[Andrew]

I read the reviews of the split Sibley Guides for west and East American birds and saw an offer for each book at £13. I was impressed with the rteview and thought them good books to get hold of. The reasons being that they will come in handy if I do a Stateside trip and they might have better pictures of our American visitors. This question is aimed at British birders but American comments will be very much appreciated. . . . Is it worth buying an American guide book and is the Sibley the American equivalent of the much reverred 'Collins'?

[IanF]

I have the all-in-one Sibley 'Guide to Birds'. To my mind it isn't a patch on our Collins guide, with not as much information. The diagrams are a similar layout.

Having said that it is an excellent book and i'd recommend it to anyone, even if they aren't actually intending to visit the States. i have found it an invaluble reference book that I use regularly keeping it alongside the Collins close to hand.

[Andrew]

I also thought it would be good to help me 'see' what the American members are talking about.

[KCFoggin]

Hi Andrew. I have 4 of Sibley's books and the last one, his guide to eastern north america is by far his best as far as I am concerned.

[andy]

Andrew they are well worth getting go for them.

Andy

[Darrell Clegg]

Andrew - our American friends don't seem to have been as well served in the field guide stakes as we Europeans recently - even though they invented them! Sibley is without doubt the best in my view, even though it is a little short on text.

Darrell

[pduxon]

How do these compare for use in the field with the 4th ed National Geographic? The big sibley seems impractical for field use and splitting the US in two for the smaller guides struck me as bizarre.

I don't think we realise how spoilt we are over here.

[icansprint]

Andrew,

I just bought "The Sibley Field Guide To Birds of Eastern North America" and use it as a backup to my every day book. I look first at "An Audubon Handbook Eastern Birds" because it has real pictures of birds. I've been able to ID every bird I've looked for and only use my backup books for added info. This is my first year birding so I'm not offering "expert" advice ... just what works for me.

Bill

[Andrew]

Seems like the Sibley's get the thumbs up. I hope after thumbing through them I don't start 'seeing' the birds this side of the pond!!!

[Dave B Smith]

I prefer the Peterson's guides for their drawings and pointers on the "distinguising characteristics" but these guides do have their drawbacks. You need the Eastern, Western, and Texas editions to get a full view of the US birds.

Sibley gives more stages of the birds which is quite helpful.

[Andrew]

I have just seent he book that has all the American birds in one (North American Bird Guide) by Sibley is only £21 at NHBS. Is it wiser to go for this one than the split guides?

[pduxon]

Originally posted by Andrew
I have just seent he book that has all the American birds in one (North American Bird Guide) by Sibley is only £21 at NHBS. Is it wiser to go for this one than the split guides?

Andrew

the all in one guide is the size of the BIG Collins, and I would have thought is impractical for use in the field.

Hence I asked how the Nat Geo guide compares being cheaper and smaller.

Pete

[Andrew]

I don't intend to use it as a field guide really, just a reference. I suppose having the option to use the smaller field guides would be useful and save a bit if I ever pop over to the states.

[Edward]

Andrew, it depends what you're using it for. If you can see yourself going to NA in the near future and will need it in the field then get the relevant eastern/western guide (or both). However, if you are like me and like to buy foreign bird guides just to know "what's out there" then get the large single volume edition. I've had the large volume ever since it came out and I like it a lot and as there's a certain cross-over in terms of species in Europe and NA I invariably have it in the car with me. However, if and when I go to NA I'll buy the relevant Sibley eastern/western guide (and not the small single volume National Geographic Guide which is not a patch on Sibley in my opinion).

E

[Andrew]

I think there are more points favouring the larger single volume. Like you (Edward) said it is only for reference really, it is cheaper, I have not got much grasp of location in the states so when someone mentions a Red Eyed Vireo I wouldn't know whether to look in the eastern or western guide and that would be a lot of bother.

[Charles Harper]

I have the big Sibley, but am interested in hearing whether the smaller Eastern and Western Sibleys's simply split the material geographically or do they contain new, additional information? Anyone have all 3 for comparison?

[Grousemore]

Having spent a fair bit of time over there,my view is that the main Sibley (N.A.Bird Guide)is a must for anyone with a serious interest in American birding.In fact it is not as big as the 'large' Collins,but perhaps too big for Field use.
I agree with Dave Smith that the Peterson guides are very good and combined with the big Sibley,can see no need for the Nat Geo Field Guide which,although I have a copy,is gathering dust somewhere.

