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Chandler S. Robbins

Herbert S. Zim

Birds of North America: A Guide To Field Identification (Golden Field Guide from St. Martin's Press) Paperback – April 14, 2001

by Chandler S. Robbins (Author), Bertel Bruun (Author), Herbert S. Zim (Author),

1,016 ratings

Part of: Golden Field Guide from St. Martin's Press (23 Books)

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Spot the silhouette of a Northern Goshawk in flight. Identify the raucous call of the Red-winged Blackbird. Discover the secret of picking out a Chipping Sparrow from its look-alike cousins. It's simple with this classic field guide, a treasured favorite among amateur bird lovers and exacting professionals. Recognized as the authority on bird identification, this invaluable resource provides:

-All of North America in one volume
-Over 800 species and 600 range maps
-Arthur Singer's famous illustrations featuring male, female, and juvenile plumage
-Sonograms that picture sound for easy song recognition
-Migration routes, feeding habits, and characteristic flight patterns
-American ornithologists' classifications
-Convenient check boxes to record birds you have identified
-Color tabs for quick references

Print length

360 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Golden Guides from St. Martin's Press
Publication date

April 14, 2001
Grade level

7 - 9
Dimensions

4.56 x 0.63 x 7.52 inches
ISBN-10

1582380902
ISBN-13

978-1582380902
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chandler S. Robbins contributed to nature guides from St. Martin's Press.

Bertel Bruun contributed to nature guides from Golden Guides and St. Martin's Press.

Herbert S. Zim was a naturalist, author, editor, and educator best known as the founder and editor in chief of the classic, pocket-sized Golden Guides series of nature books.

Artur Singer contributed to nature guides from Golden Guides and St. Martin's Press.

Product details

Publisher : Golden Guides from St. Martin's Press; Second Edition, Revised (April 14, 2001)
Language : English
Paperback : 360 pages
ISBN-10 : 1582380902
ISBN-13 : 978-1582380902
Grade level : 7 - 9
Item Weight : 13.3 ounces
Dimensions : 4.56 x 0.63 x 7.52 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #20,818 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #27 in Biology of Wildlife
- #56 in Outdoors & Nature Reference
- #69 in Bird Field Guides

Customer Reviews:
1,016 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		81%
4 star		11%
3 star		4%
2 star		1%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Nando Garza

A Great Book in a Sloppy, Careless Edition

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2020

Verified Purchase

I'm looking at my 2005 purchase. Perhaps St. Martins has corrected these errors.

St. Martin’s Press threw Singer’s special cover painting in the trash replacing it with a dreary photograph of two bald eagles. That's clueless blasphemy.

Rather than using the original art in their new edition, they appear to have just shot pictures of Singer’s birds sloppily cropping the tails off of some so you can’t see vital field marks. The second generation photos also make the wings of gulls disappear into the white pages.

In addition, the book boasts of its checkboxes in the index, but those were deleted...

and below the buff-bellied hummingbird is an entirely new species, the broad-bellied hummer which was formerly known as the broad-billed.

I use my 1971 version in protest.

21 people found this helpful

Helpful

lwp99

Not very helpful.

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2018

Verified Purchase

I bought this believing it would be a space saver reference while traveling in my RV. Unfortunately, it is not consistent in the manner information is provided - some bird's dimensions are provided, some are not. Some bird's have their upper side shown, while others are shown from the bottom side. When attempting to identify similar looking birds, this lack of information and inconsistent detail defeats the book's assumed intended purpose. It is also difficult to find specific birds in this version. I would not recommend the Kindle version of this book; and can't provide feedback on the printed version.

17 people found this helpful

Helpful

R. White

The best field guide going

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2019

Verified Purchase

I look for several things in a field guide: (1) fit my pocket, (2) good images, (3) maps WITH the birds, (4) song info, (5) similar species. This is the only one that has them all. A folio is no good in the field without servants to carry it. A photo of a specific bird doesn't translate well to the field. Maps in the back, switching between page 277 and 29 and back again is too much work. Well, I can't hear as well as I used to so this one should probably be downgraded. Similar species can throw off an ID, so this is really useful.

Seriously, it's nice to have Sibley on the shelf, but in the field I want Robbins.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Keitheaux

Comprehensive Guide to US Birds

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2021

Verified Purchase

The Golden Guide to Birds of North America was what my Ornithology class in college used as its required field guide. It has some clear advantages: it covers both eastern and western birds, the range maps are provided on the same page as the pictures and descriptions, and sonograms are even given where calls are an important characteristic. The beautiful illustrations by Arthur Singer show the birds in various plumages, in silhouette, and sometimes in a bit of appropriate habitat. This is the adult version of the Golden Field Guides from St. Martin’s Press, who also make a series of guides for younger folks. The binding is a field-ready softcover that is more durable.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

G. Hunter

great first field guide

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

There are indeed more comprehensive field guides to North American birds. There are field guides that more closely follow the most current taxonomy. But for all the taxonomic changes since 2001 most of the birds depicted in this guide retain the same English names and their field characteristics certainly haven't changed.

