Sibley vs. Sibley and Sibley (1 Viewer)

Opinions needed. I'm going to buy book/books that cover the whole N.America. I have three to choose (actually two options):

a) Sibley (2000): North American Bird Guide 544 pages

B)Sibley (2003): Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America +
Sibley (2003): Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America 474+432 pages

So the question is: Does the first one have the same plates as those two combined? And how about the texts; are they more detailed in the last two?

Spede said:

Opinions needed. I'm going to buy book/books that cover the whole N.America. I have three to choose (actually two options):

a) Sibley (2000): North American Bird Guide 544 pages

B)Sibley (2003): Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America +
Sibley (2003): Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America 474+432 pages

So the question is: Does the first one have the same plates as those two combined? And how about the texts; are they more detailed in the last two?

Click to expand...

B) has more text than A), illustrations seem to be the same.

My suggestion would be to get A) and the National Geographic Field Guide to North American Birds (4th edition). The Nat. Geo. has very good text and combined with the illustrations in the big Sibley would form a very good source for study and field ID.

Dalcio

If I might just add, however, that the two smaller Sibleys have updated species info in them. Of course I don't have the spp names on the tip of my tongue but I noticed that my Western guide is more up to date than my "big Sibley's" which is the whole of North America.

Yes, the regional versions are more up to date, the maps are especially updated.
I believe all the plates/images in the regional versions are included in the big one. At least, I don't recall any that aren't. However, the big one has many images that are not included in the regionals. These are mostly alternate or juvenile plumages. And due to the size difference of the books the plates are much larger.
And as mentioned before, the regional ones have much more text. This includes habitat info, relative abundance, and other life history and ID tips.
If you're actually going to be carrying these into the field I would recommend getting the regional versions. If not, then I would recommend the big one.
Personally, the Sibley's are my favorite NA field guides.

Thank you all for your help! Although it seems that two smaller Sibley's would be better choice (what comes to texts), I think I buy the big one anyway. It's 17$ cheaper here than those two together (59$, 45 EURO) and I'm more interested about the pictures than exact maps and habitat info etc.