This guide includes pretty much every bird you can reasonably expect to see in the US, and some you can't. It even has a section for exotic parrots that people tend to keep, and many of the different sections have entries for rare migrants. There are birds in here with range descriptions like "seen three times in the US", things that aren't exactly likely to be seen. But they've been seen, so they're in here. I love that. It means the bird I saw is pretty much guaranteed to be in here, so if nothing stands out at first, I should look through again.
The different sections have birds of similar appearances grouped together. That's really helpful, because it makes it easier to compare the options directly. Each section starts with a page or two showing all the birds in that section compared to each other, with the females on display, since they're harder to ID. Then each bird gets, on average, half a page vertically of its own. It shows male and female plumage, and usually the bird from multiple angles. Birds with more regional variation have more space, usually the full page. A few birds, like the fox sparrow, have two pages to themselves.
The illustrations are nice to look at, and are good to see all the details on. The book points out specific details for ID, and in many places, tells you how to figure out if your bird was one species or another, closely related species.
The type might be too small if you have older eyes. I'm not sure. My eyes are pretty good. I don't think they could make the type much bigger, without sacrificing either layout, size of illustrations, or detail of text.
The only downside to this book is that it's pretty heavy. It's not anywhere naer pocket-sized. I'm sure either version of the half-a-country book would be much lighter, but I live in Texas, so neither of those would cover all the possibilities. So, I have a heavy book, because I wanted something thorough. I'd much rather have lots of detail and options, in a book I can't bring along, than much more limited options in a book I can carry. I'll take pictures and ID them at home, or flip through the book beforehand so I can try to recognize things later. The latter works better with more distinctive birds, though, like the black-throated sparrow. Its entry calls its markings "unmistakeable", and that's real hard to argue with!
Anyway, get this guide. If you find yourself wanting a smaller, pocket guide, get a smaller guide also, and then you have this one for rarer or more unusual things that won't be in the smaller guide.
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About the author
It has the birds
This book includes the birds of North America. It is a fairly large book.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2014
Top reviews from other countries
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MajanoReviewed in Spain on January 17, 2023
Un libro fantástico / A wonderful book
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GérardReviewed in France on March 30, 2015
L'un des meilleurs guides pour cette région
