Identification Nerd Seeks Resources!
February 20, 2018 9:34 AM Subscribe
I love learning and knowing the identity of a native bird or a tree or plant when I'm out and about is a nice dopamine hit. I'm seeking a couple of guides that will help me learn about the local flora and fauna of Northern California and Nevada.
Prefer tried and true recommendations than just Amazon reviews -- I could just go look at those myself, which is why I'm here asking my Metafilter comrades.
I have a Peterson's Field Guide for Western Birds, which is okay, but I'm not entirely happy with it. The things I do like is that it shows the underside of some of the birds in flight, which is super helpful with raptors. What I don't like is that I have no idea how large the birds are -- especially in comparison to each other (super UNHELPFUL with raptors), sometimes it focuses too much on the different color mutations, and the book itself is not big enough (because it's a field guide) so the maps are hard to read -- also the maps are in a different part of the book. Oh and I'd like pictures over drawings, although both would be AWESOME. Also I don't need Western Birds...I need the birds of Northern California and Nevada. I don't care if it's a coffee table book, I'm more likely to study at home (also the Peterson guide is in the car).
As for the flora, I'd like books about the native plants and especially the trees of the northern Sierra Nevada and the western edge of the Great Basin Desert of Northern Nevada (I'm pretty sure there's more out there besides sagebrush and rabbitbrush, but I might need a book to help me). Preferred parameters for the books are the same for the birding book - larger sized, more local, pictures rather than drawings, etc.
So nature and book geeks, can you help a girl out?
Prefer tried and true recommendations than just Amazon reviews -- I could just go look at those myself, which is why I'm here asking my Metafilter comrades.
I have a Peterson's Field Guide for Western Birds, which is okay, but I'm not entirely happy with it. The things I do like is that it shows the underside of some of the birds in flight, which is super helpful with raptors. What I don't like is that I have no idea how large the birds are -- especially in comparison to each other (super UNHELPFUL with raptors), sometimes it focuses too much on the different color mutations, and the book itself is not big enough (because it's a field guide) so the maps are hard to read -- also the maps are in a different part of the book. Oh and I'd like pictures over drawings, although both would be AWESOME. Also I don't need Western Birds...I need the birds of Northern California and Nevada. I don't care if it's a coffee table book, I'm more likely to study at home (also the Peterson guide is in the car).
As for the flora, I'd like books about the native plants and especially the trees of the northern Sierra Nevada and the western edge of the Great Basin Desert of Northern Nevada (I'm pretty sure there's more out there besides sagebrush and rabbitbrush, but I might need a book to help me). Preferred parameters for the books are the same for the birding book - larger sized, more local, pictures rather than drawings, etc.
So nature and book geeks, can you help a girl out?
Pocket Flora of the Redwood Forest by Rudolph Becking, one of my college professors. It's good for Hemlock-Doug Fir forests as well.
posted by humboldt32 at 10:18 AM on February 20, 2018
posted by humboldt32 at 10:18 AM on February 20, 2018
Response by poster: I don't want an app, thank you though. I have Merlin and I have found it does not work well at all.
posted by elsietheeel at 10:26 AM on February 20, 2018
posted by elsietheeel at 10:26 AM on February 20, 2018
Response by poster: Actually, I think I can manage the birds okay now that I think about it. I've got a spreadsheet with Audubon's count of local birds and I do all right, although I need to work on my raptors.
It's the trees and the plants of the area that are more interesting to me. The Sierra Nevada seems to have a decent number of books about the trees of the area, but not so much about the other plants, and it seems hard to find books about this section of the Great Basin.
Thanks. I'll stop threadsitting now!
posted by elsietheeel at 11:03 AM on February 20, 2018
It's the trees and the plants of the area that are more interesting to me. The Sierra Nevada seems to have a decent number of books about the trees of the area, but not so much about the other plants, and it seems hard to find books about this section of the Great Basin.
Thanks. I'll stop threadsitting now!
posted by elsietheeel at 11:03 AM on February 20, 2018
The definitive California reference for working botanists is the Jepson Manual. It is available in hard copy, but the "official" up-to-date version is now the electronic version. All of the keys, descriptions, and illustrations are available free online through the eflora. Check those out before you commit to buying the book; it is highly technical and rather daunting to use for those without botany training. It has only drawings; for photos, you might try calphotos.
For something easier to use, California Native Plant Society publishes some local floras on their website, here. I don't know your area; in the bay area, the local flora would be Beidleman and Kozloff, which is effectively an excerpt and simplification of the Jepson Manual.
posted by agentofselection at 11:48 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
For something easier to use, California Native Plant Society publishes some local floras on their website, here. I don't know your area; in the bay area, the local flora would be Beidleman and Kozloff, which is effectively an excerpt and simplification of the Jepson Manual.
posted by agentofselection at 11:48 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
California-born biologist/naturalist here. The Jepson manual is an incredible resource, but it's something you should learn how to use in a botany course.
Here are my favorite, well-used and well-loved CA flora field guides:
- Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada
- Secrets of the Oak Woodlands
- Oaks of California
- Conifers of the Pacific Slope
- Mojave Desert Wildflowers
posted by scrubjay at 4:50 PM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Here are my favorite, well-used and well-loved CA flora field guides:
- Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada
- Secrets of the Oak Woodlands
- Oaks of California
- Conifers of the Pacific Slope
- Mojave Desert Wildflowers
posted by scrubjay at 4:50 PM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
You don't mention mushrooms, but if you're interested, All That The Rain Promises and More is the bible of mushroom-identification field guides for the West Coast. (Arora has a much more comprehensive guide to mushrooms, Mushrooms Demystified, but it's hardly a field guide at 800+ pages.)
posted by kdar at 3:22 AM on February 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by kdar at 3:22 AM on February 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
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As far as a book, I recommend David Sibley's Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, or the app, which covers the whole US/Canada region. I find that the app is convenient to use in the field, and it has sounds in addition to images and maps. BTW, your Peterson guide does list the size of a bird, it's just that the images are not all on the same scale. If they were, an eagle would take up a whole page, or else a hummingbird would be a little dot.
The only purpose of a field guide to an individual state is for beginning birders who don't want to be confused by seeing species in the book that are not found in their area. Most of the ones I have seen are not up to the quality level of the Sibley guides or other well-known field guides that cover large areas.
posted by jkent at 10:04 AM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]