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Your Birding Library (1 Viewer)

AlexC

AlexC

Aves en Los Ángeles
Opus Editor
I thought it'd be fun to compare libraries... maybe give each other ideas for future purchases! ;)

Guides:
"The Sibley Guide To Birds" - Sibley
"A Photographic Guide To North American Raptors" - Wheeler & Clark
"25 Birding Areas In Connecticut" - Proctor
"Identify Yourself" - Thompson
"Birds Of The West Indies" - Raffaele et al
"Birds Of Europe" - Svensson et al
"A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America" - Howell & Webb

Literature:
"The Beak Of The Finch" - Weiner
"Kingbird Highway" - Kaufman

Other Nature Books:
"Mammals Of North America" - Kays & Wilson
"Reptiles & Amphibians (Eastern/Central North America)" - Conant & Collins
"Reptiles & Amphibians (Western North America)" - Stebbins
 
Literature:
"The Beak Of The Finch" - Weiner
"Kingbird Highway" - Kaufman
Click to expand...
essentials!
I have books for N America, Mexico, Indies, second hand books on S America, Princeton version of Collins, Knightley Britain etc, plus one no-one uses for Europe, in FInnish, cost me 15 euros.
 
I probably have more bird books that I need (well I think that's what my wife thinks), I have:

Birds of the Western Palearctic (BWP) - 9 vol set
BWP concise - 2 vol set
BTO breeding atlas (late 70's, would like to get the more recent one).
Helm guides:
- shorebirds
- wildfowl
- seabirds
- starlings and mynas
Collins Bird Guide (or 'the barn owl book' as my 2 year old calls it)
Birds of North America (Nat Geo)

I also have a number of older bird books, but these are the ones I tend to use. I would like to get the recent Gulls book and any other Helm guides... might go shopping!
 
I thought that I had a problem, this just confirms it! Here's a sample.

Its amazing what you can do when trying to avoid doing any work ;)

'family' GUIDES
Helm guides;9
Pica 4
BWP concise
5 Birdlife/IUCN red data books

COUNTRY GUIDES:
Peru
Columbia
Chile
Brazil
Philippines x3
Indonesia
Australia
Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia
west malaysia and singapore
PNG x2
NZ x2

REGIONAL GUIDES
Indian subcont.
Ridgely and Tudor - South America x2
South east asia x2
Mexcio and central america
northern melanesia
Wallacea x 2
North America x 6
UK/Western pal x7
East Africa x2
West Indies

BIRDY LITERATURE
Various Bill Oddie
To see every bird on earth - Koeppel
Kingbird Highway - Kaufmann
A bird in the bush - moss
The big twitch - dooley
quest for 5000 birds - stevenson
chasing neotropical birds
birds of the heavens - matthiessen
tales of a low rent birder - dunne
small headed flycatcher - dunne
the ghost with trembling wings - weidensaul
birders - cocker
around the world with 1000 birds - boyman
birds of tropical america - hilty
the big year - obmascik
parrot without a name - stap
more tales of a low rent birder - dunne
the feather quest - dunne
living on the wind - weidensaul
a birders west indies - wauer
parts unknown - gallagher
eye of the albatross - safina

SITE GUIDES
Chile
Indonesia
Australia x 3 (inc Oceania)
NZ
Mexico
Solomon Islands
Europe and parts of - numerous
Canada
 
Sibley's Birding Basics
National Geographic's Field Guide to the Birds of North America
Sibley's Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America
Peterson's Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America
Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds: Eastern Region

And a few for the kids:
Backyard Birds (Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists)
The Burgess Bird Book for Children
Peterson First Guide to Birds of North America
Roger Tory Peterson's Colors: A Book for Beginner Bird Watchers and Crayon Users

wow...I didn't realize we had that many. :eek!:
 
In addition to the field guides...

I have & suggest several bird or bird related classics:

any book by:

Leslie Brown (Birds of Prey, Eagles of the World, African Birds of Prey and more - may be slightly outdated, but still great reference books)

Ian Newton (Population Ecology of Raptors, The Sparrowhawk, Lifetime Reproduction of Birds, Birds of Prey, Population Limitation in Birds and more - Classic & current - scientific & clear thinking)

Frances Hamerstom (Stictly for the Chickens, An Eagle to the Sky and more - fun reads and full of information - Fran Hamerstrom was a High Society Debutaunt (sp?) who married a student of Aldo Leopold and moved the wilds of Wisconsin to study Prairie Chickens)

Aldo Leopold (Sand County Almanac, Game Managment - as applicable today as when published)

Favorite fun read; a tie between:
The Rites of Autumn - Dan O'Brien &
Strictly for the Chickens - Fran Hamerstom
 
And my wife thought I was over the top. Can't wait to show her these posts so I can go buy a few more I've been wanting. ;)

Most recent additions were the Shorebird Guide, Small Gulls DVD, and Warbler Watching DVD. And for Christmas a sister sent me the 'Life of Birds' DVD hosted by David Attenborough - really enjoyed that.
 
