Amazon.com
Covering 508 bird species found east of the Rocky Mountains, the revised second edition takes into account changes in taxonomy and uses improved photography. At the heart of the guide is a set of 646 well-made color photographs whose subjects are organized by easily discerned characteristics (e.g., "chicken-like marsh birds," such as the clapper rail; "gull-like birds," such as the kittiwake; and "upright-perching water birds," such as the common murre). The photographs are then keyed to textual descriptions of the birds' appearance, range and habitat, nesting characteristics, and behavior. Easy to use and handsomely produced, this belongs in every eastern birdwatcher's collection. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
Introduced in 1977 and completely revised in 1994, these bestselling photographic field guides have become the birding bibles of more than four million enthusiasts. Virtually every bird found in North America is brought to life in a full-color photograph and with textual information on the bird's voice, nesting habits, habitat, range, and interesting behaviors. Accompanying range maps; overhead flight silhouettes; sections on bird-watching, accidental species, and endangered birds make these the most comprehensive field guides to birds available.
Note: the Eastern Edition generally covers states east of the Rocky Mountains, while the Western Edition covers the Rocky Mountain range and all the states to the west of it.
Customer Reviews:
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Easter Region.......2007-09-17
The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region is the most comprehensive guide that I have enjoyed in many years. It has clear, concise pictures of the birds of my region with a written synopsis of each bird's habitat. I recommend this book to any avid bird lover! It is an awesome book!
Excellent tool for birders!.......2007-09-16
This book provides excellent descriptions of the birds' physical appearances, lots of photographs, and maps of their winter and summer range. It is small enough that you could take it out birding, and has a durable cover. You will not be disappointed!
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region - Revised Edition.......2007-09-09
My favorite bird watching book because all the photos are organized by color of bird and variety of birds. The plentiful information is carefully correlated but is not on the page with the photos. I prefer this when I am searching for the bird in my view. Handy is size and shape for quick browsing.
I also have the rocks and minerals guide and the guide for N.American trees.
north american birds.......2007-07-14
the best, most informative,with clear photos instead of drawings as in other bird reference books.
Audubon's Field Guide to Eastern Birds -- Wow!.......2007-05-22
Bought this for our son and family in the "deep woods". They've little or no background on birding. Great selection for them: sections are divided to make it easy to locate a "type" of bird (perching, diving, etc.); great color plates and good info in the text, including stuff on nesting! Girls (10 & 12) enjoy as much as do their parents.
Amazon.com
A favorite of birdwatchers (especially those who prefer photographs to illustrations), this field guide, revised for 2000, accounts for the 544 bird species that live in the region west of the Great Plains. The clearly printed color photographs capture birds at rest and in flight; preceded by black-and-white silhouettes, the plates are organized by visually based, intuitive categories--"hawk-like birds," "pigeon-like birds," and "perching birds," for example--that make on-the-fly identification a fairly simple matter. The images are matched by clearly written text that describes a given bird, gives an approximation of its voice, and details its habitat, range, nests, and behavior. Sized to fit in a jacket or backpack pocket, this is a valuable companion for any birding outing in the region. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
Introduced in 1977 and completely revised in 1994, these bestselling photographic field guides have become the birding bibles of more than four million enthusiasts. Virtually every bird found in North America is brought to life in a full-color photograph and with textual information on the bird's voice, nesting habits, habitat, range, and interesting behaviors. Accompanying range maps; overhead flight silhouettes; sections on bird-watching, accidental species, and endangered birds make these the most comprehensive field guides to birds available.
Note: the Western Edition covers the Rocky Mountain range and all the states to the west of it, while the Eastern Edition generally covers states east of the Rocky Mountains.
Customer Reviews:
an overall decent field guide.......2007-05-30
As a general all round guide, this book is helpful and has a place in any naturalists library. The color plates are the best of all the bird guides.
The index cross-references the color plates with the descriptions making it pretty staightforward. The cover is a durable leatherette, the binding pretty good (although the color plates will loosen up with use). The Audubon guides are definitely a step up from the Peterson and Stokes guides.
Now for the criticisms. The descriptions are far too brief and vague. An example: for the Cooper's Hawk, the voice description is:
"A rapid series:kek kek kek kek kek". Mmmm . . . Doesn't help much . . .
The summary is also 3 sentences long . . . c'mon, did the editors get tired here or what?
The descriptions throughout are not much more detailed than this, especially the voice descriptions. And trying to print out the phonetics/sound of a birdsong has always seemed pretty futile to me anyway; the most effective way of learning the signature of a bird's song is to listen to a recording.
