[NatureNS] Brood parasites

From: Stephen Shaw <srshaw@Dal.Ca>
To: "naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Thread-Topic: [NatureNS] Brood parasites
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Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 16:43:30 +0000
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Hi Lance,
Thanks for the explanation and the information on egg/nest books -- I hadn't come across these but then I guess I hadn't looked.  
Presumably you'd need to hire a porter to carry your Sibley-Complete on a field trip, if it contained all the information requested.   
You must be right that electronic devices are the way to go, though with the inevitable program upgrades required every couple of years that bedevil any computing system.
Steve  
________________________________________
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] on behalf of Laviolette, Lance (EXP) [lance.laviolette@lmco.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2014 11:01 AM
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: RE: [NatureNS] Brood parasites

Hi Steve,

Your last paragraph in your original email posed another question:
>     As a related afterthought, bird books in the UK in the 50s-60s used to describe the nests, eggs and nesting habits of birds, not just
>     their plumage.  I haven't seen this here in the Sibley, Petersen etc  recent era in Canada/USA or I could probably have answered the
>     cowbird question myself.   I presume the main (and valid) reasons are now to discourage any interest in egg-collecting or
>     nest-disturbing, by simply not giving out any useful information?

I don't think that egg/nest collecting plays much of a role in this. I think it is simply a matter of space/size and of the target audience. The vast majority of the bird book market is for field guides that quickly provide the tools for identification. The nest and egg information has been put into separate guides for the most part. Here are a few of the well-known ones:

Peterson Field Guide: Eastern Birds' Nests, September 15, 1998, Hal H. Harrison
Peterson Field Guide: Western Birds' Nests,  September 30, 2001, Hal H. Harrison
Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds (Second Edition) (Princeton Field Guides), June 12, 2005, Paul J. Baicich, J. O. Harrison

Having said this, with the advent of electronic field guides that can be purchased for tablets and smart phones, a lot more of this type of information is being included with the basic identification portion as is audio. The sky is the limit now.

All the best,

Lance

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