Customer Reviews

Birds of North America (American Museum of Natural History)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As an avid Birder for more than 20 years,I have built up a rather extensive library of "Bird Books",now exceeding 1200.Why so many? There are so many because there are so many people interested in birds and not only are their interests different,but also their knowlege and experiences.Just to mention a few;some are interested only in local birds,some are interested in all of North America,some in certain countries ,some in the whole world. Some are deeply interested in certain birds such as Gulls,Hawks,Ducks,Songbirds,etc.Some want a book to take "in the field" to assist in identification;while others want one to have at home.Some are interested in great detail such as behavior,reproduction,migration,eggs,nesting and habitat,and on and on.Therefore there are books that cover all these things in a general way;while others deal with only one aspect buti in great detail.
Before buying a book for yourself ,it is worth reading a lot of the reviews of books here on Amazon.Generally,the reviewers point out the good and not so good points of the books;and then you have to decide which points apply to you. No book meets all the needs and very few people interested in birds are satisfied with only one book.If you are buying a book as a gift for someone else,a brief discussion with them or someone who knows their birding interests,will be a lot of help in deciding.
I have posted Reviews on quite a few of the more popular books you will find in the larger bookstores or here on Amazon.
This paticular book is an excellent choice for several reasons.It is well constructed,and needs to be for its large size 10.9 X 9 X2 inches,and weighs nearly 6 and 1/2 pounds.It's definitely a book to use at a desk or table,it lies flat when opened,the photographs are large and excellent,normally a complete page for each bird species,large sized print,excellent quality paper, printing,and color reproduction.For each bird there is one large photo,an in-flight illustration,identification features pointed out,comparisons with similar species showing differences,range maps showing where the species is found in the various seasons,various plumages of young,adult,breeding and non breeding stages,photos showing habitat, flight diagrams and much more information. There is a short text on each bird that covers occurrence,voice ,songs and sounds,nesting,feeding,etc.
So,this book covers just about everything that most people would want in a book on birds and would be greatly appreciated,useful and enjoyable .
Hoewver,you must remember ,this is not a book you will want to "carry around with you". For that purpose,I strongly recommend ,what has become the most popular book for Birders,and one that most people use and take wherever they go. That book is "The Field Guide to the Birds of North America" By National Geographic.(See my review)
Both of these books are excellent but they serve different purposes.

Earlier this summer I was looking at our bird feeders. I love looking at fledglings begging their parents for food. But one caught my eye: a brown bird was begging for food from a bird that had a brown body, a black head and a black neck. They were both of comparable size, both had brown eyes, but the fledgling - fluttering its wings and gaping to be fed - had a short bill; the bird that fed the fledgling had a long beak. OK, the fledgling was a cowbird, but what was that bird feeding it? A hatch-year starling? A young grackle? An immature redwing blackbird?

I looked in our various references and decided I did not have enough information. I looked on the web. Not enough info. So I ordered the American Museum of Natural History's Birds of North America from Amazon. It cost hardly more than copies from associated sellers, and my wife tells me that DK books are beautiful and useful these days (in the past they were more pretty that useful). She was right.

You open the book's large pages and find yourself looking at large posed photographs as explicit as drawings or paintings. Because of their size and careful posing, you see much more than you do in other books. More: Photographs from the wild. Spread-wing paintings. Scientific classification. The birds are grouped, with page edge coloring that show the groupings. Lots of summary data in tables on the bottoms of pages. One page per species for almost all the birds, so there is room for lots of information. A quarter page (these are big pages - 8.5 x 11 inches) for the rare species, and a list of "vagrants" (visitors from other continents).

I was entranced when it arrived. I looked at page after page. Finally, I pulled myself from browsing and searched for my bird. I found it on page 634: a common grackle. Other books tell me juveniles have dark eyes. That and the fact that the bird was not shiny suggests it was a young female from an earlier brood. I thank grackles, for they led me to this book.

Though not thorough by any means, this guide gives the novice bird watcher a good place to start. Great coffee table book!

Excellent use of photographs and brief but meaningful summaries of unique species data. Views highlighting identifying marks in flight and distinguishing characteristics versus "frequently mistaken for" species are very useful for both novice and experienced birders.

I've had many a bird book over the years, but this one beats them all, hands down! There are so many facts (like weight, flight pattern, song) that you don't get elsewhere. To top it all off, it has a beautiful display of bird pictures for comparison. I use it side by side with my Peterson Field Guide. The only drawback is that it is too big to take with you in t6he field. Peterson fills the gap.

Perhaps the most comprehensive North American Bird Guide on the market. It's big; this is not a field guide but rather a home reference. The book is very well illustrated and has all of the content of a full featured desk reference of birds.

Disclaimer: 170 of the photos in the book are mine so there is some bias but I do not give 5's easily.

I was blessed to receive this book as a gift and I find it to be superb. The illustrations are magnificent and the information and organization are just as great. I highly recommend this for the beginning and advanced birder. It is just the right gift for a young person who is interested in the wide dispersal of birds here in North America.

The author and Dorling Kindersley are to be commended for the ease of use and the depth of knowledge that this book offers to the reader. I will be using this book on a planned vacation to the Canadian Rockies and the Great National Parks in the US this summer.

One of the best identification books available. If you have this and The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds, there is no need for additional bird books unless you want a small field guide. The Audubon Society Encyclopedia is better for the ornithology, but this book far surpasses it for identification. I highly recommend this for any serious "birder."

This book has more information than any bird book I own. It inculdes how long they live,mating habits, quirks etc. As well as the normal bird book info. My 84 yr old mother now owns one. It is awesome.

This is the very best at home bird identification book that I have ever seen!!! It is a large book, not meant for use in the field.
The drawings are beutiful, accurate, and make identification so much easier. Information on each bird as to habitat,locations depending on time of the year, male or female, how they look in flight, what they eat, where the are most likely to be found,is there, easy to read. This is absolutely my favorite bird book.