BOOK REVIEWS: Tanagers, Cardinals, and Finches of the United States and Canada: The Photographic Guide by David Beadle and J. D. Rising. 2006. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 196 pages, 200 photographs, 30 range maps. Paperback, $29.95. ISBN-13: 978-0-691-11858-1

Abstract

Guides treating specific groups of birds have popped up left and right recently. Tanagers, Cardinals and Finches of the United States and Canada (hereafter Tanagers, Cardinals, and Finches) is one of the first examples in which smaller groups are lumped together and treated in one guide. This aggregation of popular and often brightly colored birds includes many identification challenges, such as redpolls, female-type buntings, and various populations of the Red Crossbill. A critical, modern-style treatment of these subjects would be welcome—is this book it?