The plates are arranged to simplify the comparison of similar species, and for the most part you'll find more species per page than in guides preferred by most advanced birders. New birders aren't overwhelmed with more information than is needed to identify (especially) the most commonly seen birds.

You can fit this guide in a pocket and it holds up well to field use. Most people who get serious about birding will move on to NGS or Sibley or Peterson (among others), but before they do so the Golden Guide will do much to promote their development as birders.

It's for that reason I rate it so highly. It doesn't pretend to be a guide that works well for advanced birders, but I consider it perhaps the best guide on the market for beginners. A new edition with taxonomic updates would be nice, but for novice birders it's certainly not necessary.

30 people found this helpful

Helpful

Quailrancher

Best Bird Guide For Beginners

Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2015

Verified Purchase

If you are Treasurer of the local Audubon club you are probably a fairly serious birder, and I am. I do not personally use this book except to log newly spotted species, but I love the book for beginners. Over the years I have used about every bird book there is, and to me and most of my friends this is the most beginner-friendly book ever. The pictures are clear and easy to interpret, the text is on the spare side so as not to intimidate the newby, and the arrangement is fairly intuitive. I bought this one as a gift to a new birder, probably the 8 or 9th time I have done it over the years.

22 people found this helpful

Helpful

equinelover

BEWARE - Inaccurate website description, this is not the original publication

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

The photo in the website description states "Printed in the United States of America", but when I got the actual book I was treated to the dreaded words "Printed in China". The quality of printing is horrible, the ink is faded and not crisp and clean like the USA printed version. I don't know if the publishing was outsourced to China or if the book is a knock-off, either way it's not worth the paper it's printed on. Sadly I had to return it and I'm back to my search for a genuine copy of this once excellent field guide.

In addition the book is supposed to be 'new', yet as soon as I opened the package I was hit with a chemical/perfume type of odor, I can't place it but it immediately made my eyes water.

Amazon needs to monitor these deceptive seller practices, it is becoming all too common.

If anyone knows where an authentic copy of this guide (printed in the US) can be purchased, please post. Many thanks.

Helpful

Dan H.

Absolute Junk

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2021

Verified Purchase

I want to like this book. I really do. But it’s total crap, and I blame the publisher.

The colorations of the birds are off, and the margins with binding are so screwed up that parts of the birds are missing, covered by the binding.

I have an older edition by Golden Press and it is 100x’s better. The colors are normal and not filtered to strange hues, and the page margins are a decent enough size that the binding doesn’t cut off bird faces and tails.

If you must have this guide, go with an old blue edition published by Golden, not this version published by St. Martin’s. Hopefully a future edition with fix these monumental fails.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

william

A book for all ages.

Reviewed in Canada on September 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

I have owned a "Birds of North America" for over twenty years and have had to use it many times . My grandson was visiting and he got hold of my copy of this book (he was 4 at the time) and was wanting to take it home with him. I said no it was my book. His birthday was in 4-5 days and so I sent him a copy of his own. It arrived on time.

Ruth Harrowing

A pretty cheap edition.

Reviewed in Canada on June 12, 2019

Verified Purchase

Can't use this book as the print is way too small for my 85 year old eyes! Seems to be a budget edition of what was one of the best birding books around. The older version we had 25 years ago had a tough binding and cover, resisted water, and had checklists to tick off. It was by Golden Press. I shall give it to someone with younger eyes I guess, but it won't last very long.

One person found this helpful

Linda

Very poor color printing of this guide

Reviewed in Canada on November 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

I recently bought two copies of the 2001 issue of this bird guide from Amazon.ca. I am shocked at the quality of the illustrations and maps. It appears in the print run some of the yellow ink was faulty and did not print. The maps are white on white so that one cannot readily see where the distribution colors are placed. The bird illustrations are very muted and again appear lacking in yellow tones. I have earlier versions of this guide and the color is great so I am sure this was due to printing error. I am extremely disappointed with the publisher's quality control standards and the guide. This was one of the best guides available but the poor color makes it a great disappointment. I am also very disappointed that a reputable publisher such as St. Martin's press would allow such a faulty print run to be sold. Did they fob off a second rate print run on Amazon??

The publisher should provide Amazon with quality guide having color tones matching their previous editions.

I cant emphasize too much how disappointed I am with this print run of an otherwise excellent field guide.

3 people found this helpful

Gavin Wood

Kindle version

Reviewed in Canada on July 10, 2020

Verified Purchase

I have the book in the Kindle version on my tablet and it is very useful in verifying bird species that I see in the neighbourhood.

gorer

I miss the durable blue cover

Reviewed in Canada on February 24, 2019

Verified Purchase

Doesn't seem to be as durable as the older versions, but the information inside is still as valuable. Great little fieldguide. Easy to carry around in the field.