Except for overhead photos of most of the raptors, there are almost no flying photos of all the other birds. I think this could be a much needed additon to any future editions. Feather identification is a big part of birding.
All in all though, this is the first guide I turn to when I need to know.
Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts
Best Bird book on the market.......2007-01-13
My wife and I have been using the Easten Region Field Guide for years and found it to be the best. We recently moved to the western area and quickly realized that we needed the Western Edition. A great book for birders.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Western Region - Revised Edition (National Audubon Society Field G.......2007-01-11
Very good graphics and copy. Durable too.
Western Audubon Guide.......2006-11-10
A good book to take with you because of it's size but, to me, the photos of the birds are lacking. Although they do accurately display the bird they are lacking in detail and often, to us, don't show alternate views for better comparison and easier indentification.
species misidentified.......2006-01-04
I regret that I cannot recommend this book because it contains easily caught errors.
I suppose that misinformation in the text is not so important. Still, on p. 21 the book claims that "Every bird has a scientific name consisting of two Greek or Latin words." The author of this book, Prof. M. Udvardy, was a respected ornithologist who would never make such a mistake, so either it happened in the revision by J. Farrand or is due to an ignorant copy editor.
Much, much worse is the misidentification of photos, which of course is the heart of this field guide. For example, photo #172 purports to be a Pacific Loon in winter plumage, but as any birder worth his/her salt can see, this is clearly a Common Loon. Likewise, photo #175 is labeled Common Loon, and the bird shown is clearly not of this species.
A field guide should be 100% accurate in species identifications and also not promulgate misinformation about scientific nomenclature. With many alternatives on the market, this is a book not to buy.
--Jack P. Hailman (Fellow, American Ornithologists' Union and President, Florida Ornithological Society).
Amazon.com
Serious birders delight in autumn as migrating flocks provide the opportunity to observe the species that aren't normally around to observe. They don weather-proof shoes and layers of clothing, grab binoculars and All the Birds of North America, and head for the marshes before the football fans arise from their pre-game slumbers. With a weather-resistant coating, and an index that includes little boxes for ticking off the species that you see, the American Bird Conservancy's Field Guide has an easy-to-use format of icons (aerialists and shorebirds, fly-catching bills and straight bills) that allows you to zero in on type before dealing with the details that differentiate between Boreal, Carolina, and chestnut-backed chickadees.
Book Description
A surer, faster, easier way to identify birds
Everything you need to know about North American birds is at your fingertips in this ground-breaking field guide--the first and only guide to successfully organize birds by field-recognizable, instantly-observable characteristics.
With its unique keying system based on how and where birds collect food, spectacular panoramic color illustrations, weather-resistant pocket-size format, emphasis on conservation, and endorsement by the leading bird preservation organization, All the Birds is the single most useful identification guide available.
How to use All the Birds of North America
Step #1: Open to the key for Waterbirds on the inside front cover or to the key for Landbirds on the inside back cover.
Step #2: Select the icon that most resembles the bird being identified, and note the color bar and key number next to that icon. Using the color bar and key number, locate the group of birds within the pages of the book.
Customer Reviews:
Not as good as Sibley's, but... lighter!!.......2007-08-03
This is an excellent "field replacement" for Sibley's guide to the birds of North America, which is in my opinion the very best available. As anyone who own Sibley knows, though, it's a big, heavy guide, not so great if you want it with you while hiking or biking. For such occasions, I usually have "All the birds of North America" with me. It is comprehensive, the illustrations are done by different artists are mostly well done (but mostly not as beautiful as those in Sibley) and useful. You will find a map for each bird, on the same page as the illustration, so the guide is very easy to use. The cover is made of a soft, very resilient plastic material, which is excellent for a field guide. Overall, I find the combination Sibley-All the birds perfect, and I never felt the need to buy a third field guide.
Terrible.......2007-03-05
Quite possibly the worst book I've ever used in terms of organization. The color coding is done with these vaguely differing colors which are only differentiated in the best of light, the numbers shown on the inside of back and front covers are never explained, and there are quirky things such as why do they list "Swimmers" twice without an explanation -- if I'm trying to identify a swimming bird why not group them together? And a Table of Contents to at least get you to the right section would have been a nice touch. Don't buy it.
Good for your bookshelf.......2007-01-22
This guide has excellent illustrations , text, and number of species (plenty of accidentals and several plates on Asian vagrants to the Aleutians).
