Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds : Western Region (Paperback)

by Donald Stokes (Author), Lillian (Author) "MALE: Yellow belly; white patch on wings..." (more)
Key Phrases: mixed seed scattered, birdbaths for drinking, feeders for fruit, Attracting Comes, Attracting May, Attracting Attracted (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
North America's preeminent writers on birds and nature follow the wildly successful launch of their Stokes Field Guides to Birds with two new identification guides designed specifically for beginners. Beautifully designed and easy to use, these handy guides are certain to become the top choice for beginning birders everywhere. Color photos. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316818127
• ISBN-13: 978-0316818124
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #176,972 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great guide for the novice, November 7, 2002

By	Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

I am a neophyte birder and this book was perfect as a beginning guide in identifying and recognizing common birds in the western region. The other bird guides I have purchased (National Geographic and Audubon) were exceptional, but for a novice, they presented too much information and too many birds. This book struck a nice, comfortable compromise. The photos of each bird are excellent and provide you a good look at the features and characteristics of each. They also tell you succinctly where the habitat would be and where you would most likely see each bird.

The best feature was that each bird was divided by color. So if you see a Wilson's warbler in your backyard but don't know for certain if your call is correct, you can quickly thumb to the "yellow" section of the book and see all the yellow birds. Thus you can quickly confirm your identification.

This book would have limited, or no value to an experienced birder, but for the beginning birder, this is a fine introduction to the hobby of birding.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Basic Bird Watching Guide!, November 25, 2000

By	Allan M. Gathercoal "fdoamerica" (Norcross, GA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds: Eastern Region (Stokes Field Guide Series) (Paperback)

I am unabashedly a bird lover. Having birds flock to my feeder is among my top simples pleasures of life. The ability to recognize the variety of birds is very rewarding. "Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds" is the best basic bird guide book I yet used to quickly identify birds (Eastern Region). The pressing argument among bird guides is whether you identify birds by size/shape or by color (for a good guide that uses size/shapes see "Focus Guide to the Birds of North America by Kenn Kaufman). Stokes has used plumage color to identify over 100 species. His full color photographs (separate images of male / female) are wonderful. I especially like the tips for attracting birds and the condensed information on habitats and population change. This would be a great gift for a youngster that is inclined towards watching birds and I am sure that any adult would be equally pleased. Highly recommended.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent source of quick info!, June 19, 2000

By	Rene Miller (Portland, Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

This book is great because it's color-coded which makes it easy to find out what feathered friend just visited our yard. My kids have spent hours poring over the book and now know the names and pertinent data of the birds in our region. I keep this book handy and grab it when I see a bird I don't recognize. Chances are good that it is listed in this book!