Does anyone modify there field guides? (1 Viewer)

L

lvn600

Well-known member

• Apr 2, 2005

• #1

Does anyone modify thier field guides?

It seems like for the most part you need a field guide to help identify birds. It seems that having common birds in your guide would make it more difficult to look up unidentified birds. Does anyone remove or black out common birds from the field guides? How about bird lists? In the case of bird lists it seems inconvenient to have a whole bunch of birds on the list that you rarely see so why have them on the list when you could just write it in on a rare occasion you do see a certain species.-Any ideas?

 

Last edited: Apr 2, 2005

Gill Osborne

Well-known member

• Apr 2, 2005

• #2

I've often felt like getting a spare copy of my Collins guide and ripping out the pages of awkward species....like warblers and shorebirds...and carrying them on me - bit lighter than carrying the whole book LOL
Never actually had the courage to do it though!

Know what you mean about lists though.....bit demoralising when you think you are doing really well with your life list and then look at, say, the BOU list and there's vast gaps between your ticks...makes you feel like you have a mountain to climb! LOL
But as long as I reach my 200 this year I don't care!!!

GILL

 

weather

Pirate name: Poncy Henry Goodfellow

• Apr 2, 2005

• #3

Actually, I have a red dot next to all the birds found in Ohio. I used a checklist for Ohio. This way, I'm not looking in the field guide for birds that are not found around here. In my Sibley, I have a red dot for common, black dot for uncommon, and yellow for rare.

Mike

 

R

Rhion

Well-known member

• Apr 2, 2005

• #4

weather said:

Actually, I have a red dot next to all the birds found in Ohio. I used a checklist for Ohio. This way, I'm not looking in the field guide for birds that are not found around here. In my Sibley, I have a red dot for common, black dot for uncommon, and yellow for rare.

Mike

Click to expand...

I usually do that before visiting a new country. I go through the field guide marking all the birds that there seems to be a reasonable chance of seeing in the area I'm visiting. It makes sure I check the likely birds first when trying to identify something, and serves as a warning to double check the ID if it seems to be a species that hasn't been marked.

 

L

lvn600

Well-known member

• Apr 2, 2005

• #5

It is good to get this feedback as I am trying to come up with my own system of identifying and listing-thanks

 

weather

Pirate name: Poncy Henry Goodfellow

• Apr 2, 2005

• #6

Here's a nice site of bird checklists: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/othrdata/chekbird/chekbird.htm

Mike

 

J

Jodievdw

Well-known member

• Apr 4, 2005

• #7

With my first guide (which I carted around in the field for quick reference since my notes were abysmal) I had little post-it notes sticking out of the pages so I could find frequently referred-to sections quickly. My latest guide's actually done the work for me, having colour-coded page edges, and a key on the back cover to remind you what the colours mean. I've also marked off ruler-style measurements inside the cover to help with estimating a birds size. I've always been very impressed with people who can look at a tiny greenish brown lump and say, 'Well, it's a bit small for the Whatever Honeyeater; might be about right for the Something Else, though' when there's about half an inch difference! For a long time my descriptions went "bigger than a magpie, shaped like a stretched chook with blue wherever the black wasn't..."

 

weather

Pirate name: Poncy Henry Goodfellow

• Apr 4, 2005

• #8

On the subject of field guides; I think there is one that gets overlooked a lot. The American Bird Conservancy's All the Birds of North America. I'm starting to use this more than Sibley. It's color coded with icons to make ID quick. It also shows the birds in their habitat and feeding behaviors. I also like the way it is put together. It really can take a beating in the field. It's hard to find, but worth getting when you do.

Mike

 

Tero

Retired

• Apr 4, 2005

• #9

I have written notes to explain some issues better in some of my guides. Often a line from the name to the picture, if they are not clearly labeled.

 

S

sclateria

Well-known member

• Apr 8, 2005

• #10

Me too -- I've written notes in my copy of Souza's "All the Birds of Brazil" (a guide notoriously below the standards of today's modern field guides) to clarify field marks on particular species after I had seen them in the field. I find this helpful not only because it improved some of the poorer drawings, but also because it helps pick up on what an illustrator does and doesn't do well.

Brad

 

Alastair Rae

London birder

• Apr 8, 2005

• #11

I draw in those R T Peterson-style lines to indicate key differences between species.

 

E

Edward woodwood

Member

• Apr 10, 2005

• #12

it's quite common in areas where there are lots of species (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia etc) to cut out the plates from field guides or handbooks to cut down on weight and t make a little composite ID package tailored to your needs.

Tim

 

I

ianscot

Member

• Apr 11, 2005

• #13

weather said:

The American Bird Conservancy's All the Birds of North America.

Click to expand...

Personally I like owning this guide, but not actually using it while out in the field. It's a nice idea, organizing it by habitat -- but when I'm standing on a hill overlooking a wetland and looking at a sparrow singing its heart out in a young evergreen, which habitat is that again? Quick!

A lot of what you're saying I agree with, and it's definitely a different choice that gives you other ways of sorting and sifting the information. Just isn't the format I like when I'm actually out there. I think of it as a reference. It fits wonderfully in one of my car's little stow-it bins.

 

Tero

Retired

• Apr 11, 2005

• #14

All th birds is useable, and is narrow, fits in a back pocket.

 

Allen

Well-known member

• Apr 13, 2005

• #15

I use the Macmillan Guide to Bird Identification by Harris, Tucker and Vinicombe- it only contains confusion species (incl rarities) so eliminates those Blue Tits, Robins etc. You can only get hold of it second hand on eBay, Amazon and the like but a superb field book for the UK. Very portable too.