However it has a huge drawback and that is organization. No quick index at the back or front of the book, no color-coding, but the worst part is it doesn't follow the orthodox order of birds, going in taxonomic order.
I would buy it for my desktop or bookshelf, but not as my "primary" guide.
Nice for beginners.......2003-08-26
This book is a very useable field guide for beginning birders. The book is organized to help you identify birds as quickly as possible. First, you decide whether you are looking at a water bird or a land bird; the first part of the book covers water birds, and the second part land birds. If you're looking at a land bird, you next decide whether you've got a large bird or a small one. The section on large birds has small silhouettes of the birds' shapes in the margin, while the section on small birds shows the birds' beaks. By flipping through these small drawings in the margins, you can easily narrow down the bird you are looking at to a few pages. Then you look at the numerous color illustrations, the range maps, the short descriptions, and the song patterns to help you determine the identity of your bird. For further information, each chapter starts with a short article that describes the morphology and behavior of the group of birds that are covered in the chapter. Scientific names are included for each bird, and rare or endangered birds are highlighted.
As a rank beginner bird watcher, I found the book extremely easy to use and informative. The color illustrations, because they are idealizations, were much more accurate and easier to use than the color photographs that appear in some other field guides. The descriptions of each bird are rather short, leaving me hungry for more details, but this book is a great place to start.
most informative and easy to use.......2003-06-05
This is the best bird guide I have ever used. It helps my family to identify birds by key features. My sons now look at birds and tell me their beak shape, what they most likely eat, the color of the legs and their relative size, all from regularly using this book. It gives pictorial examples of birds one might confuse with one another. Also useful are the estimates of particular bird population in each geographic area, with terms such as "abundant," "populous," "numerous," and "numerous but declining." I appreciate the brief, not preachy, explanations given for why certain populations of birds are declining.
Book Description
A Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds, Second Edition provides a thorough, species-by-species guide to the breeding biology of the birds of North America. Some 670 breeding species are described in full, covering the birds of a vast area, from the Arctic to the southern boundary of the continental United States. The main text presents complete basic information on the breeding cycle of each species, summarized in a natural sequence: nest habitat, nest-site, nest construction, breeding season, eggs, incubation and nesting and nestling period. More than 700 color and line illustrations provide valuable information on the identification of the nests, eggs, and nestlings of 597 species. The book covers perhaps the most fascinating aspects of North American bird life, their reproduction and the care of their young, essential elements in the survival of any species. The book summarizes all that is known of this crucial part of a bird's life cycle, and by omission, points to what is yet unknown and may yet be discovered by the scientific ornithologist and birder alike. If your fascination in the nests, eggs, and nestlings of North American birds centers on identifying them in the field, you will find this book essential. If conservation is also a concern, you will appreciate the value of understanding the breeding requirements and biology of even the most common of species. This book will prove invaluable whatever your interest in North American birds.
Key Features:
- Describes nests, eggs, and nestlings and gives basic biological information on nesting and breeding biology
- Includes up-to-date coverage of all breeding species found in North America, including Alaska and Canada in one comprehensive volume
- Contains more than 700 color and line illustrations of nests, eggs, and nestlings
Species List by Family:
Loons: Gaviidae. Grebes: Podicipedidae. Shearwaters: Procellariidae. Storm-Petrels: Hydrobatidae. Boobies and Gannets: Sulidae. Pelicans: Pelecanidae. Cormorants: Phalacrocoracidae. Darters: Anhingidae. Frigatebirds: Fregatidae. Bitterns and Herons: Ardeidae. Ibises and Spoonbills: Threskiomithidae. Storks: Ciconiidae. Swans, Geese, and Ducks: Anatidae. American Vultures: Catharidae. Kites, Hawks, Eagles and Allies: Accipitridae. Caracaras and Falcons: Falconidae. Guans: Cracidae. Partridges, Grouse, Turkey, and Quail: Phasianidae. Rails, Gallinules, and Coots: Rallidae. Limpkins: Aramidae. Cranes: Gruidae. Plovers: Charadriidae. Oystercatchers: Haematopodidae. Stilts and Avocets: Recurvirostridae. Jacanas: Jacanidae. Sandpipers, Phalaropes, and Allies: Scolopacidae. Jaegers, Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers: Laridae. Auks, Murres, and Puffins: Alcidae. Pigeons and Doves: Columbidae. Parakeets and Parrots: Psittacidae. Cuckoos, Roadrunner, and Anis: Cuculidae. Barn Owls: Tytonidae. Typical Owls: Strigidae. Goatsuckers: Caprimulgidae. Swifts: Apodidae. Hummingbirds: Trochilidae. Trogons: Trogonidae. Kingfishers: Alcedinidae. Woodpeckers: Picidae. Tyrant Flycatchers: Tyrannidae. Larks: Alaudidae. Swallows: Hirundinidae. Jays, Magpies, and Crows: Corvidae. Titmica: Paridae. Verdin: Remizidae. Bushtits: Aegithalidae. Nutcatchers: Sittidae. Creepers: Certhiidae. Bulbuls: Pycnonotidae. Wrens: Troglodytidae. Dippers: Cinclidae. Old World Warblers, Gnatcatchers, Old World Flycatchers, Thrushes and Wrentit: Uscicapidae. Mockingbirds and Thrashers: Mimidae. Wagtails and Pipits: Motacillidae. Waxwings Bombycillidae. Silky-Flycatchers: Ptilogonatidae. Shrikes: Laniidae. Starlings: Stumidae. Vireos: Vireonidae. Wood-Warblers, Tanagers, Cardinals, Grosbreaks, Sparrows, Buntins, Blackbirds, and Allies: Emberizidae. Fringinlline and Carueline Finches and Allies: Fringillidae. Old World Sparrows: Passeridae.
