North America guides compared for sparrows (1 Viewer)

[Tero]

I have been looking at my multiple books on North American birds. The new fat Peterson is pretty good for sparrows. Sibley mostly works and the details are there, not sure if color always matches. But the small Sibleys list the subspecies for East or West only in the one volume.

All The Birds, as little as I use it, actually has really good paintings, and the shapes of sparrows are good.

Photo guides, I have three, sometimes have sparrows that are in odd lighting. Good for checking on colors, which are never as bold and bright as in painted pictures.

And yes, I have the one Sparrows book as well, it is good for juveniles.

Kaufman usually comes through but out in the field I find myself cursing how small the photos are.

Yours?

 

[Jim M.]

The Beadle & Rising "Sparrows of the United States and Canada: The Photographic Guide" is what I have and it is pretty good. As far as I know, it is the best identification aid we have for North American sparrows. Here is a review from Grant McCreary's excellent site; he is a birder who posts on this forum: http://www.birderslibrary.com/reviews/books/advanced/sparrows_photo.htm
(The review also discusses their previous book, which uses paintings).

I recommend it and have found it useful on a number of occasions, but do not think it is quite up to the standards of the excellent books we have for raptors, gulls, and shorebirds. Frequently, I find myself wanting to see more photos, for example. For instance, there is no photo of the subvirgatus (coastal) subspecies of Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow -- except one that is identified as being either that subspecies or alturus. That is annoying because that subspecies can look quite different from the interior forms (look at Sibley's for example). But on the other hand, sparrows are a lot less cooperative photographic subjects compared to gulls, shorebirds, and raptors, so I imagine the authors had a more limited selection of photographs to choose from.

Best,
Jim

 

[Tero]

Yes, I would have listed that but it was in the trunk of my car at the time. It cost some 20 dollars in paperback.

Amazon lists one other for 36 dollars new:
Sparrows and Buntings: A Guide to the Sparrows and Buntings of North America and the World (Hardcover)
by Clive Byers (Author), Urban Olsson

But I really rely on the regular field guides more, I like to have related species on one page.

Kaufmann Advanced birding has some tips, but not as detailed as other groups of birds.

National Geographic does not show correct relative size for all the sparrows on any one page.

 

[jedigrant]

The Byers/Olsson guide you mentioned is a part of the Helm family guide series. The text is much more extensive, but I don't like the illustrations as much as the Rising/Beadle illustrated guide (A Guide to the Identification and Natural History of the Sparrows of the United States and Canada).
Out of all of them, I prefer the photographic guide, personally. Even with the limitations mentioned above I find that it works the best for me. Still, I do like having the other sources for backup.

I've never had much of a problem with any of Sibley's illustrations, although another birder has mentioned to me that for him Sibley's sparrows weren't very good. I like Peterson's sparrows very much, but there isn't enough variation shown. You're lucky to just get the adult and juvenile (that is a recurring issue in just about every guide except Sibley, unfortunately). I was perusing the National Geographic sparrows recently, and many of them just look awkward.

And thanks for the link and kind words, Jim!

 

[bkrownd]

I had a wonderfully sparrow-filled trip to the mainland this October, and afterwards I got the two cheap (yay!) photographic guides to help me figure out my stack of photos - by Easley and Beadle & Rising. The textureless and ambiguously colored and simplified illustrations in guides like Sibley can cause extra confusion until you get a good handle on what you're looking at, so the photos and extra variety is a big help. The way sparrows often like to puff themselves up a lot also adds to the difficulty, changing colors and features a lot. Beadle & Rising is obviously far more comprehensive, and amazingly verbose, but its old flim-era photos aren't as nice as Easley's. Beadle & Rising seems skewed towards the coastal states at first glance, but that may be due to extra varieties there. At some point after all the page flipping through varieties and juveniles it's easy to forget the "normal" bird - this book will need post-it tabs to help me focus on the main species pages. Easley adds comparison charts, which is nice, but in a small book like this can't be ideal - I wish for bigger charts with more angles or something for each species. Pointing out the key features in side by side comparisons is something that's missing. I just need to look at pages and pages of photos until I've absorbed all the varieties. Thanks for the review link above - that'll be interesting to look at.
(just babbling, never mind me...)

 

[Tero]

Peterson is close, but I still do not recognize the greenish color in Henslow's Sparrow. Best paintings are still in All The Birds, Jack Griggs et al, for me.

When I finally found the Henslow, Kauffman is the only one that really matched.

 

[Jim M.]

Peterson is close, but I still do not recognize the greenish color in Henslow's Sparrow. Best paintings are still in All The Birds, Jack Griggs et al, for me.

When I finally found the Henslow, Kauffman is the only one that really matched.

It should be noted for others reading that the Kaufman guide uses photographs.

Best,
Jim

 

[Tero]

I have started carrying the old National Audubon Society green guide, plastic cover, just for sparrwos, in the car. Not as good as a sparrows book, but the photos are a good large size. Sparrwos are little birds, but you need detail. Found a bird near sundown and had to go with somethig, I decided American Tree Sparrow based on the Audubon. I had Kaufman too.

 

[Tero]

I now have one further book, which does cover most sparrows buntings and even redpolls. It goes well beyong the Great Lakes, and has smaller pics of Western sparrows. A quick reference. Juveniles shown only where needed..mostly sparrows, not all buntings redpolls and towhees etc.
http://www.fireflybooks.com/bookdetail&bookid=4969

The Beadle & Rising book is just a little thicker. Better for all plumages.