Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucsd!ucbvax!ucdavis!csusac!unify!grp From: grp@unify.uucp (Greg Pasquariello) Newsgroups: rec.birds Subject: Re: Birding magazine question Message-ID: Date: 3 Jan 90 23:23:04 GMT References: <9001031916.AA06453@jade.berkeley.edu> Reply-To: grp@unify.UUCP (Greg Pasquariello) Organization: Unify Corporation, Sacramento, CA, USA Lines: 42 In article <9001031916.AA06453@jade.berkeley.edu> OTTEN@UMCINCOM.BITNET writes: >My wife has recently become quite interested in bird watching >and has requested a couple of birding magazines for her birthday. >She noticed a recommendation in a Peterson Field Guide for >"American Birds" and "Birding", but it was an old edition so even if >those were the best then, they might not be anymore. I was wondering >if anyone had suggestions what would be the best magazines to >subscribe to. >Neil Ottenstein American Birds is the quarterly collection of national bird reports by location. As such, it is a bit terse, although there are often a couple of good articles about identification. I find it a bit hard to read, but it is good if you want to see what sorts of unusual birds were in an area 6 months ago. One of my complaints about AB is that it tends to concentrate on the *unusual* birds from an area; it is hard to read it and gauge what birds are common in an area. I subscribe to it anyway. Birding is a publication irregularly put out by the American Birding Association. They have gone thru some tough times lately, but seem to be getting on the ball. The magazine is usually well done, and usually contains well written articles on identification, distribution, birding lore, etc. These articles lean a bit heavy on the technical side; i.e. it is surely a Wispy-tailed flycatcher if the retrices are blunt. There are however, often good articles of a general nature, and I get the impression that the magazine will be providing more of these in the future. Birdwatcher's Digest is clearly a magazine that promotes "bird-watching" rather than "birding". If you are watching birds at your feeder or in your yard, you are bird-watching; if you are standing at Sandy Hook in the dead of winter looking for a straggler from Siberia, you are birding :-). The magazine offers well written articles on a wide variety of subjects of interest to anyone who is interested in birds, but does not generally delve into the more esoteric aspects of the hobby. Wild Bird is similar to BWD, but is in a larger format with more glossy color pictures. IMO the articles are not as good as those in BWD, but I haven't seen it in a year or so. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greg Pasquariello (916) 920-9092 grp@unify.UUCP Unify Corporation ...!{csusac, pyramid}!unify!grp