BOOK REVIEWS: Oklahoma Breeding Bird Atlas by Dan L. Reinking (editor). 2004. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman; www.oupress.com

Abstract

What does Oklahoma have to do with western birds you may ask? Well, this attractively laid out and informative work (hereafter the OBBA) should help answer such a question. Almost 230 bird species are known or assumed to have nested in Oklahoma, which straddles the biogeographic divide in North America between “East” and “West.” Species breeding in this under-regarded state range from the Henslow’s Sparrow to the Black-throated Sparrow, from the Wood Thrush to the Mountain Bluebird. Indeed, within a single atlas block there were breeding records for both Chuck-will’s-widow and Common Poorwill! So, while Oklahoma is not a western state, it does offer a view into where the West starts from an avian perspective, and why.