Customer Reviews:
A great book for nest & egg I.D........2007-01-11
I find it hard to believe that anyone else out there could be as interested in nests and eggs as me, but if you are, this book is a wealth of information that must have taken quite a lot of research to compile.
I work as a biologist and sometimes do breeding bird surveys, and this book is my first stop for info on what a nest looks like, what an egg looks like, or the breeding biology and nesting behavior of certain birds.
I haven't yet tried to ID a nest by shape, size, and construction alone, and I'm a little leery of the idea that an inexperienced person could properly ID a nest without seeing the bird. I don't know if this book could really help you with that.
Caveat emptor- a fine book in a new cover.......2005-08-04
For anyone who owns the second edition with the tern and chick on the white cover, this is just a re-covering of that book. Same good, useful, unchanged reference content, different cover.
A Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds, Second Editio.......2005-07-08
I was hoping for something that offer a greater selection of birds. Very limited on varities, species.
A Good Reference Book, NOT a Field Guide........2002-02-17
First of all, let me stress to potential buyers that this book is NOT a field guide. It is however a rather thourough reference book. The authors describe what kind of habitat the birds breed in, what the nests look like, the eggs, incubation, the nestlings, and nestling period. They also tell when the breeding season is. There are very, very few drawings of nests. There are sixteen pages of color plates showing paintings of nestlings. And another forty-seven pages of color plates showing photos of eggs. The smaller eggs are shown actual size, but the larger eggs are shown 3/4's or 9/10's of actual size. Why not go ahead and make them actual size even if it means adding a few more pages? I think this book is a good companion to the Peterson guides to bird nests (where you will see actual bird nests with eggs.) It would be great if David Allen Sibley would write or at least illustrate the ultimate guide to bird nests.
Superb reference.......2000-05-31
"A Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds" by Baicich and Harrison is a sorely needed reference to a subject familiar and interesting to both casual birdwatchers and serious ornithologists. Up to now, the standard reference was Hal Harrison's "Birds' Nests" (one for the eastern U.S., another for the west), Peterson Field Guides published in 1975. As the title indicates, these books feature photographs of nests (one picture per species), most with eggs. Many nests (and eggs) look alike, and these books are not especially helpful in identifying nests or their contents. While the Peterson Guide to eastern nests, for example, covered only 285 species, the Baicich and Harrison book covers 669 species nesting in North America.
Baicich and Harrison have created a book that is both practical and beautiful. The first 16 color plates portray dozens of nestling birds -- even the most un-anthropomorphic of us will find many of them cute! A number of the plates show the distinctive "gapes" or open mouths of the nestlings. The rest of the nearly 50 plates are eggs, carefully rendered to show subtle characteristics in color and pattern and displayed to show relative size. For some species, more than one egg is shown to demonstrate variety. These plates are so well done that the varying degrees of gloss are captured, an extremely useful detail. Opposite each plate is a short description of the eggs of the family, a key to the species, and the page number of the text.
The text section contains additional black-and-white sketches of nestlings and nests of many species. Text is concise but thorough, covering breeding habitat, a description of the nest including materials and placement, dates of the breeding season, a description of the eggs including measurements, details on the incubation and nestling periods, and a description of the nestling.
