Customer Reviews

Birds of Michigan Field Guide, Second Edition

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

 

 

The second edition of "Birds of Michigan Field Guide" has a two-CD set (sold separately) called "Birds of Michigan Audio CD Set." It is designed as a companion to this book. The calls are in the same order as in the book, and I strongly recommend that you purchase both the audio and the field guide.

Stan Tekiela's classification scheme by color makes perfect sense for his book, but is a bit confusing for the CDs, especially if you can hear the unknown bird but have not yet sighted it.

Another minor complaint is that not all Michigan birds are represented in this field book. Among the missing are the Vireos (Red-eyed and Yellow-throated), swamp sparrow, and Michigan's most common thrushes (Wood Thrush, Veery, and Hermit Thrush). And where are the name-sayers such as the Whip-poor-will, Chuck-will's-widow, or the Eastern Wood-Pewee?

The real reason you want to buy this book, along with the more standard Sibley's or Peterson's guides is a feature called "Stan's Notes." Some of my favorite tidbits include:

* Female Goldeneyes will lay their eggs in other Goldeneye nests, leaving some poor females with up to 30 eggs to brood.

* Blue Jay feathers don't have any blue pigment. The feather structure refracts sunlight which we see as blue.

* House Sparrows are not really sparrows but belong to the Weaver Finch family.

* Barred Owls are one of the few owls to take fish out of a lake. They are also one of the few owls that hunt during the day.

* The Tufted Titmouse is notorious for pulling hair from sleeping dogs, cats and squirrels to line its nest.

The photographs of male and female birds are very clear and representative of the species. Each included species has its size recorded, as well as the coloring of the male, female, and juvenile. The nest and eggs are described, as well as incubation and fledging times. Other items include migratory habits, food eaten, and which birds a particular species can be compared to. A map of Michigan is also included, showing summer and winter ranges, as well as migratory routes across the state if pertinent.

The binding of this book is a bit loose for a field guide, but it is a nice size to tuck into your backpack.

This book and all the other "Birds of (state)" guides by Stan Tekiela seem to bring out the worst in experienced birders. While I am a beginner at birding, this dislike of Tekiela's guides is somewhat understandable. To experienced birders, a bird guide in which the birds are listed by color, not taxonomy, is bordering on criminal. Many of those birders seem to have forgotten that they were once novices and likely confused sparrows with wrens or finches.

A beginning birder is likely to be overwhelmed by all the birds listed in a Sibley Guide, Kaufmann Focus Guide, or even a Peterson Guide. What better for a beginner than a book that lists the 100+ most common birds in their state in order of color. You see a brown bird with a small beak and a light yellow chest, you flip to the brown birds and only have to browse through 40 or so birds to try and find what you saw. Easy.

After a few months, you'll begin to recognize sparrows, finches, warblers for what they are (maybe not the exact species) and will want a more advanced book.

This book is the best at what it is. A guide for beginning birders or people who only look at birds out in their backyard feeders. Don't compare it to the Sibley, Kaufmann, etc....

Highly Recommended!

I agree with the first review written by "starmoth". Different from Peterson's Eastern Birds CD, which groups calls by similar sounds, is that the author narrates informative tidbits, which really works. Tekiela does not have a generic narrator voice, and the narrative flows well with the birdsong. The narrative is suprisingly helpful for verbal learners like myself--some of the unusual information Tekiela mentions helps the calls stand out and ties them to the verbal memory area of the brain, strengthening the recall by association of the bird call with the narrative. Because it is narrowed down to the state of Michigan, it provides a good review & selectively reinforces those birds by sound as well as sight. I really like that the CD gives a different "track" to each bird song; it makes it easy to sort out bird calls that I hear in the yard when I cannot see the birds, but have them narrowed down to a few; so it can be used as an aural field guide.

Make sure you get the set! The book is available as a set with a matching CD that comes in a tasteful leather storage binder (the set was also less expensive than the two items individually). I also strongly recommend the field guide Birds of Michigan by Black & Kennedy, which includes migrants and more specific habitat range for the state than I have seen in more comprehensive field guides.

We bought this book to help us identify the various birds coming to our feeders. The book is perfect for anyone who wants a quick, easy way to identify most birds commonly found in Michigan. The birds are listed by their primary color, which makes it easy for a non-expert to locate the correct bird. Also, the book provides a brief synopsis of the bird's characteristics and habits, which we found quite interesting. Lastly, the book's small size allows us to set it on the windowsil allowing us easy access when a new bird visits our yard.

I teach field biology and bird identification, and my students have used many books, including this one. I prefer other Michigan birds books (Birds of Michigan by Black and Kennedy) or even A Field Guide to the Birds: A Completely New Guide to All the Birds of Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides(R)), which I have always found to be accurate and informative. Beginning birders often think that photos are better, but illustrations are actually much more helpful because they highlight differences and nuances that are critical for identification. I also prefer Birding by Ear for learning songs, rather than the one that accompanies this book.

A really nice little book for the amateur bird watcher. The pictures are beautiful, and A GREAT HELP IN IDENTIFYING BIRDS. Written descriptions are helpful, but brief.

This is an excellent book for those who are not bird experts but would like some interesting information on birds you might find and are curious about. Book is small, compact size to take into the field without being cumbersome. Photos are excellent and I like how the birds are grouped by general color for quick reference. No need to know the scientific names though they are given below the common name at the top of the page.

The fact that this book only contains 100+ birds when MI has 400+ birds is explained right in the front of the book. This is a guide containing the more common species and is a lovely book to have. Do I wish it had ALL the MI birds? Yes, but only because Stan Tekiela is such an excellent author, I certainly don't have anything negative to say about his work. This book just leaves me wanting more. Hear that, Stan? :o) I have a field guide for birds of north america with only drawn illustrations and I hate it.

If you want sorting by genus etc, keep looking....and quit complaining. I for one, LOVE the format of Stan's books, the color-coding, etc. and I hope he always keeps it simple for use by regular people. Getting too scientific & complex would just turn it into a school book, yuck. This book should be more complete because it's so excellent. I have the mammals guide, too (which IS complete) and can't WAIT to get his wildflowers, trees, & reptiles/ampibians books.

I got this book for my husband and he loves it. Nice full color pictures and easy to read information. He wanted a book to look up the birds that visit our bird-feeders on our up north property. This book is perfect for him.

This is the 3rd book I've purchased. I have one, and as my grandchildren reach the age of 8, I give them this book, a bird house, bird feeder and and art supplies. I think it's never too young to start bird-watching, and they can draw them or photograph them, wherever their creativity leads them.