Book advice...

[Tom Cudzilo]

So I am tired of searching the net for birds I see.... which book do you guys recommend I buy that has a lot of photos and shows birds in diff stages (young, juvies, mature, males, females). Is there such a thing? Thank you for any help.

[Iain]

'The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of North America'

Instead of photos, it is full of illustrations by David Allen Sibley.  Every bird is depicted in several different plumages and key features for identification are noted.  In my opinion you can't buy a better a guide for general birdwatching.

Iain Fleming

[jimtfoto]

Another vote for the Sibley Guide. We have two -- the larger guide for all North America, which we keep at home, and the Sibley Guide for the Eastern region, which is always with us.

cheers,
jim

[Andreas Jonsson]

Sibley's guides are the best in my opinion. 'The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of North America' is rather bulky, so if you're only getting one book I would get the Sibley Guide for the Eastern region to start with. As a complement I always like to have a photo book and a think Kaufmann's "Birds of North America" is rather nice, although not complete when it comes to different plumages, sexes etc.

--Andreas

[jimtfoto]

As a complement to our Sibley guide to the Eastern Region, we carry the ROM's guide to Ontario birds. It's more area specific than North American guide, keying in on the species native to, or visitors to, Ontario. It has pictures. There's also Andy Bezener's Birds Of Ontario (illustrated) and the Lorimer Pocketguide to Ontario Birds (also illustrated).

cheers,
jim

[Ron Luft]

Like most birders I use a small library. Sibley's, Petersons, Audobon, Nat. Geographic; in hard covers and field varieties. It would be hard to say there is one absolute definitive one or edition. Sibley's is a good start but plates are sometimes less accurate than photos. A difficult find may require a selection spread over the diningroom table and gruelling hours of sweat before giving up in favor of a better spotting on another day. Also everyone gets used to seeing and learning in different ways which will influence your choice or preference.

[Tom Cudzilo]

Thank you for sugestions guys. I went ahead and ordered both Sibley books (field guide and the larger guide). For those of you looking dont bother at book stores but instead order from chanpters.ca and save 40% of book store prices.

[Brian Bailey]

Okay, I know you've already bought them, but I'll my 2 cents anyway:  You made an excellent choice.

I have both Sibley guides as well (the small one wasn't available when I bought the big one).  They aren't perfect, but they are the best I've seen.  While photos can be useful, I prefer illustations for a field guide.  

Also a note of caution to other readers who are looking for a bird book:  I would not recommend the Sibley guides to a beginner/novice birder.  They are great if you know what you are looking for before you open the book.  If you are experienced enough to narrow your search to a handful of species, Sibley is great for checking the details.  If you typically don't have a clue whether that greyish little bird is a flycatcher, a vireo, a warbler, or a sparrow, the one or two species per page format will be slow and frustrating.

I'm still a fan of the Peterson's guide.  My most recent one is two or three versions before the current one, but I don't think it has changed much.  The "Confusing Fall Warblers" page can be quite useful at this time of year.  :-)

BB

[Kin Lau]

You'll end up getting a few anyhow

I like the Kaufmann as a field guide, very compact and great way to compare a few similar species at the same time.

I usually leave the Sibley's (large one) in the car as it's much heavier but much more detailed.

The Ontario guide put out by the ROM is okay, but not very useful as a field guide. It's good for Ontario specific info and I usually only look at it after we get home.

With the DSLR, I usually shoot first, and ask questions later.