These books are not actually on reserve in the Wilson Hall library, but please treat them as if they were! Other students might want to use them too. A good rule -- keep each book no more than two days.

If you have trouble finding a book you want, try posting a message to the Bird Biology Forum -- or let an instructor know.

Recommended for identification of North American birds

Peterson, R. T. 2001. Field Guide to the Birds [of eastern N. A.]. Fifth edition. Houghton Mifflin.
Best way to learn the field marks for identifying birds!

National Geographic Society. 2002. Field Guide to North American Birds. Third edition.
More information about sex and age differences, recognizable subspecies, and very rare vagrants.

Sibley, D. A. 2001. Sibley Guide to Birds [of North America]. Knopf.
Even more information (but also a bigger book).

Sibley, D. A. 2002. Birding Basics. Knopf.
Introduction to the essential techniques (not an identification guide).

Sibley, D. A. 2001. Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. Knopf.
Introduction to avian biology (but few references).

Kaufman, K. 1996. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin.
Summary of the biology of every species (but few references).

Some good places to start research for term papers

Poole, A., and F. Gill (editors). 1988-2002. The Birds of North America. BONA Inc.
Without question the place to go for informaton -- with complete references.
(Zoology Library Reference)

Gill, F. B. 1995. Ornithology. Second edition. Freeman.

Stacey, P. B., and W. D. Koenig. 1990. Cooperative Breeding in Birds. Cambridge Univ. Press.

Black, J. M. 1996. Partnerships in Birds. Oxford Univ. Press.

Berthold, P. 1996. Control of Bird Migration. Chapman and Hall.

Able, K. 1999. Gatherings of Angels: Migrating Birds and Their Ecology. Cornell University Press.

Cooke, F. C., and P. A. Buckley. 1987. Avian Genetics. Academic Press.

Newton, I. 1997. Lifetime Reproduction in Birds. Second edition. Academic Press.

Davies, M. N. O., and P. R. Green. 1994. Perception and Motor Control in Birds. Springer Verlag.

King, A. S. 1979-89. Form and Function in Birds (4 volumes). Academic Press.

Some scientific journals important for avian biology

These journals are in the library on the second floor of Wilson Hall (up the stairs in the library) in alphabetical order by title.

Journals in boldface are devoted entirely to birds.

Hint: one way to find a topic for a term paper is to check recent issues of scientific journals for an article that interests you.

  American Naturalist (American Soiety of Naturalists)

  Animal Behaviour (Animal Behavior Society)

  Auk (American Orntihologists' Union)

  Behavioral Ecology (International Soc. of Behavioral Ecology)

  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

  Behaviour

  Biological Conservation

  Condor (Cooper Ornithological Society)

  *Current Ornithology (annual serial)

  Ecology (Ecological Society of America)

  Ethology

  Evolution (Society for the Study of Evolution)

  Ibis (British Ornithologists' Union)

  Journal of Animal Ecology (British Ecological Society)

  Journal of Avian Biology (formerly Ornis Scandinavica)

  Wilson Bulletin (Wilson Ornithological Society)