Best ID Guide (2 Viewers)

[bleonard24]

Hi, Folks,

I'd like to purchase an ID guide. What is the best all-inclusive birding ID guide available?

Does anyone know of any online guides? (preferably with photos.)

Thanks,

Brian

 

[streatham]

Hi Bleonard,

There are probably a lot of threads covering this question already - for the US you have to really consider the Sibley Guide, National Geographic or Peterson's - I don't like photo guides personally but I know a lot of people like the Kaufman guide as well. If I were to pick one I'd go for the Sibley or the National Geographic (although the Petersons is recommended to a lot of beginners I think it is way to basic a guide in my opinion and if you get serious about birding you will quickly outgrow it).

As far as online information is concerned this Cornell site is spectacular http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/BNA/ - have a flick through the demo species guides.

Luke

 

[bleonard24]

Thanks, Luke,

I'll check them each out and go from there. I really appreciate the quick response.

Thanks again!

Brian

 

[bobsofpa]

On-line Guide

Another good on-line guide is enature.com. You enter the color, size and locaction of the bird and it gives you the various possibilities.

Bob Sheldon

Photo Galleries at: www.bobsheldon.com

 

[adampaul]

Hi Brian,

I second the recommendation for Sibley. I have his Western field guide and the larger desk guide - both are the best bird guides I own.

I agree with Luke about Petersen - I have it and no longer use it even a little bit. Not nearly enough information or explanation. The National Geo field guide is good too, but I give a nod to Sibley. Smithsonian Handbooks Birds of North America by Alsop (DK Press) is also great, but isn't a field guide (big - 1 page per bird).

If I was starting from scratch I'd probably just get the Sibley books and leave it at that, although the Alsop book is a useful cross-reference.

Rgds,
_Adam

 

[crispycreme]

I've been doing a bit of research on on-line ID guides for a personal project of mine, and here's the best I've found so far:

1. Cornell's All About Birds identification guide:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/

Still a work in progress, but bar-none the best format of any online guide I've ever seen. About 500 North American species included so far. Simply superb. Most species have voice recordings.

2. Percevia Bird Identification Database:

http://www.percevia.com/Explorer/db/birds_of_north_america_western/rl/_/0/attrs.aspx

This one uses quite a sophisticated form of A.I. to help you solve your I.D. mysteries, and includes over 700 species of N.A. birds. Many voice recordings.

3. Mango Verde's World Bird Guide

http://www.worldbirdguide.com/birdsound/index.html

This one is simply a repository of photographs and voice recordings (with a scattering of videos too) of birds around the world, but the sheer number of birds included, over 4200 to date, makes this site indespensible

4. USGS's Patuxent Bird Identification Center

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/framlst.html

The original online ID site! Still invaluable and comprehensive as far as N.A. species (over 700 species), although it's in need of some housecleaning.


I haven't explored much beyond N.A. online guides yet, but here's one I use from time to time for Eurasian birds:

Birdguides.com

http://www.birdguides.com/html/fram...t=vidlib/vid_nav.htm&right=vidlib/vid_con.htm

Includes several hundred species, many with short video clips (I believe they have longer, more detailed clips if you subscribe, which is the point of the website as far as I can tell). Not quite up to par with Cornell or Percevia, but not bad at all!

Perhaps one of the other folks can conjure up better Eurasian guides than birdguide.com (there used to be one called Western Palearctic, but I can't seem to find it anymore!).

 

[bobsofpa]

The problem with most online bird guides is that you have to know what the bird is before you can look it up. The online guides like enature and Percevia (thank you Cryspycreme, I did not know about that one, it is now on my list of "favorites") is that you can enter the birds characteristics and get a list of possible birds that you than can take a closer look at. It narrows the field from thousands to maybe 10 or 20. Much easier. The biggest problem with these online guides is that they do not take into account either females or juveniles when they do their search.

I do like Sibley and National Geographic for books.

Bob Sheldon
Photo Galleries at:
www.bobsheldon.com

 

[birdpotter]

Has anyone tried the Stokes books? I have my Sibley, but I also have a Stokes that I keep around for another reference guide. Even though the photos or descriptions aren't that extensive, I usually carry it around instead of the big Sibley when I go hiking(I keep the Sibley in the car on such trips so I can go back to it later). I worked at this place that sold a very beginner Stokes guide in which all you had to do was look a bird up by its color. The book was only 5 or 6 bucks and was very small-mainly for feeder birds.
Anyway, I totally prefer Sibley, but only after collecting and running through, Peterson's, Stokes, and a number of other very obscure books I have come across. I think Stokes is what most beginners are looking for, something with photos, and a brief description.
What is everyone else's opinions?

Elizabeth

 

[Tero]

I have a hard time with Stokes, though Ilike their shorebirds and gulls. I never carry it in the field.

