Customer Reviews

Smithsonian Birds of North America

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just received this book from Amazon after pre-ordering it 3 months ago. I feel compelled to write this review after reading the only other review on the site which is so negative.

From reading the other review I can only believe that the reviewer is thinking of a different book than the one offered here by Amazon because 1) This book wasn't published until August 2006 and the review was posted in March 2) The photos are not of stuffed birds.

Now onto the review:

Whereas the previous review states that the book is too large to be carried into the field, that is definitely true. Yes, it is large enough to be used as a doorstop -- probably large enough to stop the door from closing during a storm in fact! The fact that the book is large is by design because it contains huge full-color pages of over 900 bird species. The photos and drawings are fantastic and detailed. For every photo there are lines and pointers to the identifying characteristics of each bird which distinguish each from similar-looking birds. The fact that these photos are so large with such detailed notes makes this book an excellent reference versus other, smaller field guides which have small photos or drawings.

The books large photos and large print descriptions make this book an excellent reference for older birders who might have difficulty reading the fine print in other reference books of this type, particularly field guides.

Each bird page starts off with the scientific family and species name at the top of each page along with the length and wingspan in inches. In addition to the large full-color photo, there are smaller photos and drawings on each page for each bird -- one that is just the outline of the bird to show you its shape when standing or perched. If the bird has varying seasonal color or as a juvenile a drawing is included for the color variation as well (although these drawings are not very detailed). A nice feature is a small box on each page with "Similar birds" listed which can be invaluable when trying to determine the species of a particular bird seen.

Also on each page you can find all the facts and details for each species that you could possibly want: song, behavior, breeding, nesting, population and conservation details. Every page has a map showing the population densities and range for each bird in North America. Also on every bird page are boxes showing the bird's flight pattern and tips for nest identification -- something I have never seen in other reference books of this type.

On the bottom of each page are boxes describing plumage, habitat, migration and weight. On the edge of each page are spaces provided for the birder to note sightings of each species with date, time and location.

If the individual reference for each bird weren't enough, the beginning of the book starts off with a 40 page discussion about birds -- how they are identified and how they vary between species, the topography of birds and anatomy. Each family group also is grouped together throughout the book and enjoys its own overview in addition to the descriptions given to the species within the family.

I cannot say enough about the quaility of printing of this book and the authors fine attention to detail. Please disregard the previous review because it does quite an injustice to this fine reference book. This book is well worth its price, particularly for such a large hardcover book with high-quality paper and printing.

At the thirty-dollar price, I thought I would try this. Its main feature is an extensive list of birds more than most guides. There is more information on each bird than field guides can provide. The illustrations are okay but I have seen better.

I like the Sibley Guide to Birds and the Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior better. The Guide to Birds is especially good for illustrating different plumages for seasons and age. If you wish to learn about birds, different books by different authors are needed. Each gives a unique view with varying facts and information. This book would made a good addition to anyone's collection of bird books.

Between the covers, this book is exactly the same as "Birds of North America: The Complete Guide to More than 930 Species, In Association with the Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-7894-9373-X

I already had it, and just didn't recognize it. Yes, I judged the book by its cover. Just a heads up, to save anyone else the inconvenience of returning it.

This book, it's large size not included, is incredible. The wealth of information is at first overwhelming. It is all anyone would need to positively indentify any bird. I cannot see it being taken afield for use but with careful notes taken it can be most helpful. It could possibly be left in your vehicle and refered to when you return or, if you don't mind lugging it around, could be taken with you in a backpack. It is an amazingly wonderful resource and well worth the cost

This book is insanely priced well below its worth. If you are a birder that wants to learn more than just individual phenotype of each bird, then you will love this book. No, it is not a field guide, which is GOOD! It allows for more information and more detail. Thank you, Amazon, for providing such a decadent book for such a great price!

This title is very shelf-pretty - it's a dark glossy thick book that will fill up empty space on the shelf of a birder or biologist, but that's about the only service it will perform well.

Species identification is not simple via this book. Its function as a quick reference is incapacitated by the lack of organization in families/clades (a trend with these DK-related books) insofar as the pages are concerned. Pictures are terrible (another typical DK characteristic). Bird books have a long history of being the most artistically beautiful (whether images are by hand or by photo) biological texts on the market, but this book is a marked exception to this standard. Pose angles of birds, both photographed and illustrated, are often not conducive to showing ID-important characteristics. Colors are off (usually too muted or overexposed) both in photos and the illustrations.

The illustrations are just downright aweful. If Carolina parakeets had looked as the illustration in this book makes them appear, I would have helped make them go extinct, not for sport, not for their being crop pests, nor for using them to adorn women's hats, but rather because they would have been the most hideous, hatched-faced feathered warthog-pig-noses I'd ever seen to the point I couldn't sleep at night knowing they still existed. Okay, so that's melodramatic, but I honestly do hear the Woody Woodpecker theme while looking at the ivory-billed woodpecker illustration.

The photographs are often cropped to show annoyingly distracting and distorting background "excerpts," usually a water halo underneath waterfowl, or an air/cloud halo behind a bird in flight. It looks rediculous and the person(s) responsible for DK animal art should never work again (in the art-editing field).

The stressing of life history information in promotion of this book is misleading since there's not much more than in any typical field guide. I will say, I purchased this book knowing full well what I was getting, for here is the only pro I can say of it (or most any DK book) - it makes a fair supplement if you plan on having multiple comprehensive books on North American birds and in that sense is well-worth the discounted price ($20 or less). It does not compete in the slightest with Sibley's guide for identification, and the life history information in this book is, again, so spindly that you will need a more specific reference to learn much at all about any one species.

There is a long shelf of bird books in our home, including most of the highly rated "guide" books to North America. "Smithsonian Birds of North America" is the best illustrated, most useful and enjoyable book on the shelf!

I love this book! It has great information and great graphics. It is really easy to use.

If you are serious about knowing more about N.A. birds, this is a great book. It's also a big book, designed to sit on a coffee table or on a bookshelf. Don't get it if you are looking for a field guide.

I bought this volume for my wife who saw a copy at a friend's house. We both think this work is among the finest ever done.

If you love birds and you enjoy watching them, this volume gives you much insight and understanding.

We both highly recommend it.