Customer Reviews

Birds of the Carolinas Field Guide, Second Edition: Companion to Birds of the Carolinas Audio CDs

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having just started bird watching as a hobby, I found the 'Birds of the Carolinas Field Guide' to be my most used birding book. While birding in North/South Carolina why thumb through a book of all North American birds? This book has the birds of the Carolinas sectioned by color making identification easier. The photos are clear with helpful text to help with identification.

I also bought the companion CDs with the sounds of the birds as well. Though the CDs are great reference (and I will undoubtably use them more as I learn more about birds), this book is where I spend much of my time.

I have always been frustrated by bird books -- either I can't locate anything that resembles the feathered creature in front of me, or I identify the perfect match ... only to discover that the bird I claim to have seen has never been spotted within a thousand miles of my locale.

Stan Tekiela's book takes care of everything:

The title says it all! There's no way you can foolishly identify the rare Didgerywhatsit, which nests only in the Rocky Mountains -- if the bird isn't found here in the Carolinas, it's not within these pages;

The photographs actually look just like the real, live birds (why haven't others managed this??); and

It is organized by colour, so it is as easy to identify the relatively drab females as it is the showier males.

We have had enormous fun with this little volume, and can't recommend it too highly.

We have two dozen field guides and identifiers for birds - this one book is faster than all the rest to identify what is at our feeder, on the trail or along the road. It almost seems too simple - why don't all the other guides we have go by ... color ... seems too simple right? D'oh. I almost feel like I'm cheating when I use this book - other books seem too snobberish - read: if you are a *real* birder, use our complete guide. Find a bird, lookup the color or color combination, look through 10 pages and presto - identified. How hard can that be?

If you could only get one birding book ... get this one. Or, in my case, if I only have room to pack one book, I always pack this one.

Side-note: The companion CDs are great too, and they match the pages up nicely to the book, but frankly I can't identify by ear - maybe I' tone deaf ... but they are nicely arranged discs. My wife likes them more.

This is an excellent field guide to the common birds of North and South Carolina for the begining birder or even someone who just enjoys watching the birds that come to their feeder. The guide places each of the birds into a section based on its plumage. Each set of facing pages has a photo of the bird, a map of where and when it might be found, as well as some basic facts about the bird. One of the most important features of each bird's description is the section on similar looking birds, which allows you to accurately determine which bird you are looking at. The author has even placed birds whose sexes differ onto seperate pages within the appropriate color sections. The book ends with a checklist/index which allows you to keep track of the birds you've seen. Give the kids this book, a pair of binoculars and point out the checklist and they'll be busy for hours!!!

This book is perfect for rookies. The color coded tabs helped me to quickly look up the bird's that were clustering at my new feeder. I just wanted to know a little bit about each species to better enjoy them. I now keep this the book near my window, so that I can idententify all types of birds that flock in and around my yard.

This book is most definately a great investment.

(I love the compact size)

This little book has covered every bird we've seen at our Charleston, SC feeder. Nice photos, good descriptions and durable book construction make this a nice take along guide.

Birds of the Carolinas and the companion CD have been without a doubt the best field guide we have purchased. I refer to it on a regular basis and find the new color coded format extremely easy to use. It is well worth purchasing even if you have several other guides!!

I love this field guide! It has full page pictures on the left side, making it easy to just flip through the book and find the bird that you're looking for. And limiting it to just the birds in the Carolinas eliminates the irritation of thinking that you've figured out waht bird it is - only to find that that bird only lives in Arizona!

This book is so easy to use. All of the birds are grouped by color, which is so intuitive. All you have to do is flip to the right color section and browse through until you find the bird you want to identify.

I work in a bookstore, and I am constantly recommending this book to everyone who wants a book to identify the visitors to their backyard.

I found this book to be very informative & easy to find a particular bird since they are grouped by color. However, I'm a little confused by the photo & description of the Carolina Chickadee. I've lived in Western North Carolina since Spring, 2006 & the "Chickadee" I've always seen doesn't have the tan belly as the one pictured in the book. The "Chickadee" I've seen has mostly a white belly & has a white streak on the wing. It looks most like the pictures identifying the Black-Capped Chickadee I've seen in other bird identification books. I am wondering why the author did not include a photo & description of the Black-Capped Chickadee.