Birds of Western Canada: A funny field guide

Brian Hitchon
Steve Ferchaud, artwork
2010
28 pp. /30 cartoons
$5.00 Canadian (paper cover)

ISBN 978-0-9680844-6-5

Most birds have two names. The first is their Latin name, beloved by ornithologists. That name tells you something about the bird but is not always enough for you to identify it. The second is the popular name … for the rest of us. This little book is not designed for professional ornithologists, though it might be on their bookshelves under the section on humour. It is for the birdwatcher who wants a different description of western Canadian birds to assist in their identification.

The concept for each contribution came over coffee one afternoon … no, it was not after several glasses of wine! The concepts and the cartoons were first developed by the author, and were constructed using photographs and paintings of the real birds from a variety of sources. Steve Ferchaud then did the art work to put these rough drafts into final form. The birds are listed in the same taxonomic order you will find in standard bird books. There should be no difficulty in comparing some of these rare subspecies with their more common relatives – and should you be in any doubt, their common names are given.

 

Birds of Western Canada – Table of Contents 

Funny Birds — Horned Grebe ● Great Blue Heron ● Trumpeter Swan and Piping Plover ● Wood Duck ● Harlequin Duck ● Surf Scoter ● Hooded Merganser and Ring-necked Duck ● Turkey Vulture ● Golden Eagle and Bald Eagle ● Merlin and Raven ● Rock Ptarmigan ● Ruffed Grouse ● Killdeer ● Marbled Godwit ● Stilt Sandpiper ● Franklin’s Gull ● Bonaparte’s Gull ● California Gull ● Mourning Dove and Passenger Pigeon ● Barred Owl ● Belted Kingfisher ● Hairy Woodpecker and Red-headed Woodpecker ● Western Wood-pewee ● Western Kingbird ● Hermit Thrush ● Brown Thrasher ● Vesper Sparrow ● Brewer’s Blackbird