The introductory material is worthwhile as well. A short section on the legal and ethical considerations of studying nesting birds is wisely included. Discussions on each of the items included in the text are presented. These go beyond a simple definition and into some detail. For instance, the paragraphs on eggshell color tell us that newly laid eggs can briefly have a pinkish hue; the types of pigments that color eggshells; that while there might be variation within the species, each female usually lays consistently-colored eggs; and what causes abnormally colored eggs. The mechanics of hatching and the types of nestlings and their anatomy are also covered. Next, there is fine text on responsible nest-finding techniques and an overview of nest monitoring and recording schemes. Finally, there are three keys: Nests, Eggs, and Young nestlings and chicks.
As a professional ornithologist, I rarely cracked open my Peterson Guide to nests. However, I often browse "A Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds," even when I am not in need of an immediate reference. This is a book with a place on any bird lover's shelf.
Book Description
In this book, bursting with more information than any field guide could hold, the well-known author and birder Pete Dunne introduces readers to the "Cape May School," or GISS, method of identification, which focuses on a bird holistically, giving more weight to the general impression of the bird than to specific field marks. After determining the most likely possibilities by considering such factors as habitat and season, the birder uses characteristics such as size, shape, behavior, flight pattern, and vocalizations to identify a bird. The book provides an arsenal of additional hints and helpful clues to guide a birder when, even after a review of a field guide, the identification still hangs in the balance. This supplement to field guides shares the knowledge and skills that expert birders bring to identification challenges.
Customer Reviews:
Great companion guide..........2007-07-07
This is a wonderful addition to The Peterson Field Guide - greater in-depth information regarding habitat and plumage.
A good companion is hard to find.......2007-02-24
This field guide companion looks stark at first, with no pictures, but that is part of the point. With many fine field guides available, this is meant to supplement them, and in no way replace them. The necessarily brief descriptions of a field guide are nicely fleshed out in this volume, which is best suited to browsing after returning from the field, or for thumbing through when you can't get out into the field. The best addition to my stay-at-home birding library since Ehrlich, Dobkin & Wheye's "The Birder's Handbook."
Poorly Cut Book.......2007-02-23
Peter Dunnes unique comments, perspective & observations make this book interesting to read yet very informative. His approach to identification gives you additional yet simplistic help.
I did not look at the condition of the book until the return time had expired. I was disappointed that the last section of the Index was cut improperly. I could not find a contact email to complain. The book should be replaced. If you read this I hope you will arrange to replace the book.
It is Essential.......2007-01-19
This companion to my field guides has no pictures other than word pictures. It uses GISS (General Impression of Size and Shape) style of birding. Why is this important I can give a recent example. Here in New York City we had a Common Loon on the Reservoir. One birder reported a male and a female Common Loon, but was incorrect. It turned out to be the Common Loon and a Double Crested Cormorant. The difference was very obvious by using GISS but the mistaken birder was using feather birding and the bird was far away. This is a very useful guide. I would ask readers to read a sample page and decide for themselfs
Field guide to Pete Dunne's writing tone.......2006-12-16
Excellent and valuable book, no doubt. And Pete Dunne is a pretty nice guy (I've birded with him).
However...his writing *does* have this smarmy tone. Yes, he probably *does* know everything, but his writing makes you sure you understand that. Hard to pick a specific page since I don't have the book in front of me. But pick almost any page -- through Amazon's random thingie? -- and you may see what I mean. However, he does manage to slyly insult two famous, but dead, birders in the introduction! Nice. (NOT)
In addition, will someone puh-leeze tell Pete Dunne that his continued use of the word "noisome" to describe loud birds is wrong, wrong, wrong?
The word means "offensive," and generally implies malodorous or stinky. It does NOT mean loud!
My guess: No one dares edit his work for fear they'll disturb his distinctive know-it-all style. Sigh.
P.S. I found at least one factual error. In New England, at least, Yellow Warblers are generally found singing high in trees, though rarely at the top, not "close to the ground" as Dunne has it.
P.P.S. To correct a previous post, this book is not meant as a field guide but as an added resource that covers stuff field guides cannot show you.
Book Description
Why are some frogs able to freeze solid and still survive? How can secretions from amphibians offer scientists clues for treating human ailments? What allows reptiles and amphibians to regenerate their limbs? Reptiles & Amphibians, an exciting new Explore Your World™ handbook, incorporates the Discovery Channel's unique authoritative approach and acclaimed visuals to answer these and other questions in a captivating blend of information and entertainment.