For Texas, the best recommendation is to get the small Sibleys, East and West. You may grow to like one better than the other. I would keep both in the car for bird trips. Same goes for all of these> Peterson, Stokes.

National Geographic works, but I never liked th coloring of the birds, slighly off a lot of times.

 

[crispycreme]

The problem with most online bird guides is that you have to know what the bird is before you can look it up. The online guides like enature and Percevia (thank you Cryspycreme, I did not know about that one, it is now on my list of "favorites") is that you can enter the birds characteristics and get a list of possible birds that you than can take a closer look at. It narrows the field from thousands to maybe 10 or 20. Much easier. The biggest problem with these online guides is that they do not take into account either females or juveniles when they do their search.

I do like Sibley and National Geographic for books.

Bob Sheldon
Photo Galleries at:
www.bobsheldon.com

Without question online guides have inherent flaws. Besides the limitations you described, they also have the near-fatal problem of not being with you while in the field (at least at this moment in time). To me then, they're more of a reinforcement or confirmation then a primary tool for IDing. They can fit in those extra details that a field guide can't incorporate (like audio or large range maps). And being dynamic, they can (and should) eventually include details like juvenile plumages. Cornell, Percevia and eNature (which I shamefully neglected to put on my original list: I'd definitely put it in my top 5) have all been continually updating and refining their guides, and I expect all three to provide more alternate plumages and descriptions in the years ahead.

Besides, they're quite fun!

 

[david2004]

Hi Brian

I'm from the UK but I have a Us id book. I've found it very interesting with great pictures. It's - "The Field Guide to Birds - Eastern Region. National Audubon Society". Does anyone on here use it?

 

[bobsofpa]

Without question online guides have inherent flaws. Besides the limitations you described, they also have the near-fatal problem of not being with you while in the field (at least at this moment in time). To me then, they're more of a reinforcement or confirmation then a primary tool for IDing. They can fit in those extra details that a field guide can't incorporate (like audio or large range maps). And being dynamic, they can (and should) eventually include details like juvenile plumages. Cornell, Percevia and eNature (which I shamefully neglected to put on my original list: I'd definitely put it in my top 5) have all been continually updating and refining their guides, and I expect all three to provide more alternate plumages and descriptions in the years ahead.

Besides, they're quite fun!

I have a slightly different need on bird IDs. I am a photographer first that happens to like to photograph birds. Therefore, I very seldom try to indentify birds in the field, but rather back at my computer as I download the photos from the camera. When traveling in my motor home (without internet access) I use Thayer,s Guide to Birds of North America CD in addition to my books. In fact, I prefer it to the online guides and use it as a primary reference even at home.

That said, I always apprecitate any "birders" that are at the same location and can give me an ID. I was out two days ago and met a birder. He saved me many hours agonizing over sparrow IDs.

 

[Wan2caTanager]

I like Peterson's for identification. I really like the setup and drawings, however if I want to know more about the bird, I usually look in my audubon or online.

 

[birdpotter]

Hi Brian

I'm from the UK but I have a Us id book. I've found it very interesting with great pictures. It's - "The Field Guide to Birds - Eastern Region. National Audubon Society". Does anyone on here use it?

This was my first field guide ever. I stopped using it all together, because some of the photos seemed a little off. Many of the birds' shapes and colors seem to get mutated by the background noise.
Strangely, I have the Audubon Encyclopedia of North American Birds and that is fantastic. The photos are more accurate and telling of each species.

And I have started noticing the same problems with the Stokes book(thinking back, Tero, the time that I started using it, I was living on the coast and so was only looking at the shorebirds, etc), the more I use my Sibley. I still think Stokes is a good starting point.
Oh, and I felt the same way about National Geographic and some of the coloriing being off...never gave it much of a look, honestly, though.


Elizabeth

 

[Beth05]

Hi Brian

I'm from the UK but I have a Us id book. I've found it very interesting with great pictures. It's - "The Field Guide to Birds - Eastern Region. National Audubon Society". Does anyone on here use it?

I have this book. I got it for my beginning birder daughter(teen). She likes this book best. I also have National Geographic. This is my favorite. It seems very accurate to me. A few years ago I got the Sibley and I love the fine details (it makes a nice complement to the National Geographic) but It doesn't seem as dependable to me.

 

[cavan wood]

I have three of the one's mentioned (Peterson older and really old vesions), Audubon, and National Geographic.

I agree with the Peterson comments, although newer editions do show more variations, and it is good for beginners.

Audubon throws in some interesting tidbits, but the habitat designations can lead beginners astray, and male and female photos are frequently in completely different sections of the book. Photos, although fun to look at, can be surprisingly deceiving or non-representative, and certainly they lack the variety of plumages that a field guide requires.

National geographic has served me well for many years (I just glued my original edition back together) and it is the one I always take to the field.

But this discussion and this forum have got me interested in buying the Sibley.

Scott