danielsaddress's Full Review: David Allen Sibley - The Sibley Field Guide to Bir...
Me and my brother have been birdwatchers since we were kids, and have owned many field guides. This is my latest field guide, and it is the only book I use when I go out birdwatching and try to identify a bird. It is a very well written and effective guide. Sibley birdwatched for many years to compose this book, and it shows.
Illustrations: The illustrations on this book are all paintings done by Sibley. Paintings by far make the best field guides, as pictures often lie about distinguishing marks due to lighting etc. Each bird is listed with multiple illustrations showing different plumages/sexes etc. Another great thing is each bird is shown in flight as well. This greatly helps to identify birds as one of the most common places to see a bird is in flight, yet many field guides fail to show this angle. There also are indicators to what areas are distinguishing marks so you know exactly what to look for, similar to Peterson Field Guides I've used in the past.
Information Given: Each bird, along with a picture as mentioned above has a few given pieces of information. First off you're given the common and scientific names. Below this you have the length, wingspan, and weight. A short description tells you of habits, habitats, voice, and other helpful clues on identification. There is also a small American range map. Even though this is an Eastern guide, you see the full eastern and western range for each bird in the guide.
Layout:The layout is that of most newer field guides. Each bird is listed in taxonomic order. While confusing for beginners, this is a much better way to learn birding vs the older method of grouping by similar colors/shapes etc. Each group of birds is started with a couple pages of smaller pictures to get you started in the right direction. The following pages show the birds in detail with their information. The average bird has half a page of information, which is wisely used as I find most or all of the information I need on this half page. Rare visitors often get less than half a page, and birds with a lot of information at times will have an entire page.
Size:The eastern guide is much more ideal for travel than the entire North American guide. I live in Florida so this is ideal for me as it has every bird in my area. I do find the book is too big to fit in my pockets; however it fits nicely into my Canon Digital Rebel Camera case. The book only weighs about a pound as is not noticeable if you have a backpack or purse or somewhere to put it.
I have used this book extensively after I received it as a gift and enjoy it very much. There is no book out there right now that is better for identifying eastern birds on the field. I highly recommend this guide to beginners and experts alike
- More than 4,000 full-color paintings in each volume.- Clear and detailed descriptions of all known species (550 Eastern, 650 Western).- All-new maps...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Birds and Birdwatching - General Nature - The Sibley Guide to Birds has quickly become the new standard of excellence in bird identification guides, c...More at Barnes and Noble
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