Jeffrey Whiting's Owls of North America (Whiting's Reference of Birds, Vol 1)

Rating:
Summary: Silent Wings
Review: For birders, lovers of art, or those interested in producing paintings or carvings of owls, this is an excellent reference. It's not a long book - only about 150 pages - but it contains an interesting collection of visual and verbal information. The first 59 pages are a full color gallery of owls in paintings and sculpture by assorted artists. The remainder of the book contains text and art on 19 North American species of owls, such as the barn owl, saw whet owl, and great horned owl. Each section consists of four pages: First there is a one-page description of the owl, its range, habitat, breeding habits, etc. The second page shows the author's b&w pen and ink sketches of a perching owl from front, back, and side, then a two-page layout depicts the owl in flight (in full color) from the front, side, top and bottom with emphasis on plummage pattern and colors. These layouts are very nicely rendered and large enough to showcase the author's attention to detail. All illustrations were painted full-size and reconstructed from the "bones up" to represent an average individual of the species. Coloration was determined under natural lighting to ensure that the illustrations may be used as accurate color references. A book that's lovely to look at and useful, too.