Oh boy! I just got some more for Christmas and my birthday so now I have...
Peterson's East North America
Peterson's West NA
Peterson's Warblers
Hawks in Flight (Pete Dunne)
Sibley's East NA
Sibley's guide to bird life and behavior
Audubon's East NA
Audubon's West NA
Identify Yourself (Bill Thompson III)
The American Bird Conservancy Guide to the 500 Most Important Bird Areas in the United States
The Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State
Gathering of Angels
Letters from Eden (Julie Zickefoose)

Probably There are a few more scattered around the house somewhere....|=)| I'm hoping to go to Italy this year and in that case I will be buying Collins for myself....
 
Dave B Smith said:
And my wife thought I was over the top. Can't wait to show her these posts so I can go buy a few more I've been wanting. ;)

Most recent additions were the Shorebird Guide, Small Gulls DVD, and Warbler Watching DVD. And for Christmas a sister sent me the 'Life of Birds' DVD hosted by David Attenborough - really enjoyed that.
Click to expand...

The Life of Birds DVD is FANTASTIC! I also have it and:
FIELD GUIDES:
-Sibley's Field Guide to Birds of Western North America << (Just got today!)
-Sibley's Guide to Birds of North America (my favorite)
-National Geographic Guide to Birds of North America4th Edition
-Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America (my son's favorite)
-All the Birds of North America (American Bird Conservancy's field guide)
-Birds of Los Angeles: Including Santa Barbara, Ventura and Orange Counties
by Chris C. Fisher, Herbert Clarke (along with my son, the book that got me hooked into birding!)

NON-FIELD GUIDES:
-Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds by Bernd Heinrich
-Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird
by Andrew D. Blechman
 
Handbook of the Birds of the World (Vols. 1-11)
Birds of the World: A Checklist (Clements, 5°Ed.)
Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World (Howard & Moore, 3°Ed.)
Birds of India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka (Woodcock)
Field Guide to the Birds of the Eastern Himalayas (Salim Ali)
Birds in Bhutan: Status and Distribution (Spierenburg)
Raptors of the World: A Field Guide (Ferguson-Lees & Christie)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (Vols.1 & 2, Rasmussen & Anderton)
A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia (2000, Robson)
A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines (Kennedy)
Birds of The Solomons, Vanuatu & New Caledonia (Doughty & Day)
A Guide to the Birds of Wallacea (Coates & Bishop)
Birds of Western Africa (Borrow & Demey)
Birds of East Africa (Stevenson & Fanshawe)
Birds of Southern Africa (Sinclair, Hockey & Tarboton)
All The Birds of Brazil (2° Ed., Souza)
A Guide to The Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America (Howell & Webb)
Birds of Northern South America (Vols. 1 & 2, Restall)
 
I'm constantly confused about this whole Collins thing...

What's the difference between THIS and THIS? Is it just really big hardcover vs. smaller paperback? Because if so, I'm mad that I got the hardcover by accident.

Forgot to mention I also have Sibley's Bird Life & Behavior, too.
 
I think (and i may be wrong here), but the first one is The Collins guide as published in Europe. The second one is the Collins guide, published in the states by Princeton. I've not seen the Princeton one in the hand, but looking at the info on the Amazon link - the content looks the same.

In the UK, the first editiion (2nd ed due soon) is/was available as a Large (approx A4/foolscap) hard back, a smaller (approx A5) hardback and a small (approx A5 again) softback. The large edition is fantastic for the illustration quality but is a little too large to carry around in the field, the small paperback (which i have) is perfect for the field and the illustrations are still excellent but are obviously smaller and so it is less easy to pick out some detail.

Whatever the pros & cons of each size, the Collins Guide sets new standards for field guides - i now find myself looking at guides to other regions and unfairly comparing them to Collins (layout, illustration quality etc).

(Just dont mention the entry for (European) Robin though...)

