Customer Reviews

A Field Guide to the Birds of Texas: and Adjacent States (Peterson Field Guide)

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

 

 

For each bird, Peterson gives field marks, similar species, and where found (overall and within Texas) as the main information; the latter is useful for elimination. Where appropriate he also has sections for voice and nest. The emphasis on field identification is good, with additional sections showing, for example, silhouettes of accipiters, falcons, kites and harriers to show the differences.

However, many of the plates are black and white, or line drawings, and this is a significant drawback. For that reason I'd recommend John Tveten's The Birds of Texas instead, although it's not as handy out in the field, and has less coverage of casuals and accidentals. The organization of the Peterson is good enough that you might want to get both.

This guide is good for identifying birds of Texas, the ranges are listed by their proximity to cities. There are no color plates, but the descriptions are pretty good. Would like to see information on feeding. I would recommend a supplemental guide (National Geographic 3rd Ed.) for additional information.

Range identification excellent but, although there is a 1998 date on the book, the names do not agree with current ABA nomenclature. Illustrations and descriptions are separated and minimal use of color limits the usefullness. When used for identification, range information is the most usefull. Not up to the standard expected in connection with the Peterson name.

I am an amateur bird watcher in Central Texas. I don't know much about them so "COLOR" pictures are very important to me in order to identify them. He describes them well but the pics aren't good. There are no color pics of the Titmice, Swallows,Pigeons, Doves,Purple Martins. These birds are so common and I don't understand why he wouldn't have color pics. So now I have to get another book so I can see pics and tell the difference bewteen a Starling, Purple Martin and some swallows.

Although it does lack the color pages, the most useful aspect for the novice are the plates with the field marks clearly located. To the complete novice, birds are often "that little brown job over there" or "that darkish-kind of thing up in that tree." Although I love my color Audubon guide, I find that I reach for the Peterson guide more frequently when deciding between species.

I love watching the birds in my yard, and this one shows all the birds around my Texas home. Great reference book.

In it's time ,this was a very good Field Guide for the Birds of Texas by Roger Tory Peterson,the unquestioned best author of Bird Field Guides at the time. However,that was when it was first published in 1960.However;50 years later there are much better Field Guides to choose from.Also,one can buy several guides that cover all the birds in North America,thus making a guide like this unnecessary.
I would strongly advise that one should first buy a guide such as "The National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America,5th Edition " that I reviewed on November 9,2006.There are many other reviews there as well that describe that and other guides and what to look for when buying a "Bird Book".If you want a guide,and don't have that one;you will never regret buying it.Most birders own several different guides,but the one most popular with most birders is the Nat.Geo.

Sorry, but this book is too complicated for the average person, or maybe it was just us, we wanted to be able to identify different birds that came to our feeder and feel this book would have to be memorized first, to be of any use.

Do not waste your time getting this book, just get the larger regional book. Who in the world would put black & white pictures of the birds in this book when the same colored version exists in another book? How cheap can you get! Do not pay more than $5 for this book.

I bought this book to supplement Peterson's Birds of Mexico et al. for a trip to the Yucatan peninsula. My goal was to obtain color pictures of all the birds in Cozumel and the nearby peninsula of Yucatan. To be complete in this regard, one needs both North American Eastern and Western Peterson books and the Texas book and the Mexican book. On a bird-watching hike in the Yucatan peninsula I carried Peterson East, Texas and Mexico. The illustrations were almost complete as compared to a checklist of birds of Cozumel (Google). Peterson is very succinct and misses few field marks.