Customer Reviews

The Backyard Birdsong Guide: Eastern and Central North America (Cornell Lab of Ornithology Audio Field Guides)

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Wow!! What a terrific book . . . the text, the sounds, the selection of species, the layout . . . everything works perfectly together. I opened my pre-release copy, intending to spend just a few minutes and return to it later. Two hours went by, and I was still reading and listening; I couldn't stop turning the pages.

Of course, I went right to my favorite birds, reading the text and pushing the buttons to listen, as I expect that most people will do. But then I settled in and went to other species, and then I read the introductory pages. The information there will bring you to a whole new level of enjoying these remarkable creatures.

I have struggled for years to identify birds through their song, aided by mostly meaningless mnemonics as these are presented in most guides. For the first time, Kroodsma's full description of each species' song gives readers enough detail and context to help them understand what they are listening to. These birds come to life in the text and then the icing is the lovely songs themselves. Push the loon button and you are immediately transported to remote northern lakes. Push the phoebe button and hear how he sings his two different songs. Hear how animated a pewee is at dawn compared to later in the day. Try the wrens, thrushes, warblers, sparrows. They're all there and more, in the text and at the push of a button!

This is a truly special book. I'd give it ten stars if I could. Now I have the perfect gift to give to my friends to show them why I've always been so thrilled to hear a singing bird.

I bought this guide and the much larger "Bird Songs". I prefer this one by far. There are more song comparisons and much more in depth descriptions. It's also a manageable size. I love it.

This book is suitable for all ages! The bird calls are clear and easily recognizable with what you hear in your "backyard". Good learning tool.
You can call birds with these recordings and they will answer you. Easy to use and worth every penny.

This is one of my favorite coffee table books. We live out in the country and this book has helped identify many of the local birds that pass our way.

I LOVE this book! How often is it that you cannot see the birds you are trying to identify very well? I find it is more likely that you are able to hear them more clearly than they can be seen, and this book allows you to identify by sound, it's great. It can also be great fun to excite most cats and drive them a bit crazy. I hightly recomend this book to everyone.

This book is a great way to become familiar with the birds that surround our environment. It is an easy access book. The sound and mini speaker system works very well. No more looking in books that try to describe in words the bird's sound. No more trying to locate the specific bird sound on a CD. Just look up the bird and punch the number and there you are, quick and easy. It is a great book at a great price! It is a must for anyone who enjoys the little winged angels that visit our yards. The illustrations are also accurate and beautiful.

Wow!! What a terrific book . . . the text, the sounds, the selection of species, the layout . . . everything works perfectly together. And, the Western book is just as impressive as its eastern companion.

I opened my pre-release copy, intending to spend just a few minutes and return to it later. Two hours went by, and I was still reading and listening; I couldn't stop turning the pages.

Of course, I went right to my favorite birds, reading the text and pushing the buttons to listen, as I expect that most people will do. But then I settled in and went to other species, and then I read the introductory pages. The information there will bring you to a whole new level of enjoying these remarkable creatures.

I have struggled for years to identify birds through their song, aided by mostly meaningless mnemonics as these are presented in most guides. For the first time, Kroodsma's full description of each species' song gives readers enough detail and context to help them understand what they are listening to. These birds come to life in the text and then the icing is the lovely songs themselves. Push the loon button and you are immediately transported to remote northern lakes. Push the phoebe button and hear how he sings his two different songs. Hear how animated a pewee is at dawn compared to later in the day. Try the wrens, thrushes, warblers, sparrows. They're all there and more, in the text and at the push of a button!

This is a truly special book. I'd give it ten stars if I could. Now I have the perfect gift to give to my friends to show them why I've always been so thrilled to hear a singing bird.

(Originally submitted 4/29/08 but missing from current list of reviews)

Any home library strong in field guides probably has more than one bird book; but this is something different, offering an interactive format in audio word as well as written language and visual images. Some seventy unique birds from Eastern North America are featured in a book which offers one-touch buttons of digital audios to pair with descriptions of songs, calls and behaviors. Home birders who want to identify by more than pictures will find this an easy, appealing guide with a difference.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is a GREAT book. I would recommend this to anyone who ever has the chance to listen to birdsong (in other words, everyone I know). It's amazing. I've already learned to identify several species, and I've only had this book for a week.

I've tried to use birdsong CD's, but with little success. The sound quality is probably slightly better than this book, just because you can play a CD on high quality sound equipment, but it's always really hard to find the right track when you're trying to compare different songs. It often ended up being frustrating and not very enlightening.

But the push-button audio feature on this book lets you get to a track within seconds. The sound quality could also possibly be improved by adding a jack for earbuds--that would also allow the user to listen without interfering with the songs of the actual birds. It's considered unethical to mess with the natural order by playing birdsongs that might affect the birds' behavior, so playing this book in the wild should be done only sparingly. (I admit that I did play this book for the neighborhood sparrows, and they flocked to the bush I was sitting under, so THEY considered the recordings accurate.) I find this book to be very useful when I hear a lot of birdsong at one time, such as at sunrise, and matching different songs to different "layers" of sound in the neighborhood helps me pinpoint who's hanging out.

The authors usually give you a choice with each species: one of daytime calls and one of male's performance, or a dawn call and flocking call, for instance.

The best feature of this book is that it integrates audio with well-written text and beautiful illustrations. You can read about a particular bird that you've seen and heard. The write-ups focus on the types of song each species produces, and when you're most likely to hear it. It helps me connect the dots much faster--I don't have to go paging through a field guide to get my bearings, although I can always look up supplemental information in another book later.

This book is by no means a toy, although you might think it's exclusively for younger bird enthusiasts. (You might be familiar with the sound technology from kids' "talking" books, with the little sound chip that's triggered by a button.) It's appropriate for anyone who camps, hikes, or just sits outside on the patio with a cup of coffee and the morning paper.

Of course, this is not an all-inclusive book. It would weigh about ten pounds if the publishers tried to cover every song of every bird, even though they've limited this to the Eastern/Central US. Still, I was disappointed that more raptorial species were not included. We live within Chicago's city limits, and we are frequently visited by kestrels and Cooper's hawks. The authors list other resources for enhancing the birdsong experience, though, so you could find tracks online of almost any bird you come across in the wild.

Cornell is, of course, the epicenter of all things ornithological, and one of the great things they do is bring the world of birds to the layperson. This is a perfect example.

As an added bonus, the cat is intrigued by the book, and keeps trying to "release" the finches and vireos she believes are trapped under the sound board. I'm not saying you should get this to entertain your cat, but it IS very cute.

Love, Love, Love the book. When I ordered this title,I was excited about being able to put calls with each bird. I didn't think to order one for my 6 year old granddaughter. When we sat down together to look at it, she absolutely fell head over heels. What a great way to teach a little one.