Hummingbirds: A Wildlife Handbook (Johnson Nature Series) - Softcover

Kim Long specializes in finding the fascinating in the familiar. His many books and publications include "Wolves" and "Squirrels" (two previous wildlife handbooks in the Johnson Nature Series), "The Moon Book," the "Moon Calendar," and "The Trout Almanac." He lives in Denver.

The hummingbird is one of the most readily identifiable family of birds in North America, and sighting one is quite exciting, a rare treat. However, the more general ornithological field guides have only limited information on these unique animals. Kim Long fills that gap with Hummingbirds: A Wildlife Handbook, part of the Johnson Nature Series. In the middle of the book is what one would expect to find in a field guide: full-color illustrations of each species (handily duplicated on the inside covers) along with charts of vital statistics and maps of hummingbird ranges in the United States and Canada. The last third of the book is more scientific information including habits, vocalization, predators, and a practical guide to attracting hummingbirds to backyard feeders. What makes this book unique, though, is its beginning. Long traces the influence of the hummingbird upon the mythologies of the ancient cultures of the Americas, with one section dedicated to the Aztecs' extensive use of hummingbird imagery. Interspersed are sidebars with various minutiae including excerpts from Thoreau, the etymology of "hum," and phonetic spellings of "hummingbird" in 36 different languages and dialects, ancient to modern. What the reader will find in this book is an exhaustive but not overburdened study of the hummingbird, as useful and interesting as it is complete. -- From Independent Publisher