Birds of Texas

These Smithsonian books on birds rock my world! The are beautiful books, with all the information anyone would need. I've had the Smithsonian book on Birds of North America for some time now, but when I saw their book on Birds of Texas I had to have it. Yeah, they're a little pricey, but what good reference book isn't these days. They are very sturdy, lie flat when open, have beautiful illustrations and photos of the birds in their habitats. I can't recommend them enough.

My wife and I observed several species of birds in our neighborhood and we simply wanted to know what kind they were. We're not serious birders (yet). Another review on another site suggested a certain book "if you're only going to have one bird book." We have that one too, but this is the book we go to first. It provides all the information on a particular bird concisely on one page in a uniform format throughout. It has answered all our questions so far (two months). This is the book to have if you're only going to have one bird book. We're not smart enough to vouch for its technical accuracy. It's nice to round out the presentation with a second book, but we prefer this one.

For the beginner birder or just someone who wants help identifying birds, this is a very good guide to add to your library. The descriptions, pictures and information are excellent. It covers just about anything you want to know about birds of Texas such as the song, behavior, breeding, nesting, flight pattern, and a map showing the range. As an added bonus you can list on the specific page when, what time and where you have viewed the bird. Love the book!

I really like this book. However, it is not my first choice when out birding. It has some great features, including detailed information on habitat, population, attracting to feeders, etc. However, there is often only one picture of a bird; this is a photograph rather than a drawing, which has advantages and drawbacks. Sometimes, it is easier to idetify from a drawing and other times you just need a photo. I do like the feature that gives you the birds size and silhoutte. I do like the one bird per page feature but it does make the size cumbersome. Therefore, I use this as a reference guide to be kept at home and compare my notes against when I come back from the field. I also am a big fan of the section at the bottom of the page that allows you to record information about sighting the bird in question. Great as a reference, but if you need a great field guide go with Sibley.

...to give as a gift, because I'm so pleased with it. Unlike some of the other reviewers, who seem to have a great deal of expertise and several bird books at-hand, I'm just a casual observer of the visitors to my backyard feeder. This is the first bird book (ahem, field guide) for me, and I don't see that I'll need to seek other titles any time soon. As with most Dorling-Kindersley publications, the photos are great (these show male, female, and juvenile examples), the layout is engaging, and the text is informative. One helpful feature for a novice like me: Next to a picture, there's often a notation of something like "often mistaken for.." so you can look up those other species to compare details. I'm not really interested in an encyclopedia about each bird; I just wanted a handy reference, and this book serves that purpose admirably.