Peterson Field Guides

The Peterson Field Guides (PFG) are a popular and influential series of American field guides intended to assist the layman in identification of birds, plants, insects and other natural phenomena. The series was created and edited by renowned ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson (1908–1996). His inaugural volume was the classic 1934 book A Field Guide to the Birds, published (as were all subsequent volumes) by the Houghton Mifflin Company.

The PFG series utilized what became known as the Peterson Identification System, a practical method for field identification which highlights readily noticed visual features rather than focusing on the technical features of interest to scientists. The series both reflected and contributed to awareness of the emerging environmental movement.

Most books in this series use a section of plates of drawings (usually reduced from commissioned paintings) rather than photographs of the subject species, grouped at the center of the book. This allows for idealized portraits that highlight the identifying "field marks" of each species; such field marks are often indicated by arrows or straight lines in the plate illustrations. However, in several books in this series, the plates consist of photographs (usually without such arrows or indicators), such as in the guides for the atmosphere, coral reefs, rocks and minerals, and the (old Charles Covell 1984 guide to) Eastern moths. In many books in this series (especially older editions), a number of the plates are in black and white. For examples, older editions of the Eastern reptiles/amphibians book had many black and white plates which were colorized for the current edition,[1] and the original 1934 Eastern bird book had only 4 color plates.[2] At least one book (insects) was entirely in black and white. However, most newer editions are often full-color (or almost full-color) and tend to be larger. One source claims that the increased size of one of the new editions (Eastern reptiles/amphibians) was considered detrimental to its use as a field guide by its own author and was a publisher decision.[3]

In some cases, new "editions" in this series are entirely new books with completely new texts and illustrations. For example, the fourth edition of the mammals guide has an entirely new text and illustrations by new author Fiona Reid, because the author (William Burt) and illustrator (Richard Grossenheider) of previous editions are both deceased. In fact, Grossenheider died prior to the publication of the previous third edition of 1976.[4] Also, the current Northeastern moths guide by David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie is an entirely new book than the out-of-print 1984 Eastern moths guide by Charles Covell.[5] The Beadle/Leckie book covers a smaller geographical area and (one author claims) covers moths in greater detail.[5] The old Covell book has been out-of-print for many years, but is currently available through the Virginia Museum of Natural History (which purchased the rights to that book).[5][6]

The above situation of an old "edition" persisting alongside its intended replacement edition is not unique to the Eastern moths guide. George Petrides' 1988 Eastern trees book (PFG11B) was originally intended to replace Petrides' own 1958 Eastern tree and shrubs (PFG11A) book. However, both books remain popular and the original publisher still offers both books for sale (unlike the case of the old Eastern moths book).[7]

Differences between editions can serve to indicate changes in scientific perspective as well as changes species distribution. For example, the second edition of the freshwater fishes guide by Page and Burr (2011), published 20 years after the first edition, increased the number of species included from 768 to 909, largely due to the addition of previously unrecognized species (114), as well as increased numbers of newly established exotic species (16).[8] It also expanded coverage of marine fish commonly found in freshwater (19).

The Peterson Field Guides

In 1968 this number was Mammals of Britain and Europe by Van Den Brink. This title was dropped from the series in 1985.
In 1986 This number became Birds of the West Indies by James Bond.

Both of these guides appeared in the Easton Press leather bound copies of the series. For that series the title of the Bond book was changed to "Birds of the Caribbean". [9] Birds of the West Indies (1999), by James Bond

Other volumes:

Peterson Birds of North America for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

Appweavers, Inc.,[10] is the exclusive licensee of the Peterson field guides for mobile devices. The company has worked with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to develop the Peterson Birds of North America[11] and Peterson Feeder Birds of North America[12] apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. In December 2010, Appweavers released Peterson Birds of North America.[11] The app includes all plates of Roger Tory Peterson's drawings from the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America book, with details on 820 species of birds found in North America. The Peterson Birds of North America app also includes information from seven further books in the Peterson field guide series: Peterson Reference Guide to Molt in North American Birds, Peterson Field Guides Hawks North America, Peterson Field Guides Hummingbirds of North America, Peterson Field Guides Warblers of North America, Peterson Field Guides Eastern Bird’s Nests, Peterson Field Guides Western Bird’s Nests, and Peterson Field Guides Feeder Birds Eastern North America.

In April 2011, Appweavers released Peterson Feeder Birds of North America[12] for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. This free app has the same core functionality of the primary Peterson Birds app, but includes details on 160 backyard birds.

Both Peterson Birds and Peterson Feeder Birds apps feature recordings of bird songs from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library. The apps uniquely enable users to compare songs while looking at illustrations of similar birds. Tapping an illustration on the screen of the mobile device plays the recording associated with that species.

Appweavers also developed a series of checklists based on information from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology eBird database.[13] These Bird Finder[14] checklists are automatically loaded into the app when the user taps on a specially formatted link on the petersonguides.com[15] website. The company provides lists for every North American birding hotspot recorded in the eBird database, and for every county in the US and Canada. Each list includes only those species commonly found at that location, and provides indicators showing anticipated abundance of birds for each week of the year.

References

  1. ↑ Conant, Roger; and Collins, Joseph. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1998 pp viii, xii.
  2. ↑ "A Book-collector’s Guide to Roger Tory Peterson | Roger Tory Peterson Institute". Rtpi.org. 2011-11-25. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  3. ↑ "In Memoriam: Roger Conant (1909-2003) With Reflections By Some of Roger's Many Friends and Colleagues - Science News". redOrbit. 2004-08-12. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  4. ↑ Burt, William H; and Grossenheider, Richard P. A Field Guide to the Mammals of North America North of Mexico. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co; 1976. p vi.
  5. 1 2 3 "The new Peterson moth guide". Seabrooke Leckie. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  6. ↑ "What's New | Virginia Museum of Natural History". Vmnh.net. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  7. ↑ "Peterson Field Guides(R)- Birds". Hmhbooks.com. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  8. ↑ "Peterson Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes" Florida Museum of Natural History. flmnh.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  9. ↑ he:קובץ:Birds of the West Indies - James Bond.png
  10. ↑ "Appweavers, Inc". Petersonguides.com. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  11. 1 2 "Peterson Birds — A Field Guide to Birds of North America on the App Store on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. 2013-08-09. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  12. 1 2 "Peterson Backyard Birds - A Field Guide to Birds of North America on the App Store on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. 2013-10-10. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  13. ↑ "ebird.org". ebird.org. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  14. ↑ "Peterson Guides". Peterson Guides. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  15. ↑ "petersonguides.com". petersonguides.com. Retrieved 2014-02-24.

External links

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