Rocky Mountain Birds: Birds and Birding in the Central and Northern Rockies

Abstract

“The Rocky Mountain region has fascinated me ever since I traveled to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks as a teenager, and saw for the first time such wonderful birds as ospreys, American dippers, and Lewis’s woodpeckers.” This book is in part based on the author’s earlier Birds of the Rocky Mountains (1986, revised 2009), but over a third of the original text has been eliminated. The rest has been updated, expanded and modified to be less technical and more useful to birders in the field. Bird enthusiasts will find viewing locations and updated contact information for hundreds of sites in Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Alberta, and British Columbia. Part 1 outlines the habitats, ecology, and bird geography of the Rocky Mountains north of the New Mexico–Colorado border, including recent changes in the ecology and avifauna of the region. It provides detailed lists of major birding locations and guidance about where to search for specific Rocky Mountain birds. Part 2 considers all 328 regional species individually, with information on their status, habitats and ecology, suggested viewing locations, and population. Includes 3 maps and 11 drawings by the author. Paul A. Johnsgard is the Foundation Regents Professor (emeritus) in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is an internationally renowned ornithologist and the author of more than fifty books on natural history.