Selecting a Birdwatching Field Guide
Ranked #2,575 in Animals, #58,340 overall | Donates to Squidoo Charity Fund
The Field Guide: A Bird Watcher's Bible
The Field Guide
A field guide is an illustrated reference book. It is used to identify things in the field. Its design should make that a quick and easy process. There are field guides for identifying birds, butterflies, plants, insects and even reptiles and mammals. Whatever the topic of interest, there is a field guide designed to help the enthusiast. 
Recognize me? I'm a Snowy Egret
Selecting a Field Guide
Selecting your first bird watcher's field guide should be a simple task, but its not. There are thousands of bird books and field guides available. Now days there are field guides for every country. There are some for sections of the country, or for specific states and provinces. Even smaller geographic areas, such as counties, birding trails, and specific refuges, parks, or preserves have their own field guide. Who's Who?
Hopalong
Have a gander
Oi, come back 'ere!
Lake with boat and d...
Lake with ducks
Things to Consider
There are several things to consider when Selecting a Field Guide. First, it must be appropriate for the region in which you live and second, it must be easy to use. It may be tempting to go with a field guide for your county or region but for your first field guide, it would be better to go with one that covers a fairly good range. Your bird watching terrain will increase as your skill and confidence increases. A local field guide will limit you. If you live in the southeastern part of the United States, consider a field guide that covers the eastern half of the country or the entire United States. 
I know you know me!
Another Point
The second point in Selecting a Field Guide. is ease of use. A large field guide may have more information and pictures in it, but they can be heavy and cumbersome to carry along into the field. The ideal field guide is compact and portable. It is used to identify the bird. The details that add to the bird watching experience can be obtained later. If you have truly caught the bird watching bug, your library of bird and bird watching books will increase over time. The information you want will be available to you. One of my favorite birds: The Purple Finch
IMG_1497
Purple Finch
thinking of you
Purple Finch
Purple Fincheroo
20080624-K10D-4183_2...
One More Thing
There are still a few more things to consider before picking up a field guide and heading to the checkout stand. Do you want a field guide with photographs, or is one with illustrations and paintings a better choice? When I sit down to look through a bird book, I prefer photographs to drawing and paintings, but when I'm trying to identify a new species, I prefer the illustrations.Photo field guides show the actual bird as it was photographed by a professional photographer. There is a disadvantage to that. Photographing birds is like photographing a small child, they don't always cooperate. They don't hold still and they rarely stay in the right position for long. It's difficult to make visual comparisons when the birds are not in the same position. Lighting and weather conditions come into play as well. And then there are seasonal changes. Many birds change their plumage with the seasons. With an illustration, the birds are in the correct position and the field marks, the physical traits used to identify the birds, are usually highlighted. With illustrations, the seasonal changes, the changes that come about as the bird matures, and the differences between the sexes can be highlighted as well.
Top Bird Watching Field Guides
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Fifth Edition
Nov 7, 2006
5 stars
40 reviews
Full color illustrations
Reader friendly features such as thumbtabs, placemarkers, and quick-find index.
Amazon Price: $16.32 (as of 07/11/2009) 
The Sibley Guide to Birds
Oct. 3, 2000
114 reviews
4.5 stars
Text blurbs are included along with the illustrations to facilitate identification. There are illustrations showing plumage variations by age, sex, and geography within a single species.
Amazon Price: $26.37 (as of 07/11/2009)
Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America
April 14, 2005
4.5 stars
43 Reviews
Digitally enhanced photographic images
Organized by bird family groupings rather than strict taxonomic classification.
Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 07/11/2009)
Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region (Stokes Field Guides)
Jan 29, 1996
4.5 stars
32 Reviews
Full-color photographs
Billed as the easiest-to-use and most comprehensive field guide to North American birds
Amazon Price: $13.49 (as of 07/11/2009)
A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America
April 4, 2002
47 Reviews
5 stars
Paintings and illustrations.
Petersons field guides are the landmark to which other field guides are judged.
