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Summary: Sibley Guide
Review: Sibley's guide is the unquestionable Oxford Dictionary of bird guides, however, if you are new to birding you may want to try the excellent Peterson Field Guides. The Peterson Field Guides are less expensive and more portable than the Sibley Guide. If you eventually get into serious birding, then you may need the detailed information contained in Sibley's.
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Summary: Accolades weigh heavy...
Review: ...And that is its heavist quibble at 2.5 pounds.
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Summary: A Very Helpful Work of Art
Review: As a beginning birder I came across this book accidently and bought it. I find it to be very helpful in identifing birds in the field. I realize that it is a big book to carry as a field guide, but I find it worth the extra bit of work. It has dramatically reduced my frustration level in identification. All the different morph's, breeding plummages and winter plumages are shown on one page and extremely helpful to the bewildered beginning birder. If it lacks anything it would be text, but I guess that is what the behavior book he now has out if for. I bought that too, although I must admit I have yet to read it.
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Summary: Not the best BNA field guide
Review: The Sibley guide is impressive but it is much better as a reference book than a field guide. I am a biologist and avid birder and I can think of at least two other bird guides I would prefer to take with me out into the field. My primary complaints about this book are as follows:1) It is very confusing and difficult to use - the plates are too cluttered and the layout is inconsistent and non-intuitive. 2) The illustrations are nice to look at but are simplistic (read: cartoonish) and often lack detail. 3) Several bird species found in other guides are missing. Granted, the few I have noted are vagrants or accidentals and not likely to be encountered but I consider the book "incomplete" as a result. 4) The book itself is far too big and heavy - a relatively minor complaint but one that's worthy of consideration. This is a very popular book and for good reason - it has a lot of good information and has very impressive illustrations. However, I contend that the NGS guide is far superior and will remain the choice of serious birders for years to come.
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Summary: Great book
Review: This is a really beautiful book, great illustrations, so much better for me as a newcomer to the birding world than books with photos. I would like more information about the birds though. Excellent book! By the way, great service by Amazon.com I had my order within 3-4 days. Thanks
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Summary: The perfect partner ?
Review: I myself do not own a copy of this book.However I have read through it and marvelled at the excellent illustrations.
My reason for not buying is down to the sheer size of this book (not quite a standard fieldguide size). Something that is more pocket size would be a perfect partner for those days in the field for easy retrieval at those most vital moments.
"Change the size please , my pocket awaits"
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Summary: Sibley's Bird Book
Review: we found the book to be extremely well organized with the bird descriptions, plates and habitats easily found and very accurate. recommend this book to all serious birders.
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Summary: A new paradigm in bird guides
Review: After reading all the accolades, I don't need to pile on any more. This is truly a new standard in guide to birds. Do note that it is not small and it is not that light either, so it might not be a good field guide to carry around all day in the woods.
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Summary: The Sibley Guide to Birds
Review: The details in this book are wonderful. At last I have a clue about how to differentiate among the finches outside my window. A great leap forward over Petersen, et al.
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Summary: Essential addition to the birder's arsenal
Review: Sibley really hits a home run with this field guide. No other guide presents such a comprehensive catalogue of alternative plumages within each species, or attempts to illustrate distinctive patterns of flight as does Sibley. He even lists weights of each species, something no other guide does. The layout is clean and attractive. The illustrations show great artistic skill. The only quibble: this encyclopedic book is too large to carry in the field comfortably. I say, use this as a companion to the National Geographic guide, which should be your primary book in the field.
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