A Field Guide to the Birds: A Completely New Guide to All the Birds of Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides)

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Summary: A classic field guide.
Review: I've got several field guides dealing with the identification of birds. This one from Roger Tory Peterson is the best and most impressive. I first got a copy of it many years ago when I was very young. I've always taken it with me whenever I go birdwatching. I have that much confidence in it. Peterson's drawings are excellent, clear, and in full color. The field guide includes all of the birds of eastern and central North America. This includes accidentals, exotics, and escapes. The field guide also includes roadside and flight silhouettes. These silhouettes really do help in the identification of many species of birds. The book also has a systematic checklist that you can use to mark off the birds that you've seen. Range maps are included, too. All the vital information needed to identify birds in the field is here. Information such as habitat, voice, and length. The range maps have a section of their own in the back of the book. Peterson's method of identifying birds by conspicuous field marks (The "Peterson System") is great. This system has always been a real help. Arrows point to various parts of the bird that most readily help to identify it. There's also a section in the front of the guide that explains how to identify birds. This section is very informative. I've used this field guide for many years. I have other field guides that stay on the shelf whenever I go birdwatching. This guide from Roger Tory Peterson isn't one of those. This is the best field guide on the market. I recommend it.

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Summary: Simply the best bird book for the backyard bird lover in MI
Review: This book is great. It gives you detailed pictures, silhoutte shapes and habitat areas. As a complete moron when it comes to bird identity, this book is very helpful.

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Summary: A classic book for the beginning birder
Review: This classic guide was the first of its type, and thus probably got more people into birding than any other book. Peterson uses ink drawings to show the important "field marks" for identifying species. The downside to these drawings is that they tend to idealize the birds, showing them in perfect postures and making the field marks more prominent than they really are. Many competitors, such as the Audubon Guide and the Stokes Guide, use photographs instead. Photographs give a more accurate portrayal of the subtleties of color and pattern in plumage, but there are always those poor shots in a photographic guide that are blurry or show the bird at a bad angle. Whether you decide that a guide based on drawings or photographs is best for you, I would strongly suggest that you pick up an audio recording of birdsongs, such as "Birding by Ear," or the "Field Guide to Eastern/Central Bird Songs," both put out by Peterson's. As any experienced birder will tell you, the ear is just as important as the eye, especially in summer, when birds are often hidden by foliage.