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Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America (Peterson Field Guides) [Paperback]

Roger Tory Peterson , Lee Allen Peterson
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)

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Book Description

August 1, 2008 Peterson Field Guides
In celebration of the centennial of Roger Tory Peterson s birth comes a historic collaboration among renowned birding experts and artists to preserve and enhance the Peterson legacy. This new book combines the Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds and Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds into one volume, filled with accessible, concise information and including almost three hours of video podcasts to make bird watching even easier. 10.00 inches tall x 8.00 inches long x 1.00 inches wide

Frequently Bought Together

Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America (Peterson Field Guides) + Peterson Field Guide to Mammals of North America: Fourth Edition (Peterson Field Guides) + A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides)
Price for all three: $48.49

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description
In celebration of the centennial of Roger Tory Peterson's birth comes a historic collaboration among renowned birding experts and artists to preserve and enhance the Peterson legacy. This new book combines the Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds and Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds into one volume, filled with accessible, concise information and including almost three hours of video podcasts to make bird watching even easier.

• 40 new paintings
• Digital updates to Peterson's original paintings, reflecting the latest knowledge of bird identification
• All new maps for the most up-to-date range information available
• Text rewritten to cover the U.S. and Canada in one guide
• Larger trim size accommodates range maps on every spread
• Contributors include: Michael DiGiorgio, Jeff Gordon, Paul Lehman, Michael O'Brien, Larry Rosche, and Bill Thompson III
• Includes URL to register for access to video podcasts


Excerpts from Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America
Click on each image below to see a larger view


Colorful songbirds with heavy, seed-crushing bills, cardinals and grosbeaks are popular at feeders.


In North America, the Orchard and Baltimore Orioles are fairly widespread in the East; Bullock's is widespread in the West; and the Spot-breasted Oriole is limited to South Florida.


Peterson sometimes painted over figures on a plate and sometimes even cut them out. Canyon Wren was missing from the original art. Michael O'Brien painted a new Canyon Wren for inclusion in the new field guide.


The Orange Bishop is native to Africa but has been introduced in California. Peterson had not painted this bird for his field guides, so Michael O’Brien painted this one.


Thumbnail maps help you determine at a glance if a bird is likely to be in your region.


Large maps in back give detailed range information.


From Booklist

As new or revised field guides are published, they are getting too big to carry in a pocket. This one is no exception. It is larger and heavier than earlier Peterson Field Guides and combines the Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds (1992) and the Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds (1992) in a single volume. The new features include a more conversational text, online access to video podcasts, and small range maps with the plates as well as the usual range-maps section at the end. The text covers both Canada and the U.S., so it is more inclusive than many guides. When his first edition was published some 75 years ago, Peterson’s system for identifying field marks became the gold standard for birders worldwide. This updated edition has corrections to the taxonomy (name changes and specie identifications). Every effort has been made to present the most current information. Peterson’s paintings have been digitized, and 40 new paintings in his style are included where needed. The contributors who worked on this guide are well-known and respected birders, illustrators, and writers and have maintained the high standards that Peterson set. Birding field-trip leaders will want to make room in their backpacks for this guide because the large illustrations will be very useful in teaching while birding. Libraries of all types will also want this volume marking the 100th anniversary of Peterson’s birth because of its concise, accurate information and large illustrations. --Linda Scarth

Product Details

  • Paperback: 544 pages
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co; 1 edition (August 1, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0618966145
  • ISBN-13: 978-0618966141
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roger Tory Peterson, one of the world's greatest naturalists, received every major award for ornithology, natural science, and conservation as well as numerous honorary degrees, medals, and citations, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Peterson Identification System has been called the greatest invention since binoculars.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 51 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars The definitive Peterson August 18, 2008
Format:Paperback
This guide is a combination of the previously separate Eastern and Western Peterson guides. The look and feel of this guide will be immediately familiar to any users of past editions, especially the latest Eastern. However, every aspect of the book, even the art, has been enhanced and updated. Here is a brief summary of the changes.

The book's size is the first change that will be noticed. It is now probably too large to carry into the field. However, the increased size means that the plates are less crowded, and the art can be reproduced in a larger size. This allows the art to be better appreciated and studied.

Unless you are extremely familiar with Peterson's art, you won't notice many changes on the plates. But there have in fact been many. The most extensive changes have been in the form of digital enhancements to Peterson's art. These are touch-ups and corrections to make the bird on the page look more like the bird in the field. Thankfully, these enhancements have been artfully done, and do not stand out. In virtually every case they have indeed improved the image of every species that I'm familiar with.

There are also entirely new paintings, contributed by Michael O'Brien. Some, like the Himalayan Snowcock, are new species that have never before been included in a Peterson guide. But some previously included birds have been completely replaced by new paintings. These have been done in Peterson's style and some are very difficult to pick out. However, many are fairly obvious. They are not bad by any means, just different, and that difference can be jarring.

