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Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America Hardcover – Illustrated, April 14, 2005
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- Print length392 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMariner Books
- Publication dateApril 14, 2005
- Dimensions4.75 x 1 x 7.5 inches
- ISBN-100618574239
- ISBN-13978-0618574230
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Product details
- Publisher : Mariner Books; Illustrated edition (April 14, 2005)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 392 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0618574239
- ISBN-13 : 978-0618574230
- Item Weight : 1.08 pounds
- Dimensions : 4.75 x 1 x 7.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #40,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #72 in Outdoors & Nature Reference
- #82 in Bird Field Guides
- #2,795 in Reference (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Kenn Kaufman is a legend among birders. A field editor for AUDUBON and a regular contributor to every major birding magazine, he is the youngest person ever to receive the Ludlow Griscom Award, the highest honor of the American Birding Association. His natural history pursuits have taken him to all seven continents, but he has made a special study of North American birds. His books include KINGBIRD HIGHWAY, LIVES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS, the PETERSON FIELD GUIDE TO ADVANCED BIRDING, in addition to originating the KAUFMAN FIELD GUIDE series, which includes books on birds, butterflies, mammals, and insects. He resides in Rocky Ridge, Ohio.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on August 6, 2021
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Another part of the guide that I find very helpful is Kaufman's verbalizations of bird songs and calls. For some reason, I really struggle trying to "picture" Sibley's bird calls, but I find that I can often use Kaufman's to help match a bird to its voice. I used this feature in making the final decision on whether I was seeing a Western or a Cassin's Kingbird.
Although other people have complained about it, I like how Kaufman organizes this guide on the superficial appearance of birds instead of their genetic relationships. This means that coots are next to the waterfowl, and swifts are next to swallows. I can understand how someone who is used to the other organization method would find this annoying, but I find this more straightforward. It certainly minimizes the number of trips to the index; I can just page through the first part of the book if I'm looking for a water bird, etc.
Finally, the range maps in this guide are the best I have seen. Instead of just showing a bird's summer, winter, and migratory range, Kaufman has two shades of color for each range so that one can make a rough estimate at how frequently a bird is found at a location at a given time of year. The Sibley field guides, for example, only show "summer, winter, migratory, and rare" and one is left to make a guess at what time of year one might find the rare birds.
For all its benefits, I mentioned at the beginning of the review that this guide is not-quite-perfect. My one complaint is that I have found it difficult to make bird IDs on a lot of the photographs in the book. The photographs for Brown-capped Rosy-Finches make it difficult to see how this bird is different from the other Rosy-Finches. The photos of Swifts and Swallows in flight are mostly blurry and/or have bad lighting, which in my mind renders them useless (and there is no underwing photo of a Barn Swallow!). Many of the fly catchers look essentially identical (even more identical than they are in reality), and the photos really don't seem to exaggerate any of the differentiating features enough to make one able to use them for an ID. Even Say's Phoebe barely shows anything of a ruddy belly in the pictures; compare this to the unmistakable picture in Sibley and you'll see what I'm saying. In addition, the glossy paper which is necessary to print good photos makes it hard to see in sunlight, so an already difficult picture becomes even worse.
The last point is a major drawback to what would be an awesome all-around field guide, but it is perhaps partially redeemed by all the other strong points in the guide. For example, the text for Say's Phoebe emphasizes that the "orange-buff" belly is a distinguishing feature.
The result of this is that I have a dilemma each time I go birding as to which field guide to bring with me: Sibley West or Kaufmann. For someone who wants the finest illustrations for visually identifying a bird, Sibley is the clear (no pun intended) answer. But Kaufman has so much else to recommend it that this really is too close to call. Perhaps someday a genius will pair the illustrations of Sibley with the text and maps of Kaufman, and then we really will have the perfect field guide.
All that aside, the main reason I like this book is the organization and ease of use. This book really helps out new birders with a couple interesting features. First, the book is arranged into intuitive sections like "Aerial Waterbirds", "Chicken-Like Birds", "Wading Birds", etc. Second, there's a pictorial table of contents that shows you examples of what's in those sections. You don't have to really know much to get to the right section of the guide, which is perfect for novice birders. There's also a full index and a short index that will get you to the chosen species quickly if you know generally what you want. If you're a compete novice, there is even a short introduction to birding with advice on everything from binocular choices to bird feeders.
So even with a few shortcomings, this book earns 5-stars because of the novice-friendly organization and the excellent field-friendly form factor. You can find better pictures and more information elsewhere, but Kaufman really shines in these areas and it's worth having in your pocket, especially if you're a new birder.
Once you have tried to identify a few birds, you will see how useful this book is. The inside cover has a pictorial breakdown of bird body shapes so you can easily find the pages that show the birds that look like the one you are seeing. The book explains the parts of a bird that are easiest to use for identification, how to read the range maps to tell if a bird is common in your area, and why birds are listed in a certain order in bird books.
The book is small enough to carry with you (only 390 pages) and the cover is very durable so it should last a long time. This book is easier to use than other bird books. If you progress in your bird watching activities and are looking for more detailed information (meaning a heavier 700-800 page book), the knowledge you gained from using this book will make reading the other bird books easier to understand. And you will STILL carry this lightweight book with you in the field, because the other books are too heavy.
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Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on November 28, 2022
La guia combina una tecnica de dibujo con fotografia que hace mas facil la identificación.
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