Customer Reviews

Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs: Eastern Region

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first received this as a gift when I was a beginning birder (basically from the backyard) and to be honest - at that point it was too much for me. I just got confused because actually listening to birds and all their different types of songs/calls and then trying to figure out which bird on the cd it might have been was tough (I'd forget what the bird sounded like and it'd leave before I found it on the cd). But that was me as a beginner. Now that I have a few bird songs under my belt and I can tell the difference between a woodpecker and a nuthatch without a second thought (yea, I was a real beginner) this cd is of better use. Now I can use it to hone in on birds that I think the song might be rather than having to go through so many because it was all so new. So, bottom line, I think its an excellent set of cds that you can really learn from but its better for someone who has thew basics down rather than someone who is the blank slate just starting to learn.

This booklet and CD collection is quite helpful when you return from the field after birdwatching. The songs and calls represented give a wide range of the common sounds you will hear. Alarm, breeding , and colony calls are all included (for species to which they all apply). It also does such a fantastic job of showing some less common calls that you may have never known belonged to a certain bird! After only owning it five days, it has already proved useful on several occasions and answered questions about bird calls that I've had for years. The text gives clear explanations of what the calls are used for and the circumstances in which they were recorded. The CD version is convenient for quick location and is organized for ease of use. We highly recommend it! The sound quality is terrific!

I bought this collection to replace a set of Aubudon tapes that I'd lost a few years ago, and have found that I much preferred my old tapes to this collection. While the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs is very comprehensive and has great depth and variety, I am unable to use it to identify a couple of fairly common bird songs I hear in my back yard. With only the bird name and no other description provided on the cds, all of the songs and calls start to run together. What I particularly liked about my previous tapes was the additional song and habitat descriptions provided around the calls. The Stokes companion booklet provides some of this information, but my purpose in purchasing an audio guide was to listen, not to read. For an experienced birder or someone who knows what they are listening for in the field, this will probably be a helpful guide. For someone just starting out, a collection of fewer songs and more description would be a better bet.

Since I've owned this set I have listened to it at least 100 times!

This incredible CD set and accompanying pamphlet are simple and easy to use. Each bird is identified prior to playing the song. Most birds have several songs played, either multiple birds singing the same song, or different types of songs that a particular bird uses.

For example the Blue Jay features typical calls, immitation of Hawks, etc.

If you are a birder then you simply must have this CD set!

A fellow birder brought Stoke's discs on a bird walk early one refreshing May morn' along with a small CD player. I admit I felt uneasy. This was a chance to get away from technology, not be weighed down by it. But yee' have little faith.

Within a few foot falls we heard what our guide identified as a common yellow throat warbler off in the bush. It seemed this bird was teasing us, saying, "i'm out here but you'll never see me, ha, ha, ha". My friend frantically fumbled with the discs and clicked the >> button 39 times as he counted out loud. Guess he didn't see the little number on the display. To our surprise, as the sound sample played, and we all nodded in agreement "uh-huh, yep, that's it", the warbler hastily arrived on the scene, mad as friggin' hell. He popped all around us from tree to tree as we excitedly looked through our binocs in what birdwatchers often lie about at conventions. Apparently, the bird wholeheartedly endorses the CD. In fact, lucky for us we weren't in Bodega Bay with a couple of fish crows and a script from Alfred Hitchcock.

The best part was we all got a great close up view of this striking warbler! Samples also worked with an oven bird, house wren, and blue-winged warbler. But don't take my word for it, 4 out 5 birds recommend Stoke's to all the birdwatch challenged.

This 3-CD song guide is beyond perfect. Not only does it cover ALL the common songs, it contains specific information and sound on specific calls such as calls from the nest by females, migration calls, flight calls/sounds, aggressive calls, interaction calls, begging calls, and alternate song types, etc., etc....it is truly amazing. Having the CD-version allows instant access to any species in the collection. The best part is I got my order (this CD and another) in two business days, even with the holiday in the middle! I recommend it highly!

I bought this set at the same time as "Birding by Ear: Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides)" and am quite happy with the combination. The Stokes CDs have (nearly) all the birds in separate tracks making it easier to play just the ones I want to work with. I'm new at bird songs, so I dumped the disks to my PC and made a subdirectory of "seen" birds. Then I copied to that directory all the birds that I've visually identified in the neighborhood so I can work on learning those to start. I've copied them to my PDA and MP3 player as well to play in the car and sitting at appointments and such. The individual tracks carry not just a bird's primary song but also its different calls if it has any.

The Petersen set takes a different approach. It's a good set of disks that groups bird songs by some feature of similarity. I never knew, for instance, that robins and scarlet tanagers sound so similar. The disks are quite good for helping you learn the differences between similar-sounding species. Keep after it and you will learn to distinguish Carolina from black-capped chickadees.

Mind you, having the disks does not guarantee species identification. At this moment I'm sitting at the PC with the window to my suburban back yard open, listening to a low "chuck-chuck-chuck-chuck-chuck" that I canNOT find on either set of disks!

This is the only CD that provides a complete repetoire per bird. Other CD's provide only one type of sound per bird- a call, alarm or song. You need to have a sampling of all in order to accurately identify unseen birds. I live in an important migratory bird path and until now it was frustrating trying to identify those birds in dense foliage or in flight when I could hear them much better than see them. Since I am familiar with birds most likely to visit my area, it makes identification even quicker since I first scroll to the species I suspect. I have both the Eastern and Western Field Guides since they both apply to me in Texas.

It would be better if the (CD) guide came with more than just sounds. If there were accompanying photos it would be THAT much better. I got it for my mother and took a copy for myself. It can be taken in the field in a CD walkman. it is a great guide.

Over 350 bird species are represented in this set (3 CDs, 99 tracks per CD, some tracks having more than one species). I find it to be very complete; it even includes several species that only occur as accidentals in the east region.

The recordings usually include several vocalizations for each species (songs, warning calls, imitations of other birds, or chip notes). Most samples are about 35 seconds long.

The short introductory track, in which the Stokes very obviously read from a script, is perhaps worth a laugh, but you'll probably want to move on quickly to the bird calls.

I have enjoyed birding for years and am familiar with a wide range of calls, and I am finding this set very useful for reinforcement of the ones I know and for learning the ones that I only hear for several weeks a year, such as transient species of warblers. I recommend it.