[Andrew]

I just went through the process of ordering the large Sibley but it came to a pound less than the two East/west books combined whihc is not good. I might as well get the two new Sibleys if it is only gonna cost me a pound more.

[Grousemore]

Hi Andrew,I don't thing you've made a bad move at all;the 2 smaller books are Field Guides and hence the illustrations are smaller.I also think that there is information in the main volume which is not in the smaller guides,but I don't have copies to check-have just browsed.
Hopefully someone will answer Charles's post and let us know for certain.

[pduxon]

check this out,

http://www.fatbirder.com/reviews/index.html?article=115

[digi-birder]

You'll find a review of the two smaller guides HERE

[Glen Tepke]

I own all of the guides discussed above and here are the pros and cons that I see for each:

Sibley Guide to Birds (the version that covers all of North America, sold under the title "The North American Bird Guide" in UK/Europe)

pros - all regularly occuring North American species in one volume; illustrations of many (but not all) species are the most accurate available, showing details not illustrated correctly in other guides; shows more age, seasonal and geographic plumage variations than any other guide; shows every species in flight, often in more than one plumage; includes many helpful sidebars on difficult ID problems

cons - many people think it is too big to carry in the field (but I don't think so); large number of species (810) and subspecies illustrated can be overwhelming for beginning birders; a fair number of errors in the illustrations and text (see the extensive list of corrections on Sibley's website, sibleyart.com); text is very sparse, especially regarding habitats and behaviors; range maps are too small; does not include some of the rarer Eurasian species seen in North America (not a problem if you carry a Eurasian field guide); does not provide Latin names of the subspecies illustrated


Sibley Field Guide to Eastern (& Western) North America (two volumes)

pros - includes very informative text on habitat and behavior; easy-to-carry size; better range maps; presumably most of the errors in the big version have been corrected but I haven't checked this

cons - includes fewer illustrations of each species and fewer plumage variations and subspecies; if you are looking for rarities from the other side of the continent, you need to carry both East and West, offsetting the benefit of the smaller size (I generally don't like guides that split the continent for this reason)


National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 4th edition (the differences between the 4th and 3rd editions are minor)

pros - all North American species in one volume; includes more Eurasian rarities than any other North American guide; fairly good representation of age, seasonal and geographic plumage variations (but not as good as the big Sibley); generally good illustrations (but uneven, like all guides); fairly detailed text; reasonably sized

cons - far fewer illustrations of birds in flight than the big Sibley; no arrows or labels on the illustrations to point out field marks; large number of species (more than 900) and subspecies illustrated can be overwhelming for beginning birders


Peterson, A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern & Central North America, A Field Guide to Western Birds (I believe the 1990 edition of the western guide includes the Texas border specialties so the separate Texas guide, which is extremely out-of-date, is no longer necessary)

pros - simplified illustrations and use of arrows to point out field marks particularly helpful to beginning birders; small size; the comparison plates of "Confusing Fall Warblers" are classics; sentimental favorite for many birders

cons - illustrations are too simplified for more advanced birders, fewer illustrations of age, seasonal and geographic variations than other guides; western guide has dated taxonomy and is currently out of print

Given my willingness to carry large guides and my dislike of east/west guides, I would rank these: 1) big Sibley, 2) National Geo, 3) Sibley east/west, 4) Peterson east/west. I usually take both the big Sibley and Nat. Geo. with me, though I may leave one in the car. I also own several guides that use photographs but don't think those work very well and never use them in the field.

Glen

[Andrew]

The reviews seem to suggest the Larger Sibley is not quite an 'at home book' and yet not a portable field guide, just somewhere in between. The portable guides (east/west) have a lot in favour of them from my standpoint. I am not a hard core ornithologist so the info in the smaller Sibleys appear to be adequate for me. That is the choice I am going for. However, according to the reviews it looks like I have to settle for a lower quality than I am used to being a Collins user. All the comments posted here have been really useful and many thanks.

[Andrew]

The illustrations have simply got to be better than the birds on pages 363 and 365 of the Collins field guide haven't they?

[pduxon]

Originally posted by Andrew
The illustrations have simply got to be better than the birds on pages 363 and 365 of the Collins field guide haven't they?

Andrew

if you get along to one of the bigger reserves they will have copies for you to browse before you buy. The only problem is you start drooling of places to visit.

Pete