Butterflies of North America

Book has beautiful photos and is very helpful. I am newly getting into being a naturalist and learning about butterflies. The book has been so informative and helpful.

While I'm not a professional lepidopterist, I do have a keen interest in this fascinating group of insects. I've used many of the available field guides, but this one has become my hands-down favorite. It would be nice if it had some caterpillar identification information, but, to me, that's about its only drawback. If I had to buy one butterfly field guide (for North America) this would be it.

So far, this the best field guide for amateurs and advanced naturalists alike. It contains many more species than seen in other books I have purchased on butterflies. It is is excellent that Kaufman and Brock gave their efforts to photograph so many specimens, even some of the rarest species. One the rare butterflies, the best descriptions to identify them are given. If you think you've found an uncommon butterfly, consult this book. You will know, believe me. Stating that this is geared toward amateurs only is a complete understatement. Butterflies Through Binoculars is great, but this equals the other one, in specifics, photo quality, and field identification! Thank you Ken Kaufman.

This is a great reference book for identifying butterflies. I especially liked the detailed photos and illustrations that showed butterflies as they would generally appear in nature. Other books often show the butterfly with wings open, but not with wings folded up, for example. This book shows both, including the differences between male and female butterflies and other details, so it makes it easy to compare your photo with the book's. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who takes lots of butterfly photos and wants to identify what you've photographed.

The latest Kaufman Focus Guide, designed for beginners, features a pictorial table of contents, a primer on identification and habitat, butterfly lifecycle and where to find the critters, other butterfly activities, such as gardening and photography, and further sources of information, such as books, websites and organizations. It concludes with an index of larval food plants, an index of scientific names, an index of English names which doubles as a life list and a final one-page quick-find, color-coded index.In between are 2,300 digitally edited photographs, which have the easy-comparison advantages of paintings, and concise descriptions, with range map and primary larval foodplant. Each page of illustrations also includes an "actual size" figure, which is amazingly useful in the field. Similar species are grouped together for convenient comparison.This is another practical, well-designed and beautiful addition to the Focus Guide series.