Customer Reviews

A Field Guide to the Birds : A Completely New Guide to All the Birds of Eastern and Central North America (The Peterson Field Guide Series)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This classic guide was the first of its type, and thus probably got more people into birding than any other book. Peterson uses ink drawings to show the important "field marks" for identifying species. The downside to these drawings is that they tend to idealize the birds, showing them in perfect postures and making the field marks more prominent than they really are. Many competitors, such as the Audubon Guide and the Stokes Guide, use photographs instead. Photographs give a more accurate portrayal of the subtleties of color and pattern in plumage, but there are always those poor shots in a photographic guide that are blurry or show the bird at a bad angle. Whether you decide that a guide based on drawings or photographs is best for you, I would strongly suggest that you pick up an audio recording of birdsongs, such as "Birding by Ear," or the "Field Guide to Eastern/Central Bird Songs," both put out by Peterson's. As any experienced birder will tell you, the ear is just as important as the eye, especially in summer, when birds are often hidden by foliage.

I've got several field guides dealing with the identification of birds. This one from Roger Tory Peterson is the best and most impressive. I first got a copy of it many years ago when I was very young. I've always taken it with me whenever I go birdwatching. I have that much confidence in it. Peterson's drawings are excellent, clear, and in full color. The field guide includes all of the birds of eastern and central North America. This includes accidentals, exotics, and escapes. The field guide also includes roadside and flight silhouettes. These silhouettes really do help in the identification of many species of birds. The book also has a systematic checklist that you can use to mark off the birds that you've seen. Range maps are included, too. All the vital information needed to identify birds in the field is here. Information such as habitat, voice, and length. The range maps have a section of their own in the back of the book. Peterson's method of identifying birds by conspicuous field marks (The "Peterson System") is great. This system has always been a real help. Arrows point to various parts of the bird that most readily help to identify it. There's also a section in the front of the guide that explains how to identify birds. This section is very informative. I've used this field guide for many years. I have other field guides that stay on the shelf whenever I go birdwatching. This guide from Roger Tory Peterson isn't one of those. This is the best field guide on the market. I recommend it.

I looked at nine or ten bird books over the weekend before finally deciding on this one. I like it's compact size, durable cover and it's very complete index. The most important reason for my decision, however, is the fact that it shows pictures of both male and female birds where the female bird's plummage and head differ from that of the male. None of the other books I checked showed female birds or only showed them in very rare instances. I also like this book because it shows most birds in both standing or swimming positions and also in flight. There are also occasional drawings of chicks.

The text that accompanies the pictures is necessarily brief but covers: Latin and common names, description, food, range, migratory pattern, habitat, voice and similar species. Also included is a "Systematic Checklist" so you can keep a "life list" of all the birds you've seen. There is a guide to identifying birds by visual categories (swimmers, birds of prey, waders, perching birds, etc), size, tail and wing patterns. The last part of the book contains maps illustrating each bird's range which makes it easy to compare the habitat of, for example, an Olive-Sided Flycatcher with an Acadian Flycatcher.

Obviously this is a guidebook and not the type of book you sit down and read through, but I have found myself reading the entries for the often amusing "voice" sections. Here's the one for the Chestnut-Sided Warbler: "Song, similar to Yellow Warbler's; 'see see see see Miss Beech'er' or 'pleased pleased pleased to meet'cha;' penultimate note accented, last note dropping." Hey, someone who knows what "penultimate" really means!

For a begining birder I found this book very good as a guide and very easy to use. It has helped me to identify over 50 different birds visiting my back yard feeders.

The Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds is the best such guide you will find. The nice thing about birds and birding is that there are few enough species out there that you can get virtually all of them in one regional guide.

This book is outstanding. It relies on illustrations rather than photographs to show markings and other details used to ID birds in the field. I find that photos are often sub-standard, not showing characters essential for identifying birds due to the position of the bird, markings of the individual chosen for inclusion in the book, etc.

In this book each entry includes a bird's common and scientific names, a brief physical description of the body and coloration, a drawing(s) of the bird, a brief description of habitats where they are likely to be seen, a blip about their geographic distribution, notes on their song, and reference to similar species (if any). The entry also refers the reader to a map number that shows the summer and winter ranges for each bird.

This is "the bird book" to have for birds that live east of the Rockies for the novice and experienced birder alike. If you've never had much luck figuring out which birds you are looking at try this book.

5 stars all the way!

Note: if you travel much throughout the USA, you ought to pick up the Peterson Guide to Western Birds as well -- it is the sister book to this one. With both of those books in hand you will be in good birding shape.

Alan Holyoak, Dept of Biology, Manchester College, IN

I ordered this book since it was labeled as being "Completely New". However, on receipt, I found that it was exactly the same "Fourth Edition" I have had for around 20 years. This is a VERY good and helpful book for identifing birds. I recommend it to new birders.

Being a nature freak myself, I enjoy just leafing through this guide to look at all of the wonderful species of birds that there are, just in Eastern North America. Peterson's genious and talent are very evident in this book. His drawings show his meticulous efforts to help educate beginners and pros alike about the wonderful world of Ornithology. Although the gull and warbler section of the book are quite lengthy, they are so important because of the great diversity of those species. This is a fantastic companion on family trips, especially those that are out of your normal realm. I first used the field guide in my junior Honors Biology class when we watched in the fall for the migrating geese and ducks and also in the spring for the returning travelers. Peterson specifically notes the identification arrows that can eleviate confusion about certain members of the same genus. Also, his range maps assist in answering questions about the whereabouts of certain birds at certain times of the year. I love to feed birds in my backyard while identifying all of my visitors throughout the summer. His checklist is also very helpful. My most thrilling birding moment was when I saw a pair of bald eagles hunting for fish within two miles of my high school! To see them in the book and to see them in person are two completely different things. Also, another area of interest is the description of the calls of birds. I always wonder how someone could come up with words to describe the sound that a bird makes. But Peterson does a wonderful job in describing these tones. Another helpful entity is his overhead views of the larger birds, like eagles and hawks.
All in all this guide is one of the most helpful guides I have ever used. This is the perfect type of company that you should take on your vacations, camping trips, and outdoor activities. Not only does this guide help to identify birds in their natural habitat, it also helps people appreciate the gifts that nature has to offer. Peterson's descriptions are unmatched in the world of birding and birdwatching. From mergansers to kites to finches to exotics, this guide covers all birds, all in one cover.

I have an older edition of this book and must say that it's the best field guide available. It's a true classic and is always the one that goes with me out in the field. There's nothing missing. The bird drawings are truly the best I've seen in a bird identification book. It's also the easiest to carry along when I go birding. A step above all of the others. Roger Tory Peterson truly produced an indispensable field guide.

I use both Peterson and Audubon guides for identifying wildlife, and I find that while they are both quite good, Petersons are better for rapid identification of something that just went buy in a flash. Peterson guides are much better at pointing out the key differences that distinguish one species from another, making it a better aid for rapid identification. This book is as good as any other in the Peterson series, which is to say that it is very good.

Potential buyers ought to know that this is really a book copyrighted back in 1973. It is not a new book as one might expect..... which has it as a 1998 book. I just received (11/2000) my copy.... Nowhere can I find that it is a 4th edition, although inside the front cover it does say that Roger died in 1996. So it probably is a reprint in 1998 of the old book and there appears not to have been any updating. It has wonderful color plates of birds, good field mark descriptions, brief range listings, but no maps showing species ranges.