Kansas knows how to attract birds. Located in the very center of the North American continent, it straddles the Central Flyway, one of the primary migration highways between Canada and South America. It also contains a broad spectrum of habitats, including deciduous forest, grassland, sagebrush, and a remarkable system of internationally important wetlands. As a result of this unique combination of natural features, Kansas attracts most of the eastern bird fauna and many of the western and southern species, as well as those northern birds that either winter on the central plains or pass through during their migratory flights. The number of bird species recorded in the states is 424–a total that places Kansas among the top five birding states in the country. Volume I of Birds in Kansas, the first of a two-volume set, describes more than two hundred species of ducks, geese, gulls, herons, woodpeckers, shorebirds, birds of prey, and other non-passerines (birds that neither perch nor sing.) volume II will focus on birds of the Order Passeriformes–the songbirds. Together these volumes constitute the only comprehensive, current, and authoritative treatment of Kansas birds written for amateur birdwatchers and naturalists.

This handbook provides the reader with common and scientific names, distribution maps, photographs, and facts concerning reported occurrence, breeding, habits and habitats, field marks (for identification), and food preferences.