Jeffrey Whiting's Owls of North America

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

This work’s many functions live harmoniously within one book. First,
it is a coffee-table book with large color plates of artwork featuring
owls. Next, it is a quick reference for birders, naturalists, and
students who need the key facts on North American owls. And finally, it
has a highly specialized purpose, that of a visual source work for
artists.

As a coffee-table book it has much to offer. More than 50 works of art
by 39 artists (eight of whom are Canadian) are featured. The art
includes watercolors, sculptures, scratchboard, batik, acrylics, oils,
and pastels. There’s an equally wide range of styles and
interpretations.

As a resource, the book presents all the basic facts on the 19 species
found in North America in concise, well-organized sections that contain
everything you need to know about each species, including size, wing
span, weight, eggs, clutch size, common names, coloring, distribution,
habitat, vocalizations, subspecies, breeding, migration, and food/prey.
There is more information here than is usually found in a field guide,
and it is faster to access than the typical text.

It is the third section, however, that sets this work apart from the
dozens of other bird books published each year. Bird art—sketching,
drawing, painting, and carving birds—is on the increase as a hobby.
This book will help anyone interested in pursuing that hobby. For each
of the 19 species, Whiting presents a double-page color spread showing
the bird as seen from above, from below, from the side, and head-on. The
paintings are accurate to the exact feather count, and the colors are
true to life. This is the next best thing to having an owl in the room
while painting or carving. To assist artists even further, Whiting gives
a chart of the artist’s colors used to capture the feather tones.

Although well under 30, Whiting has already achieved considerable
recognition for his wildlife art. His Owls of North America is the first
of a unique series.