Birds of Oklahoma Field Guide

The book was sent in a timely manner and it was in the promised condition.

I love this little book. Birds are listed by color and then size. It makes for very easy and quick IDs. The color photos of each bird are also immensely helpful in makeing IDs. I have already ID four different birds that I have been seeing in my back yard for years but haven't found in other books. If you live in Oklahoma, this is the reference guide to have!!!

This is a great book for our family. We are novice bird watchers, but placed bird feeders around our home and have identified several birds using this book. It's simplicity makes it so usable. The birds are classified by color first then shape or activity. The pages are "tabbed" by color so you simply turn to the appropriate color tab and determine which bird you are looking at. We also have the National Audubon book and find it more difficult to use. Their system is to categorize the birds by shape or activity first and them color. We find that the bird is long gone by the time we figure out whether is shaped like a "perching bird" or a "swallow like" bird. It is just simpler to begin with the obvious - what color is the bird? and then turn to the corresponding pages. The book is easy for older children to use. We find that the more success we have the more we remember to open the book and identify that bird at the feeder. I think I stuck this book in someone's stocking one Christmas, but we have all enjoyed it!

I have just recently purchased this field guide, and am enjoying it very much. I do wish that it included nesting habits but other than that it is a great book. I am new to bird watching and this book is very helpful, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys birds, even if they have other guides. I don't think a person can ever have too many books.

Perhaps the greatest strength of this book is that it is extremely specialized--It is prepared with the goal of helping you identify in the field birds frequently spotted in Oklahoma. The book has a two-page spread on each species, the left side is a photo of the bird (possibly with insets of different morphs, juveniles, or the opposite sex), and the right side is a page packed with information. Each species has short descriptions of key facts about the species. If the male and female of a species are very different in appearance and have dramatically different dominant colors, each gets a page spread (with photograph) in the appropriate color section. Each species layout includes an Oklahoma map with ranges where the bird is found in different seasons.I mention color section, because the book is organized by predominant color. If you see a bird that is mostly yellow, you turn to the "yellow" section of the book. Page edges are marked to enable you to do this quickly. Look through the photos in that section, and hopefully you will be able to make a quick match. For me, this system works very well.The book is fairly small, so it can easily be carried in the field. I do wish the binding and pages were more waterproof. I suspect it will need replacement sooner or later. But for this price, I can afford that down the road!The book doesn't try to do a lot of things, but the few things it does, it does very well. It will do a good job of helping you ID common birds found in Oklahoma. It won't identify rare strays or accidentals, and it won't be much use if you are trying to bird in Connecticut! But within this limited sphere, it is an excellent value.