Reptiles & Amphibians features:
¸ Background information on evolution, anatomy, physiology, habitats, and life cycles of a range of reptile and amphibian families.
¸ A detailed look at how reptiles and amphibians survive-how they eat, move around, defend themselves, and combat temperature extremes.
¸ Examinations of metamorphosis, growth and longevity, and vocalization techniques.
¸ Practical advice on how to responsibly study reptiles and amphibians in the wild or care for them as pets.
¸ An identification guide to more than 160 of the most fascinating herpetological species from around the world, organized by environment.
¸ More than 300 full-color photos and illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
time for an informational update.......2007-09-30
As with all the Audubon field guides, the strong enduring points are the quality of the photos; the durable binding and leatherette cover; and the index that is organized and cross-referenced to the photos.
The descriptions are pretty staight forward; but, the summaries are woefully inadequate, even when this book was current. The anatomy, life cycle, and habitats are discussed for each species, albeit vaguely.
In the eventuality that there is an update . . . the details need to be fleshed out more; the range and distribution maps made more concise; and the descriptions of new species discovered plus expanded summations of each species would correct the deficiencies.
This field guide still has its place in the naturalists library, if only for the quality of the photos. For better information, however, you may want to look at the Peterson's guide.
Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts
Reptiles and Amphibians Field Guide.......2007-01-05
I love these books and can't say anything else than that!
Good For Wilderness Getaways.......2006-09-23
Though I agree with others a revision is long overdue, and there have been a few new species discovered over the years; namely salamanders. I still find it quite helpful though, in identifying the lizard that just ran across the trail, or for that possible snake sighting. And as bad as my eyes are (Keratoconus), yes the maps could be larger, but I don't find them particularly hard to read. Except for certain species that have very small and restricted ranges. Then finding the little dot can be near impossible. Beautiful photographs. Gives one a better appreciation of these animals; that, along with years of watching the "Crocodile Hunter" God rest his soul.
good for casual use.......2005-03-07
I have a soft spot for these Audubon guides because the first field guide I ever owned was an Audubon, and it got a lot of use. However, I currently use the Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, and I have found that it is easier to use, and more descriptive than this one. There are two main reasons for this:
1) The Peterson guide has a brief description of each animal on the page facing the image of the animal and points out, sometimes with the aid of small arrows, the most useful identifying characteristics. Like the Audubon guide, it also has a page number you can flip to for more details about the life history etc.
2) The distribution maps in these Audubon guides are fairly small and vague, while the Peterson has a separate section for maps in the back that are much larger and more accurate. Of course it's impossible to say exactly what the range of almost any animal is, but I feel that this Audubon guide definitely has room for improvement. I do enjoy the photography, though; the Peterson uses illustrations, some of which are black and white.
Edition needs refining........2004-07-11
The contemporary edition of the Audubon Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians is decades old. Though it covers many species of snakes, salamanders, newts, etc., it is underrated because of the lack of updating. Some species names are known to be out of date, or invalid. However, even this cannot override the true quality of all the Audubon guides, including this book. Even though a newly revised and updated edition is way overdue, it still presents spectacular photographs of various species. The system is the same, with the description in the back of the book. The Audubon Guide to Weather has been revised and updated over the years and hopefully, this one will be also.
Book Description
There is one gesture that transcends language, race, gender, and age: the bird. Growing up together in Des Moines, Iowa, brother and sister Adam and Lauren Blank exchanged a lot of birds, and THE FIELD GUIDE TO THE NORTH AMERICAN BIRD is the product of their quest for the elusive jaw-dropping, eye-popping Mother of All Birds. Complete with step-by-step illustrations for more than 50 species of f#*@-yous, this handy little guide will have you flipping off with skill and panache, from basic birds like the Sit and Spin to more sophisticated birds like the Bouquet. You'll find the perfect one-finger salute for any occasion, whether tormenting your little sister or telling that tailgater exactly what you think of him.
Customer Reviews:
A Watershed Moment in Literary History........2004-12-02
Once in a great while a book is authored that is so profound, so intellectually stunning, so spiritually affirming, and so sexually stimulating, that it becomes part of our shared heritage.
This is that book.
Most reasonable people ruminate on the ever-coarsening of society and ask how we got to this point. Blank looks at society and asks if we are coarse enough. What he says is, "No." But in this, as in all things, Blank is an enigma--a mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a comfy fleece blanket when he watches t.v..
