Monday 2 January 2012

Literature: Woodpeckers of Eastern North America

This book by the late Lawrence Kilham was first published in 1983 by the Nuttall Ornithological Club, then later re-issued by Dover Publications, New York, in 1992. It is out-of-print but still fairly easy to find. It is a great book by a great observer of woodpeckers. It mainly covers Downy, Hairy, Black-backed, Pileated, Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Northern Flicker, and to a lesser extent Crimson-crested and Pale-billed Woodpeckers. It is fact-filled, the facts mostly established by the author himself over years of devoted observation and study of both wild and captive picids.     

2 comments:

  1. Very nice post! I have a copy of this fine book. It's the rare individual who gets to observe so many woodpecker species for as long as Kilham did! And it's fortunate that he recorded his detailed, very informative observations for us. Kilham's book is the next best thing to being able to spend so many hours ourselves in the forest, and elsewhere, watching these dynamic birds.

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  2. Bill, yes, a great book, and what a great observer Kilham was.

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