More than half a century has passed since the publication of The Shorebirds of North America, Peter Matthiessen’s masterful natural history of what is arguably the world’s most amazing and specialized bird group. In the intervening decades, our knowledge about these birds has grown significantly, as have the threats to their populations and habitats. Pete Dunne and Kevin Karlson celebrate Matthiessen’s classic book with this updated and expanded natural history of North American shorebirds. This elegantly written book begins by introducing readers to the unrivaled splendor of shorebirds and goes on to cover topics ranging from their biology and habitats to courtship and breeding, flight, the perils of migration, and conservation. Detailed accounts convey the richness and variety of the five family groups, with incisive, fact-filled descriptions of all 52 species of shorebirds known to breed in North America.
Featuring hundreds of breathtaking images by Karlson and other photographers and drawing on the latest science, The Shorebirds of North America is a worthy tribute to Matthiessen’s enduring work and an indispensable reference for bird lovers everywhere.
Pete Dunne is retired director of the Cape May Bird Observatory. His books include Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion. Kevin T. Karlson is an accomplished birder, tour leader, and wildlife photographer. His books include the Peterson Reference Guide to Birding by Impression, The Shorebird Guide, and, with Pete Dunne, Gulls Simplified (Princeton).
"Pete Dunne and Kevin T. Karlson have rendered homage to Matthiessen's original work in ways that I have no doubt Matthiessen would approve. He too would rejoice in the amazing array of photographs that grace every page and illustrate every species account. . . . [Dunne and Karlson] are people who love these birds, unabashedly, unashamedly and completely. And if you don't already, you will too after you read this book. It is just that good!"—David M. Gascoigne, Travels with Birds
"A MUST-HAVE for anyone with an interest in the shorebirds of North America!"—Ian Paulsen, The Birdbooker Report
"Some of the individual photographic portraits on display here are up there with the best. . . . An eye-catching volume, hefty. . . [and] informative."—Bo Beolens, FatBirder
“It is not merely massed numbers of birds that humans find so inspirational about this family group, but the great leaps of faith exhibited by these long-distance voyagers as they set out twice each year into the unknown, guided by instinct but subject to the trepidations of an indifferent to hostile universe. Shorebirds, of course, did not simply spring full blown from the surf readily equipped to vault hemispheres, pack on weight and arrive precisely in time to exploit food riches at opposing ends of the planet. They are the product of millions of years of evolutionary push and pull. It’s Darwin meets Kierkegaard, clad in feathers and divided into roughly fifty-two North American breeding species, each with a story to tell about the tiny birds that could, can, and continue to meet the challenges of an ever-changing planet.”—from The Shorebirds of North America
