Customer Reviews

National Geographic Complete Birds of North America

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National Geographic have done it again.When it comes to Field Guides for the birds of North America,none surpass their (Nat. Geo.) most popular "Field Guide to the Birds of North America.It was first published in 1983 with 295,000 copies.It took the birding world by storm and immediately became the favorite.I can't think of a Birder who hasn't got a copy,for the simple reason there is no better overall choice.Since first appearing,it's now in it's 4th Edition and a total of 1,565,000 copies.Also a 5th Edition is planned for 2006.Each new edition is an update with a small number of rare birds being added plus other updates.In spite of the new edition,the earlier editions are still very good and useful.These guides are manufactured with the highest quality so as to stand tremendous use and abuse in the field.See my review of this book dated February 7,2005.
So now we get something new from National Geographic which I expect to be just as popular.It is intended as 'companion' to the above field guide.It is a much larger book,being 7" by 12" and 2" thick,much too big and heavy to carry in the field.This book will be used at home to get more information about a bird that simply can't be included in any reasonably sized field guide.It covers all birds found in North America,including Greenland.There are 4,000 illustrations covering sexes,seasonal plumages,variations,range maps,migration maps and just about anything a Birder would want.It does an excellent job of showing how to differentiate between similar species.There are also 150 stunning color photographs of birds which include the location and month the photo was taken.The book is extremely well made;has excellent paper,printing and color rendition;and has 664 pages.Another outstanding aspect of this book is its cost,$35 US or $48 Can.;unbelievable compared to the cost of books today.
This book has just 'come out'and would make an appreciated gift for any Birder.Whether they are new to the hobby or have been Birding for a long time,or have a casual interest and want a good bird book around the home,cottage ,school or library;it's a terrific choice.
What you got here is a book without equal at a great price,you simply couldn't go wrong.
On top of all that Jon Dunn ,one of the top Birders,was the Chief Consultant for the Field Guide and is also involved with this book;so it is little wonder that this book is so good.

This book has excellent content, but the first printing had the stiff binding that wouldn't allow the book to open fully, making it very difficult to read. The second printing has a more flexible spine where the pages are just stuck to it. After four months of very casual use, the pages began falling out. This is the poorest bound book that I have ever seen.

This new book published by National Geographic, "Complete Birds of North America: Companion to the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America," edited by Jonathan Alderfer, is a must-have book for bird watchers-yes, even backyard birders.
The National Geographic's "Field Guide to the Birds of North America" has long been a field guide of choice-it's all about the text, rather than the illustrations in this guide.
The "Geo" guide offers fine artwork, as do many other field guides, but the clincher to making a positive identification is found in the textual descriptions of the birds in the "Geo" more frequently than in any other guide. And it's the text in the new companion that makes this book so special, and worth every penny of the $35 price.
Each of the 82 bird families, 962 species, found on the continent north of Mexico, plus islands within 200 miles of the coast with the exception of Greenland, opens with a photograph of a bird representing the family and a general essay about the family. Topics covered include the family's general behavior and distribution, among other details.
For instance, under "taxonomy" for skuas, gulls, terns and skimmers, recent genetic work shows that "skuas and jaegers are found to be more closely related to the alcids than to the gulls." Such information adds a new dimension to birding, making us think anew about the birds we observe so casually.
The artwork of the individual species displays seasonal plumages and different poses of the birds as they might be seen in the field. Within the individual biographical sketches, for instance, the white-breasted nuthatch, the basic information on identification, voice and habitat also has added comments on similar species for comparison purposes, and comments on its dispersal and migration.
Throughout the book, sidebars offer insightful details on topics such as aid to identifying female bluebirds or ways to distinguish between two similar birds in confusing fall plumage, Tennessee and orange-crowned warblers.
At this time of year, large flocks of common redpolls are beginning to arrive in this area, and sometimes a hairy redpoll is hanging out with its cousin, the common. It's no easy task to distinguish a hoary from a common. There is nothing more fun and challenging-and frustrating-than distinguishing two similar species.
With the "Geo" companion in hand, the flock of redpolls at the feeder can be studied and compared, and the sidebar referred to for the finer differences between the two, pointing the way to making a positive identification.
The new hefty tome, at 664 pages, has updated range maps for each species. In some accounts, the Arctic tern for example, an additional, larger "specialty" map shows its long-range migration routes. Having such a visual display, a bird's eye view as it were, on the same page as its range in North America brings a new appreciation for this tiny, 12-inch circumpolar migrant.
National Geographic's Complete Guide, with its 4,000 illustrations of common birds to rare migrants and detailed information on each species, easily acts as a soft step between a field guide and scientific studies for the enquiring birder. For the backyard birder, having such a comprehensive reference tool built into a single guide is the essential fuel needed to lead a birder into looking deeper into the lives of these feathered creatures.

The single most noticeable thing about this book is how poorly it was manufactured. The spine seems to be made from steel making it impossible to ever fully open the book and an exercise in frustration to read. This problem is greatly exacerbated by the fact that the text runs way down into the deep dark recesses of the crevasse created by the horrible binding. The actaully printing however is very good. The pictures are clear with good color and the paper is of high quality. This makes it even more of a shame that the binding is so bad.

The actual content of the book is quite good. Most of the illustrations were taken from the National Geographic Field Guide as were the maps. The maps have been increased in size which is a definite help. Every species accepted by the ABA is covered with its own write-up. Not surprisingly, some of the rarer species receive much less of a write-up then the regular ones.

In the end I believe that the poor production qualities fatally flaw the book and can only recommend to the bird book obsessed like myself.

Birdwatchers,hello! I am an 8-year old birder. If you love birds and need some good information 'Nat Geo's Complete Birds of North America' has great info on behavior, identification and other important bird stuff! It is the first book I look at if my family or a friend describes a bird they saw today.

I reccomend this highly, and you can buy it at almost every bookstore or library.

I bought this book as a Christmas gift. the recipient was very pleased. very nice hardcover & lots of info

This book is great.

It is the pages from NGS' Field Guide, put into a very large book for a reference. But it has more information. It includes information on similar species, as well as on population trends. The print is all bigger and so are the range maps.

Every now and then it'll have a small section on telling certain birds apart, such as the two Waterthrushes.

This is a great accompaniment to the "Field Guide to Birds of North America"

This is an excellent reference guide to the birds of North America. Most of the artwork comes from the field guide but is larger as are the maps. The text is more fleshed out with additional details of subspecies as well as status and distribution and population. There are also some migration maps and photographs, that come from the reference atlas that came out in 2003, that enhance the information in the field guide. Though not a true field guide itself, as it is too large to lug around, this is a great reference tool to accompany the field guide. Keep it in the car to come back to.

We were looking for a good reference book to use when looking at the birds in our back yard. This book more than met the bill. The big plus was the quality of the book itself. For a price that was less than what most paper backs cost we received this awesome work bound in leather like a fine Bible. Great deal to say the least.

I was given an copy of this book with a yellow banner across the top with black text that reads" Exclusive Edition," so I am not sure what the differences are between my copy and this edition.

When I really need detailed information about bird species, I use a guide specifically written about warblers, hawks, sparrows, etc.

However, when I need more detail on birds when I do not have a specialized reference, I use the National Geographic's Complete Birds of North America. Its range and migration maps have proven to be very useful to me. Although much too large and heavy to be used as a field guide, this desk reference gets five stars from me.

The only complaint I have is the index in my editon is not at the back of the book. There's another 32 pages of articles at the end of the book after the index, and I need to hunt for the index each time.

Marshall Faintich, author of "A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Wintergreen"