Blackbirds of the Americas

This is a wonderful book with engaging text and nice drawings that reviews the biology of blackbirds (icterids - including red-winged blackbirds and their relatives, orioles, meadowlarks, as well as Central and South American members of this family) as of it's writing (mid-1980's). It also covers some of the research methods used to study these birds (and birds in general), which I found quite interesting. This is NOT an identification guide and it does NOT provide individual species accounts. It does not cover all black-colored birds (of course) -there is no coverage of ravens and crows (corvids), for example. Much of the research that has been done focuses on Red-winged Blackbirds, and this is reflected in the book, but there is also lots of information about other icterids as well. I would strongly recommend this book and would also suggest supplementing it with the Jaramillo and Burke identification guide and the Birds of North America species accounts.