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Another new NA field guide (1 Viewer)

Mysticete

Well-known member
United States
Howell is currently working on one, but he is not the only one. And to be honest, this one looks SOOOOO much cooler (although my reaction on seeing the plates was sensory overload). This is however the first field guide I would seriously considering getting as an addition to my Sibley and Nat Geo

P.S. this is from the same person who wrote The Shorebird Guide, which I think is a great source reference for shorebird ID

http://10000birds.com/could-this-be-north-americas-best-id-guide.htm
 
The format, I suppose, will be one species plate per page with text, range map on facing page? Or text, range map on same page as species plate? In either case, the new guide seems likely to be quite bulky.

But, I really like the sample plates & if the rest are up to the same standard, I will certainly buy the book if & when it sees the light of day.
 
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There's always room for one more Field Guide! I think these plates are a great concept and it will certainly complement (rather than duplicate) other Field Guide illustrations.
 
that's rather how I see it...a complement to existing field guides. We have all had weird head scratchers when birding when all we saw was an odd angle, super distant view or brief in flight glimpse of a species. This might help in those circumstances
 
Excellent concept and I would say a "must have" for any serious N.A. birder. I know I want one! I also suspect that size of the book could be an issue for carrying it around in the field, but one could always leave it in the car or back on the bookshelf at home for reference.
 
Interesting idea, but (i) seems like an overwhelming amount of work for over 700 species of birds, to say nothing of geo variants, subspecies, and the various plumages of each species (juvenile, immature, basic, alternate, male, female, etc.) so I wonder if it will ever be completed, and (ii) doesn't really duplicate what's best about the shorebird guide--seeing birds as they might appear in natural habitat in comparison to other similar species in the same conditions. These plates only show a single species, and the photos will all be under different lighting conditions.

If I had it, I'd probably still use Sibley as my main ref and use this as a supplement, as others suggest. Frankly, I think a more pressing need is for a photo guide that just had regular old box photos of all NA species, in flight and perched, together with all major plumage variants. But that would be pretty big too.

Best,
Jim

Best,
Jim
 
Definitely impressive, but I still prefer old-fashioned plates.

Some of the illustrations remind me of a certain Hitchcock film... :eek!:

Agreed on all counts.

With one species per spread, presumably with text opposite, is this going to be 1800 pages long?!

Does it come with supplied porter?
 
Richard Crossley spoke at a local nature festival last night. He had more shots in his presentation and he explained his reasons for the design. He didn't mention a release date but it sounds like the project is much further along than people would have guessed.

It looks interesting but I wonder if it would be better as a desk reference as opposed to a field guide.
 
I would buy this one, but strictly for a desk reference, not the one that went with me into the field. Especially if the text is inclusive to the extent that one could expect with one species per spread, I would like that for a desk reference.

Niels
 
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