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THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY • Vol. 123, No. 4, December 2011 
showing the birds in distant views, in odd angles, 
in direct comparison to other species, hidden in 
flocks for example creates a realistic situation that 
can be used in the field to much more easily 
identify the birds. In a sense, this trains for better 
identification as it duplicates in the book some of 
the complexities of field observation. I agree to a 
great extent, but I also see the other side. The 
other side is that to obtain that initial grounding 
on what shorebirds look like, it is useful to have 
clean, directly comparable, and standardized 
imagery. It may not be as you see them always 
in the field, but I find it incredibly useful to go 
back and forth with images that are setup to show 
you the differences. In a sense the two method¬ 
ologies are the ends of two extremes, in a range 
that you need to master at both ends to become 
truly proficient in shorebird identification. Chan¬ 
dler’s book stands up well to The Shorebird 
Guide, and if one really wants to know these birds 
well, having both of these books is imperative. 
The reason is that the differences in style and 
methodology of these two books give different 
and complementary ways to look at shorebirds 
and their identification. I readily accept and 
encourage approach of identifying birds through 
a more holistic impression approach. In reality, 
this is one side of a two-sided coin, looking at 
specific feathers, patterns, and colors comple¬ 
ments the impression approach, particularly when 
first learning to identify the species. Chandler's 
book docs very well at detailed comparisons, both 
through the photographs and the text. If you are 
interested in shorebirds and their identification, 
you must have this book. We are lucky to be 
living in an age where photographs and optical 
equipment arc of such quality that they nearly 
allow for as much detailed study as a museum 
skin!- -ALVARO JARAMILLO, San Francisco 
Bay Bird Observatory, 524 Valley Way, 
Milpitas, CA 95035, USA; e-mail: ajaramillo@ 
sfbbo.org 
