Birds of North America

"Birds of North America" is a truly excellent guide. It may not be the most comprehensive, but it certainly is the most useful. It's probably the all-around greatest birding field guide out there. The illustrations are very well done, and the size of the book is easily manageable. This book is detailed enough to accomodate all but the most demanding and professional birders, but user-friendly enough to not overwhelm the amateur. I must say however, that the new St. Martin's Press re-printed is a travesty. I luckily have the 1983 printing with the original blue cover and the beautifully rendered pages. I've seen the "new" edition in the bookstore, and like many other reviewers I am very annoyed by the poor quality of the reproductions. The pictures and pages are now faded and off-colour. I've recently been aquainted with the National Geographic bird guide, and I must admit it's a very good guide with pictures that are perhaps "sharper" than those in the Golden Guide. By today the Golden Guide is also a little out of date, due to many changes to avian nomenclature. However, one thing the NG guide will never match is the Golden Guide's immense readability. The NG guide is too detailed for its own good, and uses highly technical language that simply overwhelms the casual birder. I now tend to carry both books into the field, but the Golden Guide will always have a special place in my heart. I highly recommend it if you can find an old copy of the 1983 printing.

There are bigger and more expensive bird guides but none pack as much information into such a portable, easy to use, inexpensive book as this. I've used it as a casual birder for several years. Among my favorite features are the taxonomic indicators (blue squares and circles indicating Order, Family and Sub Family or Genus), little bits of natural history (that some advanced guides assume you already know) and comparison silhouettes. I recommend this book to anyone wanting a first bird guide.

Tired of flipping from index to photo or illustration to description of one bird? This field guide gives you everything on pages facing one another. They also have a sonogram for bird calls and the best and most easily identifiable art work of any field guide I've ever seen.

How they can sell this book at such a low price is beyond me. Lots of quality here. Look at the cover with the buntings: it's not just some recycled art from the interior, but a specially painted picture just for the cover. This is part of the value that the authors offer you.More importantly, the illustrations really capture what the birds look like in real life -- to my mind better than other paintings in guides and a thousand times better than photos -- and the text is clear and to the point. Sections that showcase winter plumage of gulls or peeps or that illustrate the heads of warblers or sparrows have the page numbers right next to each picture so you can just whip over to bird in question if you need more information.I especially like the fact that the range maps are right next to the bird's picture so you don't have to thumb to some inconvenient map index the back of the book only to find that the bird is never present in your area. Everything is right there to help you make a quick identification.

The Golden Guide to Field Indentifcation of Birds of North America is a handy, not to mention effective, guide to the birds. Accidentals, rarities, stragglers, and casuals are all covered, along with the common birds. This guide includes full color illustrations of birds were and how they are most often spotted, whether gliding over the ocean or perching in dense underbrush, as well as winter, summer, eclipse, immature, chick, juvenile, adult, male, female, breeding, non-breeding, molting, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd winter plumages, if need be. Any bird spotted can quickly be indentified quickly and easily with this guide.