Ontario Birds

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.

With a target audience of new birders, and a mission that involves
simplifying bird iden-

tification and encouraging bird appreciation, Fisher presents 125
Ontario species via colour portrait and descriptive, behavioural, and
habitat notes.

The work makes for interesting browsing but has many weaknesses as a
field guide. First, the illustrations are uneven in quality. With five
illu-strators involved, that’s understandable, but it’s not
forgivable. Some of the illustrations make the birds look as if
they’ve been mauled by a cat.

A second weakness is the lack of proportionate size for the
illustrations. A chickadee is shown beside a cardinal—and the
chickadee is the larger of the two. Not surprising, since it’s about
the same size as the Canada goose. A giant ruby-throated hummingbird
shares a double-page spread with the much smaller belted kingfisher.
This haphazard approach will not prove helpful to beginners.

The author’s attempt to create a new classification scheme that will
help novice birders also doesn’t work. For example, he creates a
grouping called “colourful songbirds,” from which he excludes many
of the most colourful perching birds, such as the oriole, the blue jay,
and the goldfinch. Anyone unfamiliar with the niceties of the AOU
classification system would find this very puzzling.

The text is uneven as well, varying from patronizing to oversimplified
to quite readable. An “abundancy chart” accompanies the note on each
species.

Although birders always welcome another guide, there are better books
to be had, especially for beginners.