Newbie question: Which field guide or ID guide should I choose? (1 Viewer)

Greetings,
Being a new birder here in the U.S., I have been wondering which field guide or ID guide to start out with. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you

You've got a choice of Sibley ( either the 'big' one that covers the whole of Nth. America or the Eastern or Western, pocket sized ones ), National Geographic and some photo guide ( hmmm, I'll say no more ). North American birders seem fairly evenly split between Shirley and Nat. Geo. I prefer Sibley, even allowing for the 'strange' colour reproduction on some species, but, like many things, it's best to get a look at as many as you can to find the one you're comfortable with.

chris butterworth said:

You've got a choice of Sibley ( either the 'big' one that covers the whole of Nth. America or the Eastern or Western, pocket sized ones ), National Geographic and some photo guide ( hmmm, I'll say no more ). North American birders seem fairly evenly split between Shirley and Nat. Geo. I prefer Sibley, even allowing for the 'strange' colour reproduction on some species, but, like many things, it's best to get a look at as many as you can to find the one you're comfortable with.

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Shirley you mean Sibley, Chris . I prefer Sibley, although I'm not certain which guide would be best for someone starting out. It may be best to start with the Eastern Sibley, which has fewer species in than the guide for the whole of North America.

I have the Eastern Sibley, but eventually I'll need either the Western or the whole of N. America. It depends if you travel and where to I suppose

Andrew Whitehouse said:

Shirley you mean Sibley, Chris . I prefer Sibley, although I'm not certain which guide would be best for someone starting out. It may be best to start with the Eastern Sibley, which has fewer species in than the guide for the whole of North America.

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Bloody 'spell checker'. Shirley it realises what I meant. |=@|





....... and stop calling me 'Shirley'. ; )

chris butterworth said:

....... and stop calling me 'Shirley'. ; )

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Damn. Beat me to it.

As others pointed out two excellent choices are either the Sibley guide or the National Geographic guide. Regarding the the eastern or western version of these guides, which in the case of Sibley's has a smaller, easier to use format, it depends where you are in the Midwest. For example, let us say you are in Kansas. The line dividing 'eastern" and "western" coverage in Sibley's books goes north-south right through the middle of the state! I have no idea which would be the best choice in terms of "eastern" or "western" versions in this case. Since you defined yourself as a newbie birder I think it is worthwhile to point out that despite the name the "field guide" is not be used only in the field! To make the most of your birding sorties, whether you go by yourself or with more experienced birders in a group, read your field guide before hand. Those books typically have an introduction to birding, explanations of how to use the book, etc. Familiarize yourself with the concepts of geographic distribution, temporal changes in bird population (migration etc) and habitat preferences which usually are discussed briefly in the introduction to those guide books and in the text that accompanies each bird illustration. Ideally obtain a bird checklist of the birds that can be seen where you are going birding and, using your book before the trip, study the birds in the list, specially the ones that are possible at that particular time of the year at the place you are going to visit. Often one can find such information in the Web. For example, in the case of Kansas, a good online resource is
http://www.ksbirds.org/ . Other states have similar organizations. Even if you cannot get a list for the particular place you are visiting (or your backyard as the case might be) you should be able to download a bird list for your state as a whole. This preparation will save you time when you are birding, will help you see more birds and identify more of what you see or hear.

Good luck,

Dalcio

I prefer Sibley and National Geographic, and use both. Sibley is a bit better for the tough ids IMHO, but National Geographic shows more species per page (when taking in account the smaller size), which can be more useful when you are still getting the basics down. I started with Nat Geo but tend to rely on Sibley more these days.

Mysticete said:

I prefer Sibley and National Geographic, and use both. I started with Nat Geo but tend to rely on Sibley more these days.

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Was the Sibley guide available when you first started?

I have stayed out of this thread, but think I can say something here: My first US field guide was 3rd edition of Nat Geo which served me well for years. I got the first edition Sibley not too long after it came out, but contined using Nat Geo when actually traveling (flying) with Sibley more often used closer to home. I have since got the 6th edition of Nat Geo with all it's advantages, and the Sibley app on an ipad mini: last time I traveled I combined those two resources and felt I had a wonderful experience.

For use at home I have a number of more specialized works covering a specific group (Hawks in flight to mention one) or difficult species pairs (Advanced birding). There is time to browse these others and purchase some of them later.

Niels

I've only been a birder for 11-12 years, so yeah, Sibley/Nat Geo/Kaufmann/Peterson/etc were all available.