The Everyday Naturalist How to Identify Animals, Plants, and Fungi Wherever You Go

About this book

Learn to identify animals, plants, and fungi wherever you go in the USA with this step-by-step guide for spotting and recording key traits and characteristics. If you've ever consulted a field guide to identify a new bird at your feeder, you know the process isn't as easy as it sounds. In fact, it seems like you have to know a lot about that mystery bird to even figure out where to start.

The Everyday Naturalist fills in the gaps by explaining what traits to pay attention to when encountering a new species; how and when to use field guides, apps, and other resources; what to do if you get stuck; and more. Rather than focusing on one region or continent, these skills and tools are designed to help you classify nature anywhere you are – whether on familiar territory, travelling, or in a new home.

In chapters about animals, plants, fungi, and organisms like lichens and slime moulds, naturalist and guide Rebecca Lexa goes into detail about what sets each of these kingdoms apart from each other – from colour, shape, and texture to sexual characteristics, behaviour, and habitat – and includes more than forty full-colour photos and drawings to illustrate key points. She also provides detailed case studies to demonstrate how to use all of these traits to identify specimens across multiple kingdoms.

This easy-to-follow guide empowers you to learn more about the species around you, then use what you know to preserve the world you love. And at a time when biodiversity is imperilled worldwide, nature needs more advocates than ever.

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Biography

Rebecca Lexa is a certified Oregon Master Naturalist, a registered Oregon Outfitter Guide, and a writer and educator in the Pacific Northwest. She has a master's degree in counselling psychology with a certificate in ecopsychology, the psychology of how we connect to the natural world. She specializes in helping everyday people learn skills and tools for identifying the animals, plants, and fungi around them and gaining a deeper relationship with nature.

Ricardo Macía Lalinde is an illustrator from Medellín, Colombia. He holds a master's degree in art from the University of Seville, Spain. Through his distinctive style, he creates dreamlike worlds filled with animals and organic forms, inviting reflection on human identity and the relationship between man and his environment.