I give it nearly my highest rating (4 porkchops out of 5) because I feel he made up some of these dramatic gesticulations just to pad the length in some sort of shady "bonus" arrangement. He may have narrowed the margins too. But still.
This book demonstrates that there are many, many ways to physically contort yourself in aid of insulting someone. The conservative cognoscenti--you know who they are--once formed a "prayer circle" around Ten Speed Press to prevent it from leaving the premises. In fact someone from Georgia promised in a chilling phone threat that the venerable publishing house would get "blowed up real good-like" if it ever got published. Luckily, the First Amendment and questionable taste prevailed.
Read the book THEY don't want you to read! As an added incentive you'll get a 40 second recorded phone call from Blank thanking you for your purchase, and by purchasing you'll help support his quest to finish his pretentious, ponderous follow-up tome: "A Brief History of Time: The Revenge."
When Words Fail.......2004-09-25
We've all been there. Somebody pisses you off by something they did or said. You're left standing there, mumbling, murmuring, stuttering, your lips unable to produce that perfect reply that will completely devastate your opponent, making him or her whither so that they're the one who's speechless. The essential comeback usually arrives too late, after the incident has long since passed, and you shuffle on with life cursing your slow-reaction time, vowing not to let it happen ever again. But of course it'll happen again....
... that is, unless you get your hands on The Field Guide to the North American Bird. When words fail during your next clash with the Belligerent Bastard or the Snooty Salesperson, you'll never have to worry about getting the mumbles or murmurs or stutters ever again. In fact, your mouth's mutiny won't even be an issue, because with the Bird Book you'll be letting your fingers do the talking this time. And the person on the receiving end of your digital fury will never know what hit 'em.
OK, I know, "fingers" in the plural might be a little too much talking than is probably required. You may only need the one digit for the job--that's how powerful are the middle-finger gestures hilariously described by Adam Blank and ingeniously illustrated by Michael Moore. Straightforward and user-friendly, this book is your one-stop field guide for engaging in the subversive art of birding: It's the ultimate self-help book, a self-defense manual, and the perfect tool for imaginative self-expression, all rolled into one handsome volume with an attractive cover.
Frankly, words fail to celebrate the genius of this welcome effort.
funny AND useful.......2004-07-11
If you're stuck in a rut--weakly lifting your middle finger only when you've been cut off in traffic and otherwise resorting to lackluster verbal retorts, you need this book! We have so much in this world to get mad about and so few gestures for expressing that anger...until now. Blank, Blank and Moore offer a lavishly illustrated, thoroughly researched compendium of insults that will leave you (and your middle finger)itching for a conflict!
Bored of the usual 'birds' ? This one is way fun!.......2004-07-06
Bored of the usual 'birds' ? This one is way fun!
Buy this book& have some friends over for a little fun and stress release.
The book describes birds like "the Cell Phone" (good use for those on it when driving, or those while you are say in the movies and won't shut up) or 'The Transformer' then there's the basic "Pristine" & "Vulgar" & in the not potent enough reject section, The"Saloon"
just to name a few.... (left me wanting more...)
Fun.......2004-06-30
The book is a fun guide to the finger. There's a bunch of different types, but the book is lacking. The illustrations are excellent and add to the humor of the book.
Amazon.com
Compact and yet filled with information, this portable encyclopedia of North American bird behavior is a complement to field guides. Learn more about the species you see in the field, and--when in doubt--use this handy reference as another tool for identification.
Book Description
This is the most complete and authoritative reference book about the birds of North America -- up to date and in field-guide format.
The Birder's Handbook is the first of its kind: a portable library of fascinating information not included in your identification guide. For each of the 646 species of birds that breed in North America, The Birder's Handbook will tell you at a glance:
* Where the bird nests, and which sex(es) build(s) the nest;
* How many eggs the bird lays, what they look like, which patent incubates and for how long, and how the young are cared for;
* Food preferences and foraging habits.
You will also find information about displays and mating, wintering, conservation status, and much more. In addition, The Birder's Handbook contains some 250 short essays covering all aspects of avian natural history.
Customer Reviews:
Odd duck, but good.......2004-07-30
Definately not for the casual reader...
This book is really two books. One is a book on details of specific birds, the other a collection of essays on a wide ranging set of subjects. Both are very interesting and usable, but the book is structured such that the bird details are always on the left page, the essay on the right. Sometimes the essays are a fit with the bird details, sometimes not. Sometimes the essay continues on for several pages...
