December 30, 2011: I still have 17 bird guides from Sibley to Nat'l Geographic, and the only one I've been using for 10 months is this one. Yes, I still have a problem that the Western Region is still given "short shrift" - even in their Western Region book - but compared to the other 16, this is by far the best guide with the best/most photographs, and I've now come to understand much more about birding behavior so I can find birds on my own.
HOWEVER, my kids gave me a Kindle Fire for my birthday last week, and I found an APP, iBird Pro 2 on Amazon that is, unbelievably, EVEN BETTER THAN this Stokes and it's portable! This does not take away from the work that went into this remarkable Field Guide. But at 3 pounds, "field guide" is really a misnomer. Stokes is really a reference book, and excellent reference book.
March 23, 2011: After using the book for a month, there are a couple of disturbing "findings." It may be my imagination, but I think that the Stokes pay more attention to the Eastern North American birds than those west of the Rockies (note: I didn't say "Mississippi"). Two birds which I recently photographed are not represented correctly in this book. The Oak Titmouse is NOT the Common Titmouse, and there should be two separate pages for the Oak and Juniper Titmice. And - so far - they do not present the Common Grackle or Boat-tailed Grackle as living in the West while I have photographed them in the east counties of the San Francisco Bay Area. Now, I'm beginning to wonder what other species got short shrift.
Having seen many of the Stokes' TV shows, they do indeed give more emphasis to Eastern birds. I don't blame them or even fault them. If I lived in New Hampshire, the last thing on my mind would be the Acorn Woodpecker or California Quail. But they DO present these birds, and do that well. (I have 24 bird guides - going back to 1964 - and none mentions the red spot on the yellow bib of the female Acorn Woodpecker. At least Stokes give more attention to the yellow bib.)
I have accumulated (not consciously collected) 28 books on birds, at least 14 of them "field guides." Well, the Stokes' Birds of North America is too large to really be a field guide unless you have a Range Rover to cover your fields and a Guide to carry this book, but IT IS in the top 3 guides. Being that thorough, however, you will have a 3 pound book (I just weighed it: 3 pounds on the button).
Though I rarely leave the west coast any more, I bought this to get a better idea as to ranges and the differences between Western and Eastern North American birds.
The Stokes have given us over 700 birds and from three to eight really good photos of each. The more difficult the species is to distinguish from subspecies, the more photographs. So sparrows, for instance, will rate more photos than a Band-tailed Pigeon. There are quite a few of the birds in flight which is also especially helpful with raptors.
Each species has notes as to subspecies and hybrids. Now, I know that male mallards will have sex with anything that floats, but I had no idea that there are 15 hybrids! Even the wood duck could be an offshoot of the promiscuous (and ill-mannered I might add) mallard.
Most "birders" like Sibley's guide, and I used that for a while for easy identification. However, there are no photographs, just phenomenal drawings. Then I switched to Smithsonian which has great photographs, and pretty good maps as well as an audio CD (as does Stokes)of bird songs. And then I switched to Stokes' Western Region Guide. To be honest, I find all of these too heavy to carry while walking, and I find all software for phones and iPads that I don't have to be less than satisfactory. Much less. Really bad in fact since even the comparisons are poor.
But, since I'm only REALLY interested in birds that are either so striking that I won't forget details or birds that I've just photographed and have to download to my PC anyway, this Stokes' book is the ticket to identify the species and learn as much as I want to learn. I probably will never be able to tell the difference between a chipping sparrow and a savanna sparrow, but that's okay. Only the shipping sparrow lives around here. And there are enough critics of my nature photography web site so that somewhere down the line, somebody will tell me where I've misidentified a bird. I'm thankful for that. I'm also very patient and can wait.
I was about to write that I really didn't care about the audio CD, just as I didn't care for Smithsonian's. That's not entirely true, and it brings us back to the sparrow. I CAN distinguish differences in bird songs; I just can tell which thrush or sparrow it came from. Around here, sparrows get together for socializing and maybe even a hand of bridge, and they don't mind singing up a storm regardless of the competition with others. The only one I know for sure is the Song Sparrow. So, every once in a while I will put the CD in and see if I can hear the difference between the Golden-crowned and the White-crowned. Sure, so long as I have the CD. But once out in the field... well, let's just say I've never been good with languages. Besides, almost all sparrows have a very sweet song, though none can compete with the Song Sparrow.
Would I recommend this book? In a heartbeat. But I'm guess it weighs well over a pound, so keep it home. The only thing I want now is for the Stokes to come out with the same one in hardbound.
Note: With Christmas coming up, I will be giving this to several friends who, though members of the local Audubon Society, will find this one of the best REFERENCE books. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that I'd buy a Kindle if this book was available WITH the songs.
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Top reviews from other countries
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- MichaelReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2013
The Stokes Field Guide to the birds of North America
- Gord WilsonReviewed in Canada on April 1, 2021
Simply the best bird book for North America species.
One of the best bird books I've ever used. It weighs a bit but it is very hard to find a better book ror species information.,nSimply the best bird book for North America species.Gord Wilson
Reviewed in Canada on April 1, 2021
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