Hope this helps to clarify

Mike
 
Guides
Brazil
Birds of Brazil - An Artistic View - Sigrist
Aves Brasileiras e Plantas que as Atraem ("Brazilian Birds and PLants that Attract Them") - Dalgas Frisch
Birds of Greater São Paulo - Develey & Endrigo
Argentina
Birds of Argentina & Uruguai - Narosky & Yzurieta
Birds of Buenos Aires - Narosky & Henschke
Aves de Iguazu (Birds of Iguazu) - Narosky & Chebez
North America
The Sibley Guide to Birds - Sibley
Europe
Les Oiseaux D'Europe (Birds of Europe) - Roux

Photography
The Hummingbird Garden - Dalgas Frisch
Birds of Pantanal and Cerrado of Mato Grosso - Syposz
Wonders of Brazil: Birds - Colombini
Birds - Martin

Etc.
Sibley's Birding Basics - Sibley
Aves ("Birds") - Benez
Aves Brasileiras Minha Paixão ("Brazilian Birds, My Passion") - Dalgas Frisch
La Gran Enciclopedia de las Aves ("The Great Enciclopedia of Birds") - Perrins
 
field guides:

Sibley NA
Peterson E and W
Kaufman NA
Stokes E
National Geo. NA
Eastern Bird's Nests
Peterson's Mexican Birds
Peterson's Birds of Britain and Europe
A Field Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Central America
An ID Guide to Common Backyard Birds
A Pocket Guide to Hawaii's Birds

Reference books:

Kaufman's Lives of NA Birds
Audubon Water Bird Guide
Peterson's Warblers
Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior
Advanced Birding
Birding by Ear
Birding in the American West
The Complete Birder
Sparrows and Finches of the Great Lakes Region and Eastern NA
Birds: Their life their ways their world
Hawks in Flight

Regional:

Birds of North Central Texas
The Birdwatcher's Guide to Hawaii

Birdfeeding:

The Backyard Bird Watcher
A Complete Guide to Bird Feeding

Other:
Familiar Garden Birds of NA
Song and Garden Birds of NA
The Bird Watcher's Quiz Book (anyone else have this gem, by Henry Collins Jr.?)


thats just my bird/ing books. i prob. have 10 others on insects, trees, etc.
i get another book a week or so

well you asked for it :king:
 
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Ouch, my wife had better not see this, I have considerably more books that most of the previous posters. For one, I am a serious bookaholic, I have also lived in many different countries, making it necessary to get the guides for that region.
 
I have bought these in the last month, so far they are the only ones I have:

*The All-Season Backyard Birdwatcher - Schneck
*Birds of North America - National Geographic
*The Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher (Birding feeding & Bird Gardens)-picked this one up at B&N on the bargain shelf.
* Birds (F.G to 188 most common birds in N. America)- Petereson's First Guides. It's a small one.
*A Birders Guide to the Chicago Region - Carpenter & Greenberg.

I'm open to any recommendations for beginners. Thanks!
 
GUIDES:
The Complete Guide To Ireland's Birds by Michael O'Clery and Eric Dempsey
Collins Bird Guide by Mullarney, Svensson, Zetterstrom and Grant
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America
The Birds of Menorca by Enric Ramos

OTHER BIRD BOOKS
Bill Oddie's Introduction To Birdwatching =D

NATURE-RELATED BOOKS
Collins Gem: Snakes
Collins Gem: Butterflies and Moths
Collins Gem: Spiders
Reader's Digest special-The Wildlife Year
Reader's Digest special-Nature's Masterpieces
Dorling Kindersley Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises
The Crocodile Hunter by Steve (RIP) and Terri Irwin
 
SixxStar said:
I have bought these in the last month, so far they are the only ones I have:

*The All-Season Backyard Birdwatcher - Schneck
*Birds of North America - National Geographic
*The Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher (Birding feeding & Bird Gardens)-picked this one up at B&N on the bargain shelf.
* Birds (F.G to 188 most common birds in N. America)- Petereson's First Guides. It's a small one.
*A Birders Guide to the Chicago Region - Carpenter & Greenberg.

I'm open to any recommendations for beginners. Thanks!
Click to expand...

You know what they say...
"Once you go Sibley, you never go back" ;) - The illustrations'll be a breath of fresh air.

Though I am excited about the new edition of Nat'l Geographic - a friend of mine Jon Dunn is chief editor of it and he says they're offering more on subspecies descriptions!
 
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