Books on Birds; What's Your Fav?

[Beverly]

I am a reader; I like to research, I enjoy reference books…especially on topics close to my heart. I don’t believe one can have too many books on a subject…but then I am book rich and money poor. LOL

Okay, so I’m on a limited budget…I have a couple books on birds and know I want to enlarge my library. I think another ‘general’ field guide to birds I’m apt to see might be a good idea. While I’m interested in all birds…I doubt I’m going to be heading to exotic countries where I might have trouble identifying those I see. Right now, I am specifically interested in the birds in my world. I ‘get it’ that Sibley is today’s bird bible…and agree; I find mine invaluable...but I appreciate different points of view and think another good field guide is a good idea.

Field Guides: which of those on birds do you find give you the most and most valuable information? Here are my thoughts on books I own:

* The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America by David Allen Sibley

I like this book…and its size. I understand his guide to birds includes both East and West…but is bulkier to carry around. Still, some birds found here are only found in the ‘Eastern’ book… Having said this, I enjoy the bits of superfluous information he offers, as well as pointers on field markers and coloration of immature birds and behavior in habitat, etc.

* A National Geographic Field Manual (Probably for Western America)…but it is in a box in the ton of books in my garage...I'm trying to get my house remodeled.

While I don’t have the book in my hands, I can say it is a more difficult book to hold in my hands than is the Sibley book I own. Also…it is arranged by color, of all things; not unlike their book on Wildflowers. This is both a good and a bad thing, in my mind. I find I learn more reading of several birds in a species…
I am considering:

* The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley

* Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America by Ted Floyd

* A Field Guide to Western Birds: A Completely New Guide to Field Marks of All Species Found in North America West of the 100th Meridian and North of Mexico (Peterson Field Guides (R)) by Roger Tory Peterson and Virginia Marie Peterson

This is a piece from a longer post about all sorts of bird books on my blog Rural Chatter. I'd love to hear about the books you enjoy... If you'd like to share or read more, check out the rest of the post at Rural Chatter. I'd love to hear from you...

[Gary Lefko]

"Bible" in the field: The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley
Colorado Breeders: Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas
Colorado Birds
Gulls of Americas
The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong
National Geographic Complete Birds of North America (National Geographic)
The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession

[Beverly]

Thank you for your list, Gary. I'd hoped for WHY you liked them over your other books...but a start is a start! LOL I'll go find them on Amazon (I buy used books there...it seems the Breeding Atlas might be out of print, but there are used copies (~$65) there. I'm guessing The Big Year is a novel; what fun! I should have included them in my quest for titles!!! Thanks again...

[Gary Lefko]

The "whys" ...

1- "Bible" in the field: The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley
Used by every birder in the field for identification purposes.

2-Colorado Breeders: Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas
Only book out there on Colorado breeders--from first atlast 20 years ago or so.

3-Colorado Birds
Local book used by many as a reference on Colorado bird distributions

4-Gulls of Americas
More photos of gulls at various ages then you can possibly imagine.

5-The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong
Why birds sing.

6-National Geographic Complete Birds of North America (National Geographic)
Nice desk reference for birds--not necessarily ID guide

7-The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession
You're right--non fiction of one man's journey looking for birds.

[Beverly]

Cool... thanks a bunch, Gary! Can you tell me...that Colorado Breeding Atlas...I'm guessing it is for experienced birders and goes into extreme detail? If I am not a scientist, would I find value in the book? While I will probably never measure parts or feathers...perhaps other information is included. If immature coloration or molting information is included perhaps even I'd be able to use it for identifying purposes.

The book on Gulls intrigues me...I understand that's because I'm becoming a birder, huh? LOL Those babies are difficult!!!

You seem to like raptors and perhaps owls specifically; have you a favorite book in that department, too?

[Beverly]

About the Bird-song book, I read this in a review on Amazon: “A CD of the bird songs discussed is included, as are descriptions of the recording equipment Kroodsma used and explanations on how to make similar recordings and "sonagrams."” Now that is way cool!!!