Hummingbirds of North America

Hummingbirds of North America. By Sheri Williamson and John W. Vanderpoel. Peregrine Video Productions, Niwot, Colorado. 2004: 178 minutes. VHS $34.95, DVD $39.95.—This video is the third in the Advanced Birding Series by Peregrine Video Productions, following the two videos on gull identification. The format will be familiar to those who have seen the gull videos, with Jon Dunn providing the narration and acting as a personal guide throughout the video. I particularly enjoyed Jon's asides on such subjects as how the vocalizations of an Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) sound like a “familiar” typewriter to him—before he acknowledges that the typewriter is not as familiar as it once was. The identification information is commensurate with that presented in the gull videos, although the editing and overall presentation of the information is perhaps more polished.