Book of Texas Birds by Gary Clark (review)

The expansive state of Texas not only anchors the southern extent of the Great Plains, but also encompasses additional distinctive regions to both the east and west. Its size, together with its central location on the continent and its proximity to a seacoast, combine to give it the second-highest bird species total for any state in the US, currently at 648 species. The scope of its geography and the scale of its bird diversity present a challenge for authors wishing to portray or summarize its birdlife. To winnow the number of species down, author Gary Clark decided to omit pelagic species and instead focus primarily on species that do not require offshore boat trips to observe. Also omitted are some uncommon or infrequent visitors to Texas, leaving 400+ species with species accounts. Each species account includes a quality photograph, most of which were taken by his wife, Kathy Adams Clark, and sections briefly describing diet, voice, nest, and distribution. The bulk of each species account consists of a lively and personal discussion of each species’ behavior, plumage description, and indelible observations made by the author over many years of birding in Texas.

The discussions vary widely by species. Often included are specific field trips during which a species was seen in a memorable way, almost always in Texas, but occasionally elsewhere (e.g., Minnesota for Connecticut Warbler). Collectively, the species accounts in the book serve as a birding memoir for someone who has clearly spent a great deal of time traveling in Texas to watch birds. Those who have visited these locations, or those who aspire to visit Texas on birding trips, will likely enjoy this book. Bird conservation and changes in bird populations are also frequent themes throughout the species accounts. Many current or former conservation issues are presented, with an excellent summary of the decline and recovery of the Brown Pelican being one example.

For a book not designed to function as a field guide, too much detail was occasionally provided regarding bird descriptions. The book follows popular convention rather than ornithological convention in that bird names are not capitalized. I noted very few errors, such as a misplaced hyphen in the name Eurasian Collared-Dove within the Cooper’s Hawk species account. The book includes a one-page bibliography, although no literature citations are provided in the text, something I occasionally wished for.

This book straddles what can sometimes be an uncomfortable zone between field guide, bird finding guide, and birding memoir. Those seeking the first two may be disappointed, but those with an interest in Texas birds will find much to enjoy in the author’s extensive experience with watching birds in Texas and his relatable writings about them.