Birds of the Carolinas

Rating:
Summary: don't bother
Review: Birds of the Carolinas is an essential reference for the hobiest. It is particularly useful in identifying transients, and in differentiating between similar species based on habitat and time of year. The book contains excellent photographs of most (but not all) of the species referenced.

Rating:
Summary: An Essential Reference
Review: Birds of the Carolinas is an essential reference for the hobiest. It is particularly useful in identifying transients, and in differentiating between similar species based on habitat and time of year. The book contains excellent photographs of most (but not all) of the species referenced.

Rating:
Summary: don't bother
Review: I ordered this book hoping to have help identifying the birds at the feeders in my back yard. This books wasn't much help. Most of the photos are tiny--all you see is a bird shape sitting in a bunch of bushes or trees. The photo of the cardinal and blue jay are excellent--but who doesn't already know what these birds look like? Also there was too much information on habitat and migration patterns. I suppose that some people would think this was important. All I know is that there are dozens of gray birds feeding my backyard and I still don't know what most of them are called.

I'm going to buy another book, hopefully with larger pictures.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: Incredible color pictures. Easy to read and well organized text

Rating:
Summary: Like An Old Friend
Review: This is the first bird book I ever owned. I purchased it in the summer of 1999. Four years later, it's like an old friend. It starts out with a short introduction and a few pages on the problem of identification. Then it goes on to describe the various bird habitats in North and South Carolina. The largest section of the book, of course, is the species guide. I found it to be particularly helpful with woodpeckers and shore birds, of which there is a wonderful variety here on Hilton Head Island.

I'm still learning about birds, so I have not yet become proficient at differentiating between various warblers, for example, but this book has helped me identify a couple. Last summer, I searched the book front to back for a bird species I encountered in Pickney Island National Wildlife Preserve, and never found it. Turns out that the bird was a Golden Crowned Kinglet. The bird was listed in this book, but for some reason there was no photo. Strictly speaking _Birds of the Carolinas_ isn't the best field guide on the market, but I still use it and have thoroughly enjoyed owning it. I think you'll enjoy it, too, especially if you are a new hobbyist.