Purchase of this books should really be combined with either the old three volume Audubon Master Guide, or older editions of Peterson (west and east), or a couple of other older field guides. You may have to hunt used books for a match. As indicated in the reviews below, the detail pages are loaded with cryptic little symbols that reference specific plates and pages in these other older guides.
There is quite a lot of detail here, it is not a thin book, so don't plan on carrying it in the field much past the interior of your car. The size raises another issue. Updating this thing is not going to be an easy task. I suspect this 1988 edition is going to be what you get for a looong time.
Birder's Handbook praise..........2003-06-23
Great reference book, though NOT portable. Because this book came out in 1988, it needs updating: bird name changes have occured and there is more information from research to add to the wealth of information it already contains. Birder's Handbook uses various editions of field guides as reference points, that is, it points to particular pages of those field guides for a bird illustration or photo as well as range maps. And because those field guides have been updated in the intervening years, the page numbers are not true.
I look forward to another edition of this book!
got to get used to the format.......2001-08-06
This is a good book but you have to get used to the format and organization. To be honest I generally use one of my other books for id and basic info then I go to this book for more details. The details are fantastic though. I'd be very sad if I didn't have this in my collection because I learn a lot each time I use it. The format/use of symbols is just a bit awkward. Shouldn't deter you though - its great to have on hand
An essential bird watcher's guide........2000-07-03
When I'm not on the trading floor, I spend my free time watching birds. I would say that it wasn't until I picked up this essential birder's guide that I became an experienced and knowledgeable birder. This book increased my ability to identify birds, thus making bird watching infinitely more enjoyable. Since purchasing the Birder's Handbook, my weekend hobby has blossomed into an intense love for birds. I highly reccommend this to anyone with any level of interest in birding.
Treasure Trove - and the map is appropriately cryptic.......1999-04-26
This book isn't as immediately appealing as some of its competition, and its organizational scheme, and heavy use of symbols, can put you off. Use it for a week, though. I agree with another review in being mildly frustrated with its excessive use of symbols, often when a tiny printed word would have done the same work. But it's indispensible, and I'd recommend it to everyone.
A number of unique choices set this one apart. At first I was somewhat irritated by the placing of broader essays on the right page next to the species descriptions on the left. Then, with long use, it became clear to me just how well that worked. It's the perfect browsing format - just right for when you go to learn more about the thing you just saw. Also, the essays are written above the individual species level, so you can start out reading about Cowbirds and end up understanding the issue of nest parasitism, and the human impact on birds that practice it, far more completely than you would if you'd read Kenn Kaufmann's individual species description. It works.
There are some formatting issues here that do puzzle me. I don't really see the virtue in ordering the birds to correspond with the order in the NGS guide. There are other guides, to begin with, and now that we're about to get a new NGS guide, even the page numbers are going to be wrong. In any case, I can't see how you'd easily flip from one book to the other unless you were reading them sequentially. Who does that?
But those are quibbles. This is a terrific book, quite useful as a complement to your field guide and very nice to just read through. It could use a face lift, but it's got a heart of gold.
Book Description
This is the essential companion to your field guide, whether you're a serious or casual birder. Each North American species is listed by common and scientific name. Space is provided to record when and where a specimen was sighted, along with other essential notes. Silhouettes in the margin key the sections containing each bird Order. Each species is also indexed by common and scientific name.
Based on the American Ornithologists Union Checklist,
Sixth Edition, 832 Entries.
Customer Reviews:
Frustrated by grouped species.......2007-07-12
A useful tool for organizing, but I'm finding that Fashingbauer's decisions on merging and omitting various species don't quite fit with my own records (or my field guide!)
Still, a nice little book for keeping track of a life list.
Book Description
Meticulous, specially drawn full-color illustrations of the most abundant, wide-ranging, and conspicuous birds-nearly 650 species in all-depicted in natural settings. At-a-glance identification capsules pinpoint behavior patterns, field characteristics, coloring, habitats, and more.
Customer Reviews:
North American Wildlife: Birds by Reader's Digest.......2002-03-21
The book arrived in great condition, no problem with that. It should be great to use to identify any birds you might see. It is much easier to use than another book i have "The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds. It has the text and the pictures in one place, which makes it WAY easier to use than the formerly mentioned. You wouldn't confuse the artwork for photographs, but the depictions seem pretty accurate.
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General
| Birdwatching
| Outdoors & Nature
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| Books
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region (Eastern)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Eastern Region - Revised Edition (National Audubon Society Field Guide)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders (Audubon Society Field Guide)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals: (Revised and Expanded) (Audubon Society Field Guide)
The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians
