The sudden realization that man is inherently dependent upon the related functions of the natural community has, in part, initiated a great resurgence of interest in all outdoor activities. People are searching for fundamental truths—the basic laws of survival and their meanings in terms of human welfare and happiness. Some seek answers in the remoteness of the backcountry; others must challenge the beckoning peaks of high mountains; and others find a degree of solitude in plying wilderness waterways. But for many, the most meaningful rewards are found in following the lives of birds, for birds have represented the enduring qualities of life since eons past.
Although I have been interested in birds since childhood, I must admit that I find it somewhat difficult to pinpoint those qualities which sustained my interest over so long a period. Perhaps I was content, in those formative years, to add a “new” bird to my list, to know where the oriole or kingbird nested, to thrill at the swift flight of a hunting hawk, and to find solace in the bell-like tones of the thrushes as I returned from my woodland wanderings. The birds were there, and I was content to have them as my daily companions.
Even in this most casual form of acceptance, bird watching was a deeply satisfying experience. In more recent years, however, I have become increasingly aware of more significant attributes to be found in observing wild birds in their natural habitats. Also, the dimension of concern has been added; birds are recognized as the earliest and truest indicators of environmental change. I am not alone in these discoveries, for there is a growing human force, informed and inquisitive, whose intellect cannot be satisfied by the mere facts of existence alone. This is especially true relative to the comparatively new science of ecology. Where the relationships of life and environment are involved, this new force demands positive answers. In the case of bird watching, it is no longer sufficient to say the wood thrush is a brown speckled bird of the forest. Why is it there? How does it survive? What does it contribute to the total forest community? The answers to such indicative questions carry the bird watcher beyond the staid practice of merely listing recognized species.
Recognizing these facts, this book, then, is manifold in purpose. Primarily, its intent is to improve one’s skill and to increase one’s pleasure as a birder. The pursuit of these objectives is through an innovative approach to the whole field of bird watching: that birders can be helped in locating, identifying, and understanding birds through a knowledge of their physical adaptations and behavioral patterns as associated with the habitats in which they live. Also, this book is based on the premise that birds are an important functional unit in the total natural community, and that through the understanding of these functions and the community, the birder can pursue his interests with a keener knowledge and find greater personal rewards.
This book also recognizes the hypothesis that one or more species of birds can be found in every conceivable type of habitat, no matter how specific we may be in designating the habitat’s scientific nomenclature, or how careful we are in delineating its boundaries. Birds are everywhere, and this fact alone injects the element of evolutionary mystery and provides innumerable ecological equations to challenge the most curious of intellects.
From this myriad of adaptations, relationships, and similar habitat characteristics, I have fashioned the basis for this book.
Birds are not distributed uniformly throughout any geographical area. Each species survives best in a certain type of habitat because of adaptations and specialization by generations of its ancestors. Habitats differ greatly in their biological and physical characteristics. Some support large numbers of a few species; others sustain lesser numbers of a greater variety. Recognizing these differences in representative habitats of the eastern half of our continent, from the tundra to the semitropics, it soon becomes evident that the techniques of locating, observing, and identifying birds will vary somewhat from one habitat to another. Also, the kinds of preferred clothing and equipment for watchers will differ as they progress from forests to marshlands to seashores. In chapters pertaining to specific habitats, I have included certain field techniques (including the use of equipment) that will make birding in each area an enjoyable and rewarding experience. In addition, I have devoted an entire chapter to field techniques in general, and another to the important matter of selecting and using binoculars and scopes. The beginning bird watcher may wish to read these two chapters (16 and 17) before going on to the rest of the book.
And in the preparation of this book I have not neglected the aesthetic appeal of bird watching, for it is this emotional quality that lures most of us afield.
Mostly, this book has grown from my many years of watching birds, and from my keen interest in the ecology of our land. But I hasten to acknowledge those whose work has made bird watching such an easy pursuit to follow. Generations of scientists have given us a system of organization—a scientific classification and nomenclature for birds of the world. Men such as Edward H. Forbush, Frank M. Chapman, Arthur Cleveland Bent, and Alexander Sprunt, Jr. have given us detailed life histories; Andrew J. Berger, Josselyn Van Tyne, and Olin S. Pettingill, Jr. have developed comprehensive courses of study for the serious student; and Roger Tory Peterson, Richard H. Pough, and others have simplified the task of bird identification. And in a book of this kind, one cannot ignore the efforts of Eugene P. Odum, R. F. Daubenmire, Henry J. Oosting, Paul B. Sears, and other pioneering ecologists.
This book is largely a personal effort, but I am especially grateful to Olin S. Pettingill, Jr., Director of the Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, for his interest and suggestions for certain portions of the text; to Paul Knoop, director of the Aullwood Audubon Center at Dayton, Ohio, for his time afield with me; and to Hannah H. McElroy for many months of patience and understanding. But mostly, I am indebted to Blanche E. Getchen for many hours of assistance in preparation of the final text, and to my editor, Angus Cameron, for his continued guidance, inspiration, and enduring patience.
T. P. M.