching birds. (Many so-called songbirds, like crows, have terrible voices and can't sing a note, but all of them can "perch.") They include most of the birds you'll see at your feeder, and many you won't: flycatchers, larks, swallows, jays and crows, titmice, wrens, thrushes, waxwings, wood warblers, blackbirds, tanagers, finches, and others.

All 208 species found in Kansas are discussed in Birds in Kansas, Volume II. Abundantly illustrated with 199 photographs and 208 range maps, this handbook provides the only comprehensive, current, and authoritative treatment of the songbirds in the state.

Written specifically for amateur birdwatchers and naturalists, both volumes of Birds in Kansas provide the reader with common and scientific names, distribution maps, photographs, and facts concerning reported occurrence, breeding habits, habitats, field marks (for identification), and food preferences. Volume I, published in 1989, covers over 200 species of ducks and geese, gulls, herons, woodpeckers, shorebirds, birds of prey, and other non-passerines. Volume II is devoted solely to the passerines.

Max C. Thompson is professor of biology at Southwestern College.

Charles Ely is professor of zoology at Fort Hays State University.