I.d. Guide Books (1 Viewer)

I use both the Nat'l Geo. (4th edition) and the American Bird Conservancy's "All the Birds of North America". I really really like the latter for it's true "field" characteristics - it's built like a tank! It has a hard, yet pliable, plastic covering, it's slim enough to fit in your back pocket, yet it nevertheless includes all of North America's birds. The artwork is also far superior to Nat'l Geo.'s current edition, imo (I haven't see the 3rd edition so I can't comment on that). Additionally, for us novice birders, they group the birds by characteristics and habitat, not by taxonomy, so it's easier to find the right page where the bird might be listed. The only drawback is that they haven't updated the data since '97, so the ranges are a bit out of date, and some of the species names aren't current (e.g. - they call the Arizona Woodpecker by it's old name, the Strickland's Woodpecker)

Whew, what a collection of good reviews. I myself have used Collins from many published years (and for my entire time in England) and have recently purchased "Birds of Europe" by Svensson. Collins gets my nod for the best true to life field guide. But, while in the Middle East (Qatar and Oman) I did use the "Birds of Europe" by Svensson and it proved to be very good. My main guide for this area, just in case anyone travels to these areas in particular, is the “Field Guide to the Birds of the Middle East” by Porter, Christensen, and Schiermacker-Hansen. It is not in-the-field friendly (Hardcover) but the artwork is very true to life. I had no problem IDing any bird from it. As far as in the USA I won’t go anywhere without my National Geographic guide and Sibley’s is a must have as a post birding trip Encyclopedia, by far the most extensive guide available - untouchable.

G'day all

In my opinion Pizzey and Knight is the best field guide to aussie birds. It has just been updated with some new plates and distribution maps have been revised in light of the just-released "New Atlas of Australian Birds".

The Slater field guide has also just been updated. I don't use this but it is highly regarded. Simpson and Day is more of a beginners book and the Morecombe one seems good but the jury is still out I think.

Lawrie Conole from Melbourne has conducted occasional surveys over the years and his findings can be read at http://www.bluep.com/~oco/Fguide.html

For some thoughts (very funny) on a new aussie field guide see http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/humor/aussie.html

Cheers

Steve

Hey, what's all this dissing of the NG guide for N. America? It's a great guide! I've got the large Mullarney et al., Collins Bird Guide (and many of the others mentioned in this thread - they look nice on my shelf) and yes, the artwork is very nice, but it's not in another league. C'mon, be fair.