[firefox32]

Hi.

Can anyone recommend a fairly recently published North American Bird Guide. Ideally one that is available in the U.K.

If anyone can help I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks.
Fox.

[lulubelle]

There are several, unfortunately I am not sure what would be readily available to you. The most recent books are the new Smithsonian and the new Peterson's. The Smithsonian is a photo guide and it comes with a DVD of bird calls that sounds more impressive than it really is. The Peterson's is a combo of both wstern and eastern species and is a nicely done book. Both are bigger than I prefer to carry in the field, so I usually have them with me in a backpack, in the car, as additional references. There is a Nat'l Geo that came out last year - its index is out of order though. I carry Ken Kaufman's guide in the field because of its size among other things. National Wildlife Federation had a nice guide as well, but a little heavy for the field. There are features that could be improved or added in each guide, but nothing is perfect!! Besides,it just gives someone an excuse to print another guide! There others to be had, just depends on what you are looking for, prefer and what's available to you.
Hope this helps you some!

[Dave B Smith]

The only thing I would add to Laura's list is to also consider Sibley's Guide. This comes in a complete N.A. version (a little large to carry in field, but handy in the car) as well as both Eastern and Western US versions which are more portable.

[BeesWing]

I think nothing beats the Sibley Guide.

But, check out this thread:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=131155

[fugl]

Originally Posted by BeesWing

I think nothing beats the Sibley Guide.

Ditto, particularly the "big" Sibley covering both halves of the continent.

[LKB-28]

Hi Fox;

Another vote for Sibley's NA guide; I just bought one for my upcoming USA trip via Amazon UK...

Clear and easy to read with excellent plumage variation illustrations...

Only initial down-side (for me anyway) that I was a little disappointed about was the lack of pointers or illustrations for "easily confused with" or "similar too" indicators...

Good luck;

Lee

[Glosbirder]

I use Sibley whenever we're in the Land of the Maple Leaf. It's very very good.

The main drawback is the bulk of the original book but recently Knopf have brought out slimmer eastern and western North America editions. We bought one this summer as a thank you to our friends in Alberta and I was very impressed with it both in terms of content and weight!

[apbarr]

I have all 3 Sibley's plus National Geographic and use the smaller Sibley's in the field and the others for reference

[Tero]

The Sibley East and West are the handiest. The illustrations are fairly accurate, but I find I want to compare sparrows to actual photos. I am quite OK with sibley for year birds, I check even sparrows there, though it has some faults there. But for lifers I also want a photo guide to compare, usually Kaufman.

[mayoayo]

The Big Sibley is a fun book,and a good reference,with quite a lot of visual information,and definitely recreational..but it does not have much information on habitat ,behavior ,or anything really...There is only a brief introduction to each genus,a simple description ,and then ,most of the text is used in quite subjective descriptions of birds voices(kikrrri kikrrri kikrrri,..iif iif iif ,WEEpa WEEpaquiquiquiquiquiquiqi...).
This is very interesting info,no doubt,but i would rather have some more other aspects of the bird life explained there.For more information you would need the companion volume to the Sibleys guide..i forgot the title
The smaller field West and East versions seem to have more information about biology ,habitat ,behavior etc,and they would be more handy in the field...
Kaufman is very good ,i think he is right on the spot,with the synthesis of information comprised there..of course is a small volume,and you will miss some plumages,and details of feathers in the( Photo) illustrations ..
There is where Sibleys Excels...

[Glosbirder]

The companion volume to the Sibley field guide is really good with it's extended discussions of families and species accompanied by some marvellous little illustrations of habitat and behaviour.

A proper bed-time birdbook!