Archive for 2011

More shiny bird book reviews. Birds of North America and Greenland (Princeton Illustrated Checklists) ABA Blog The Nemesis Bird A DC Birding Blog Birding is Fun! The Birder’s Report National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Sixth Edition The Birdbooker Report Joseph Morlan Avian Architecture: How Birds Design, Engineer, and Build Rosyfinch […]

Several times in her podcasts I’ve heard Birdchick advise her listeners not to upgrade their field guide (provided their current one is no more than a decade old, or so). As the multitude of Extra Special [fill in the blank with some annoying, vaguely title-specific phrase] Edition DVD’s on my shelves would tell you, I […]

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Sixth Edition by Jon L. Dunn and Jonathan Alderfer From the publisher: For beginning and experienced birders alike, this is the most comprehensive bird guide available anywhere—now lavishly redone with a refreshed design; 300 new illustrations; 23 new-to-North America species; major updates in text with […]

The good folks at Princeton University Press are giving away a signed copy of The Crossley ID Guide, along with a couple of signed, poster-sized prints of plates. All you have to do to enter is “like” the new Princeton Birds & Natural History Facebook page before Halloween.

Looking through Amazon’s bargain bird books (look for the “Bargain Books” link on the left), I noticed a few great deals: Pete Dunne on Bird Watching: The How-to, Where-to, and When-to of Birding – $4.80 Still one of, if not the, best book on birding. The Shorebird Guide – $9.98 My favorite family ID guide. […]

It is inevitable. We have field guide, listing, and bird finding apps on our phones. It’s only a matter of time before these devices will identify birds for us. That day may be sooner rather than later. A University of Wisconsin–Madison ornithologist is working on an app that will ID bird song – WeBIRD. Tip […]

Bird book reviews from September. Binocular Vision: The Politics of Representation in Birdwatching Field Guides ABA Blog A DC Birding Blog Winged Sentinels: Birds and Climate Change 10,000 Birds Birds of North America and Greenland The Birdbooker Report Birds of Seychelles The Birdbooker Report The Atlas of Birds: Diversity, Behavior, and Conservation WingNut at StarTribune […]

The field guide is an indispensable tool of the birder. Birders study them, enjoy their art or photographs, and, of course, use them to identify birds. But how often do we really think about field guides and what we should expect from them? And have you ever considered the possibility that field guides may influence […]