This book, and its companion Kitchen Table Bird Book, have been published for birdwatchers who want to know more about birds of the Great Lakes region than is found in standard field guides. Two excellent general guides have long been available - Peterson"s Field Guide to birds East of the Rockies, and the Golden Press Birds of North America - and by working with one or another or both there isn"t one single feathered flying body anywhere in our region that"s safe from rapid identification. But by their very nature, these field guides are only aimed at providing identification. They have space for only the briefest bits of information about each bird. Peterson depicts more than 1000 birds in the 136 color plates of his book, while the Golden Press contains even more because it covers birds on both sides of the Rockies. There simply isn"t room in those books for more than a few words about each bird, plus a small drawing. They are comprehensive, solid reference works, but they include hundreds of birds most of us will never see. This book, and its Kitchen Table companion, march to a different ruffed grouse. They were written to give readers a lot more information about a lot fewer birds - but the birds they do list are those you are most likely to meet in the Great Lakes region without fanatic chase. We make no apologies for not including all birds that flap and flit through our region. Together, our two books will introduce you to only about 150 birds. But if you meet and know 90 percent of these, you will find yourself in company with the top 10 percent of those who consider themselves active birdwatchers. And you"ll know a lot more about each bird than you"ll learn from the field guides, useful as they are.