Like the art, the text has also been extensively enhanced and updated. For the most part, this consists of editorial changes such as word usage.
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61 of 67 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
My 5-star rating is based entirely on sentiment for Roger Tory Peterson and what his work means to all nature enthusiasts in the US today. Like countless other birders I grew up with an abiding interest in the avian life around me informed almost entirely by RTP's field guides starting with the 1947 Second Edition (still on my library shelf). This new volume almost certainly will be the last published that reproduces King Penguin's incredible art in field guide format, given that it combines birds from both the Eastern and Western guides for the first time, brings taxonomy up to the most recent level, and finally adopts the most up-to-date species order. But this is the ultimate Peterson, perhaps in the most poignant sense, because this volume celebrates the centennial of Peterson's birth, right down to the date it was to be released (but I still thank Amazon for shipping it a month early). In my humble opinion, anyone and everyone who likes birds even a little bit needs to own this book.

Now I do have a few points to make that are directed at the book's value as a field guide in 2008, and my opinion here is that a rating of 4-stars (or perhaps even 3) is more appropriate. The "trim size" is indeed larger than previous, by about an inch on a side, bringing the height to just one-half inch less than the Sibley Guide (regularly criticized as too large to carry in the field). The art is less crowded for sure, but portability suffers. The paintings are for the most part the exact same as earlier editions, with frequent rearrangements (digitally performed) to account for the East/West combination and taxonomy modifications. New paintings by Michael O'Brien are inserted and are virtually indistinguishable from RTP's own work - a very high compliment to Mr. O'Brien, if you ask me.
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40 of 44 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Miles to go before I sleep August 26, 2008
By Birdman
Format:Paperback
I have deep respect for the life and achievements of Roger Tory Peterson. His impact on ornithology, ecology, avian medicine, wildlife art and birdwatching have often been underestimated.

The latest edition of the guide melds East and West and does a great deal to upgrade coverage of Western species through enlarged maps and improved digital renderings.

My problem with the Peterson series has been occasionally inaccurate renderings of some common common species -- the Barred Owl is one example -- which might cause a novice to misidentify an individual in the field.

Many bird enthusiasts purchase and use a variety of field guides because each has its strengths and liabilities. Sibley is the strongest on artistic renderings. Peterson is the best for species differentiation. Smithsonian's excels because of its bird-call DVD. For anyone who wants an all-in-one, National Geographic's Fifth Edition is probably a best bet.

As for the podcast benefits advertised on the cover -- they are continually available to bird-lovers on the net at Roger Tory Peterson Institute's site without a book purchase.

One of te best perks of purchasing this book is a free, one-year membership in The Roger Tory Institute in Jamestown, New York.

I purchased this volume as a tribute to the series and because so many of the renderings of species are excellent. I also appreciate the fact that all maps have been enlarged so that old people like me can see them.

Production values for the book are superb, without question the best field-guide binding available in print. While the paper stock has some annoying opacity, it really doesn't get in the way.

Diurnal raptor fans should look elsewhere -- Brian Wheeler's guides are a good choice.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Helps identify birds in my backyard
The pictures in this book are great and the descriptions help me identify the birds, it gives habitat and regions, I love it.
Published 10 days ago by Jackie53
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
I found this book to be easy to use an had no problem identifying the birds I was wondering about. I would recommend to anyone.
Published 12 days ago by stephen brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Audubon Society Get A Break
My old Peterson was nice, but I was missing identifications and emailing Portland Audubon Society to get those birds identified. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jack Lynch
5.0 out of 5 stars Bird ID
Good pictures of the birds which come to our feeder. Like to have it near the front window for ready reference.
Published 1 month ago by Mary Ann Runyon
5.0 out of 5 stars Birding
This book was recommended by the leaders of the Birding class I am taking through OLLI at UNL. It has been a great help in identfying birds out in the locations we travel to for... Read more
Published 1 month ago by JANE BASOCO
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Fieldguide
Very nice fieldguide with good ictures. For the novice, it would be nice if it were organized by color of location, but nonetheless it told me what to shoot for.
Published 1 month ago by Evalu8er
5.0 out of 5 stars so i'm a geek
i've had bird books since i was a kid and when i couldn't identify one on our feeder, i had to figure it out. Read more
Published 1 month ago by lucky in kc
5.0 out of 5 stars handy field guide
We are Florida snowbirds, and keep the book handy so we can identify all of the birds that we can see from the lanai. Clear illustrations and easy to use. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Blair Zell
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Reference Book for Birding!!!!
The Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America contained a lot more information than I had anticipated. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sue Burke
4.0 out of 5 stars Review of Peterson Field Guide
This is a nice book with good information and nice pics of the birds. I have been using it to identify some of the birds at our feeders this winter. Glad I purchased it. Thanks!
Published 3 months ago by Natalie Brocieus
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