(this is the one I use)
Amazon Price: $21.90 (as of 07/11/2009)
Select One
Now that you have narrowed down your choice of field guides, it's time to select one. Experts and seasoned birders have their preferences, but the biggest factor when choosing one for yourself is finding one you are comfortable with. If you are not comfortable with it, it will end up on the shelf collecting dust.Select one. Take it home and read through the instructions on how to use it. If your first attempts at identifying a bird are unsuccessful, don't give up. The more you use the field guide, the more familiar you will become with it. The more familiar you are with it, the easier it will be to use. Before you know it, you will be whipping through the pages and adding bird after bird to your Life List.
Some birds are easy to identify, others are not.
Baby woodpecker
Baby woodpecker
Baby woodpecker
Baby woodpecker
Baby woodpecker
Baby woodpecker
Learn More
Once you've started identifying the birds, you'll be hooked. Bird watching is the second fastest growing hobby in North America. It is second only to gardening. As your interest grows, you may want to invest in a pair of binoculars. Selecting the right pair of binoculars isn't any easier that selecting a field guide. For information on how to select a pair a binoculars, check out Selecting a Pair of Bird Watching Binoculars.Bird watching can be a pleasurable indoor activity as well as outdoors. Learn about the birds you have identified. Information on specific birds can be accessed through my Lensographies Busy Lizzy's Birds of Prey, Busy Lizzy's Backyard Birds, or Busy Lizzy's Aquatic Birds.
Enjoy your new found hobby.
America's 100 Most Wanted Birds
America's 100 Most Wanted Birds
Amazon Price: (as of 07/11/2009)
If you want to see a gyrfalcon or a fork-tailed flycatcher, this resource might be your best help in spotting them. Mostly for serious birders intent on adding species to their life lists, America's 100 Most Wanted Birds provides detailed strategies for locating 100 of the most uncommon-to-rare bird species in the United States.
Some of My Favorite Backyard Birds
The Bold and BeautifulThe American Goldfinch
The Blue Jay
The Northern Cardinal
Cheerful Singers
The European Starling
The Northern Mockingbird
The American Robin
The Shy Ones
The Eastern Bluebird
The Carolina Wren
What's your favorite bird?
JaguarJulie wrote...
Our bird guide is over 5 pounds and sits on our coffee table for quick reference.
Posted May 03, 2009
Evelyn_Saenz wrote...
Have you found any guides that describe the habits of birds such as whether they are more often seen in brush, woods or fields? Do you know of a guidebook that describes the nest shapes and materials used? Do you know of a guidebook that tells what each bird eats in the wild?
Posted January 05, 2009
Evelyn_Saenz wrote...
in reply to Jimmie I use the Silbey Guide for myself and any children I teach. With the wonderful illustrations I find that adult guidebooks work well for any age.
Posted January 05, 2009
About the Author
Lensmaster ElizabethJeanAllen, aka Lizzy Jean, has been a member since March 16 2008, has rated 3,689 lenses, favorited 454, and has created 169 lenses from scratch. Lizzy Jean donates their royalties to Squidoo Charity Fund. This member's top-ranked page is "The Mallard Duck". See all my lenses
101 Ways to Help Birds
101 Ways to Help Birds
Amazon Price: $15.56 (as of 07/11/2009)
101 Ways to Help Birds offers 101 ways for individuals to help birds and bird populations as a whole, and it explains how these actions make a difference. Any bird lover knows that birds and animals alike need our help. Without it, we will lose more and we've lost enough as it is.
Resources used to construct this page.
Peterson, T.P. & Peterson, V.M. 2002. Birds of Eastern and Central North America, Fifth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, N.Y.
Birding FAQ, Birdwatching.com
Alabama Wildbird Conservation Association
Recommended Resources on Birding and Natural History, Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory
by ElizabethJeanAllen
I tell my students to Learn from the Past, Live in the Present, and Plan for the Future. With Squidoo I can do all three.
(more) 
