Field Guides/Bird Books

[Jeff Cashdollar]

What are some of your favorite field guides or bird books.

I have three I reach for most of the time:
1. Smithsonian Handbook - Birds Of NA, Eastern Region
2. Peterson Field Guide
3. National Geographic Birding Essentials

What say you.

[John Chardine]

These are good for North America Jeff, but it would be useful to hear from people all over the world too.

I use the Sibley Guide to Birds published by Knopf at home. It's relatively big but not big enough to leave at home so it could certainly double as a field guide. It weighs 1.2 kg or about 3 lbs so it is a lump. However, it covers all the species in NA and many plumages and variations within species so I think it's the best out there for NA by a kilometer.

I do not generally like photographic guides because the images are often quite poor.

For Europe I love Lars Jonsson's Birds of Europe published by Princeton. The artwork is superb and the guide covers North Africa and the Middle East.

[Paul Guris]

I'm with John on the Sibley and Jonsson books being my go-to guides. I've often used Jonsson for birds on this side of "the pond" as well. For example, his Atlantic alcid pages are excellent. I've used the Nat Geo for backup on some ID problems and I've purchased Crossley's book though I haven't used it yet to work out any real world questions.

It's a bit scary how many books you can end up with just keeping up with the current flood of great specialty guides (gulls, shorebirds, seabirds, warblers, sparrows, etc.). And then there are insect guides...

[Jeff Cashdollar]

I agree Paul. I too have Sibley's and plan to purchase Jonsson for international study. Counting Cornell training material. I have 47, including books on Breeding Bird Surveys, Bird Census Techniques and courtship behaviors.