Birds of Southwestern British Columbia

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

Richard Cannings, a former bookseller specializing in natural history
works, with his two co-authors, has created this pocket-sized bird guide
because he was frustrated by the lack of a guide that provided “good
identification information on the birds most likely to be seen by
birders in Southwestern British Columbia.” His guide covers more than
200 species and is designed to be used by new birders or birders new to
the region. The regions covered include Vancouver Island and mainland
British Columbia from approximately the latitude of the north end of
Vancouver Island, south to the border and east to the Cascade Mountains.

This is a pictorial guide; the photos are designed to show the birds in
the plumage that they normally display while in these areas. For each
bird, Cannings supplies a photograph and a species account. Sometimes
there are two pictures, contrasting breeding and non-breeding colours,
light and dark morphs, mature and immature plumage, or male and female
colours. Sometimes there is a small inset photo of a similar species,
helpful for distinguishing species in the field. The images—the work
of many photographers—are excellent and easy to use for
identification.

Each species account includes description, similar species, seasonal
abundance, where to find it, habitat, diet and behaviour, voice, and
interesting facts. Helpful features include the bolding of important
words in the text for identification (allowing the user to immediately
know what features to look for on the bird), a space at the bottom of
each page for the birder to write in the date and place the bird has
been seen, and a bird checklist at the back of the book.

This guidebook was created by someone who understands both birds and
the needs of birdwatchers. Overall, it’s an excellent volume, but
limited in geographic scope.