Customer Reviews

Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs: Western Region

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hard as it may be to believe, up until now there has not been a guide to bird songs of North America that includes virtually all the North American species AND which presents more than a brief snippet of sound for each bird. Until now, you actually could buy a more comprehensive guide to the bird songs of southern Africa than you could for North America! Plenty of less comprehensive sound guides for North America are on the market, but for an "encyclopedia" of bird sounds on this continent, birders have mostly had to content themselves with the Peterson sound guides, with their brief (5-10 second) sound samples and (until recently) completely outlandish price tags.

Finally, with the publication of the western edition of the Stokes guide in 1999, birders have the definitive reference they have been waiting for. These two volumes (the eastern edition is by Lang Elliott) together must be considered among the greatest bird sound guides ever published, anywhere.

Lang Elliott and Kevin Colver, the compilers of the two guides, are among the best natural sound recordists in the Americas, and had extensive experience producing their own CDs and tapes of natural sounds before they undertook the massive editing job for these guides. The results are stunning. The bird songs (averaging 30-35 seconds for each species, with variations of song and call notes also given where appropriate) are reproduced in the best audio quality possible. Notes accompanying the guides list each vocalization type heard on the CDs or tapes. The CDs and tapes average over 70 minutes each; about 8 1/2 hours of listening if you get both guides. Species of birds that have never been presented on any other guides are included here: Black Vulture, California Condor, and Horned Puffin for example. No effort was spared to track down recordings of even rarely heard species. The odds are overwhelming that, wherever you live in North America, the next bird sound you hear when you step outside is on at least one of these guides.

Since the publication of the Stokes guides, the Peterson series has reduced their prices. (I think they must hear footsteps behind them). But the Stokes guides are well worth the few extra dollars you will pay to enjoy and use them. Where else are you going to get a three or four-disc set for the prices you see here? For the beginning birder, I don't know if I would recommend these potentially overwhelming compilations. (Try one of Elliott or Colver's other CDs to start learning the songs of the bird around you!) But for the serious birder who wants to step up to a full-service guide to bird songs, there really is no other choice any more.

Thank you, Lang Elliott and Kevin Colver, for these superb reference works.

A few years ago I purchased "Birding By Ear" by Richard Walton & Robert Lawson. It's good, but I was disappointed by the small number of species represented (my version has 90 birds on three CD's, though Amazon's current offering appears to be abridged onto one CD). Each track has detailed verbal descriptions of the songs, and disc 3 includes some practice mixes of different habitats so you can test yourself. I think it would make a good tutorial for someone just getting started in listening to bird songs. But for me "Birding By Ear" didn't work. The detailed verbal descriptions got in the way of listening to the songs. I wanted more birds and fewer words.

After reading the reviews here, I bought the Stokes guide. It's perfect: 551 species and no extra talking (just a short introduction at the beginning of disc 1). A quick example of the depth of coverage: 18 species of owl compared to "Birding By Ear"'s three. I found it easy to locate what I wanted; the CD guidebook is very clear. Occasionally two birds are combined together onto one track to overcome the format limitation of 99 tracks per CD (otherwise it would have been a five-CD set). Sometimes multiple kinds of calls are included for the same bird; for example, alarm calls followed by juvenile begging calls. This is definitely the collection for me.

Imagine a single CD set, with four CDs, that includes just about every bird you could hear in the western half of North America. Not just the common birds, but California Condor and Horned Puffin! This CD set is simply THE most comprehensive western sound set available. Each CD has at least 88 tracks, so most of the 551 species it includes can be quickly found on their own track. It also comes with a booklet that states not only where each recording was made (useful when you're distinguishing dialects in birds) but also a brief description of the context in which the vocalization was made.

To begin learning the songs and calls of western birds, you might want a simpler guide. But even beginners can select a few species at a time to tape onto a cassette and listen to over and over, then tape a few more over that and listen to them over and over. If you only purchase one sound recording set for western birds, this is the one to get.

And you can't beat Amazon's deal when you buy both [now and save.]

I like the selection of songs that are avaliable. They are well recorded and there duration is fine.
I don't much care for the way that some of the tracks are put together with each other. Example: Track 32, a, b & c. You have to go through the preceding tracks on that paticular one to get the one you want. It would be easier to use if each one had it's own. Just track 32,33,34 etc.

Given the tendency of birds to generally move about rapidly (much more so than plants!), I find that being able to identify their song is often more of an effective key to positive identification than is sight recognition. Sound familiar? And do you live in western North America? If so, you might find this CD set of bird songs a valuable tool. I do. I especially like the length of the samples that are provided for each species. Highly recommended.

I recently moved to a rural home in the woods so I hear many bird songs at once. The songs on this CD are very clear, and it's easy for me to look up specific birds. The sound quality is very good. However, I also had Peterson's "Birding By Ear" on cassette for several years. The narrative on that is especially helpful for remembering different birds. Still, I am very pleased with the Stokes Bird Songs.

The only critique I have is that some of the western birds are not in this guide. They are in the eastern guide. You actually need them both. I highly recommend this set of guides.

This is a good product and very good value for money. The recordings are clear (though perhaps a little shorter than on some other bird call CDs I have purchased).

For the benefit of anyone buying this to put the calls onto their iPod, there are two things that are less than ideal. First, the name of the bird is spoken at the start of each recording. Second, as noted in other reviews some tracks comprise the calls of two species. This was done in order to be able to fit more than 99 species onto each CD. However the downside is that if you stick it onto your iPod you can't just search by alphabetical order. For example if you want a Western Bluebird you can't look under W, as the track is titled Eastern & Western Bluebird. You have to browse by taxonomic order, which is a lot slower.

Very handy and easy to use as a reference and for use with the BirdJam for iPod, but not as good for a starter just learning.

There is a pretty limited selection when it comes to birding sound cds. This is a good choice because each bird is given about 30 seconds of calls. I placed the entire cd into my iTunes library, then downloaded them into my iPod for field use. Really, calls and songs are the only sure way to identify birds when the bird could be one of several that look alike. (as most do).