Drawn to birds: a portrait of David Allen Sibley

摘要

These days the average bird-watcher recognizes, with naked eye, the field marks that identify David Allen Sibley. Size and shape: moderately tall, slim. Plumage: cotton jersey, blue jeans, light hiking shoes. Profile: calm, creaseless face; fine brown hair, at times windswept across forehead; eyes gray-green, ringed by wire-rim glasses, usually searching. Voice: soft, carefully measured, more the understated timbre of a mourning dove than the cawing of a crow. Demeanor: shy, unassuming; seldom foundin large flocks. People have been flocking, nonetheless, to see more of the man behind The Sibley Guide to Birds. Published in October 2000, the field guide presumed by insiders to be too big, too advanced and too expensive for the average birder sold out of 100,000 copies in its first two weeks.