This is a slightly edited post made two days ago by Ted Floyd, editor of the American Birding Association's magazine "Birding."
FREE BOOK "The ABA has just published "The Coolest Bird: A Natural History of the Black Swift and Those Who Have Pursued It," by the late Rich Levad. This is an extraordinary book. I'll even state that "The Coolest Bird" is unique. It's full of 19th-century old-school natural history adventure, but it's also a thoroughly modern scientific treatise. And there's something else: "The Coolest Bird" is the saga of somebody who conducted himself with the utmost of grace and courage -- not to mention hair-raising adventure! -- all while battling a a chronic and highly debilitating illness. It's old-school biology, modern science, and true inspiration. And the ABA is offering this marvelous book (152 pages) for free. Just download it at: http://aba.org/thecoolestbird.pdf. Warning: If you start reading, you will not put it down.
"Second, the ABA is now offering the beginner's guide "Let's Go Birding!" for free to anybody who signs up for a new ABA membership. Disclaimer: I wrote the book; the marvelous photos are Bill Schmoker's. Limited quantities of "Let's Go Birding!" are available for free distribution to the members of nonprofit bird clubs and educational institutions. Details at: http://www.aba.org/letsgobirding.html.
'As we are nearing press-time for the September 2010 "Birding," here are a few of the online items associated with the July issue. First, listen to the all the high-fidelity (do people still say that?) soundfiles for Arch McCallum's article on how to learn birdsong. Here they are: http://tinyurl.com/2ehfcjn. Second, check out the online version of the ABA *video* quiz. That's right: Video, not an old-school photo quiz. This is a very hard quiz, and I commend the quizmasters, Jeff Gordon and Bill Pranty, for their convincing (although not entirely convergent!) solutions, as well as for their easily understood and to-the-point analyses. Here's the online version: http://tinyurl.com/3yu57p3."
