New Book Provides Guide to Birding in Alabama

By TAYLOR LANE, The Information Courier

ATHENS, Ala. (AP) — Marc Parnell, an completed ornithologist, was born in Greenville, North Carolina, however flew that coop and now resides in Ohio. In February, Parnell launched “Birds of Alabama,” one in every of many birding subject guides he has in print.

’Birds of Alabama” presents a singular expertise for newbies, intermediate and superior birders with a fowl identification system that Parnell created himself.

“My e book ‘Birds of Alabama’ incorporates a distinctive strategy to fowl identification that I got here up with, a birding-by-comparison strategy, and that’s really actually useful for novices and intermediates. What it does is it kinds all the commonest birds in Alabama from largest to smallest, and it helps you establish birds that you simply haven’t seen earlier than by evaluating them to these which you already know,” mentioned Parnell.

Whereas subject guides are an excellent asset for newbie and intermediate birders to make use of, Parnell believes his subject guides even have one thing to supply for superior birders like himself.

“There’s a lot data on this information that wouldn’t be in different subject guides, and a lot that’s particular to Alabama, so I believe superior birders who’re taken with getting a extra detailed or nuanced portrait of every particular person species would additionally discover it very worthwhile,” mentioned Parnell.

Parnell presents an introductory take a look at what starting birders have to get out into the sector and begin learning birds. He believes a pair of binoculars is among the most vital gadgets in a birders toolkit and that it must be one of many first purchases for newbies.

“For somebody who simply purchased my e book, I’ve a very useful introductory part in there that talks about what birding is and the best way to type of get began. I’d say a very good start line could be to purchase a funds pair of binoculars. They’re actually indispensable within the subject, and given that the majority birds are considerably skittish, they don’t permit you to come up and pet them, so to talk. Binoculars permit the birds to come back nearer to you with out actually really being that shut,” mentioned Parnell.

Parnell has written subject guides for states and cities, however he sees one thing particular in Alabama and the Tennessee River Valley.

“Three factors for me about Alabama that pop in my head could be, to begin with, the Tennessee River and its tributaries, such because the Elk River. They provide quite a few area of interest habitats for quite a lot of waterfowl. You’ll have deepwater areas within the heart of the river channel, you’ll have marshes which have possibly some weedy development on the perimeters, and you then’ll have wetlands adjoining to the river and small tributaries,” mentioned Parnell. “This accommodates all kinds of various feeding habits that completely different waters may have. So that you’ll have the ability to see all kinds of various species, and also you don’t actually get that in a whole lot of locations within the nation.”

Parnell found his love for birding as a baby in North Carolina.

“I’ve been taken with wildlife and nature from a really younger age. I bear in mind from after I was 3 or 4 years previous, I acquired my first subject information. It was really a subject information to reptiles and amphibians. Quickly after that, I used to be actually fairly in awe of the truth that there may very well be a whole bunch of various species of varied animals within the 10 to twenty miles even simply surrounding my home. So I went out and began exploring, and as soon as I began actually getting deeply entrenched in nature and mountaineering and simply attempting to look at what I may, I grew deeply enthusiastic about birds and their present of flights,” mentioned Parnell.

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