Got mine today, and here are a few thoughts. I must say first that I own the previous edition as well, and that NG is my usual FG whenever I have a chance to visit North America.
Ok, I can't say that I'm all excited, but I sure like the over all solid update. One reason that I'm not all that excited is the fact that this book has become bulkier again. And while it does not seem like much, those roughly 70 extra pages definitely show. The weight (a crucial point in a FG) has increased from 780 grams to 880 grams.
There are two main features that make this book a must-have-bought for me. The first one is the additional information given in the range maps. And that includes the fact that a fair number of species has got a range map for the first time here. In particular, one gets a much better idea just how far from the border those accidental or rare Mexican species are regulars, and the same holds for Siberia. And the included migration ranges are great as well. It's interesting, by the way, to compare the range maps for the European Collared Dove in the two editions. Quite a fast range extension here, similar to what had happened in Europe in the last century.
The second major new feature are the field mark annotations added to the illustrations. Basically like in the Collins/Svensson FG for Europe. Again, most welcome indeed. Unfortunately, this latter feature necessitated some reduction in the size of most illustrations. Mostly, that's not really a problem, but in some cases, the reduction or the rearrangement of the illustrations has led to a less than intuitive recognition of which parts belong together. Cases in point are page 265 where Band-tailed and Rock Pigeon are not clearly separated in my opinion. Actually, a reduction in size of the head-on flight illustration of the Rock Pigeon would have remedied the situation here. On page 229, one illustration of the adult Glaucous-wingedxWestern Gull hybrid looks like it could belong to the Western. Sure, no big thing, and quite often the additional pages have been used to take apart those previously crowded pages. However, often, that would seem like an unnecessary spreading out to me, considering the increase in weight and thickness of the book. Some species' illustrations got a bit too small now, like the Anhinga.
There are many new illustrations, but mostly these are flight illustrations added to the unchanged main illustrations. Some most welcome major revisions are notable. The Fulmar now looks like the real thing. Others have also been mentioned previously. Hitting the colors right is always an issue in these editions. This time, at least the shelducks and the Egyptian Goose on page 49 are too red. I think there are others, but I'm not sufficiently familiar with many species to be certain. Thus, I'd like someone to confirm or negate my feeling that the thrushes on page 399 are too reddish or rather have too much orange.
On the rearranged picture of the juvenile Hook-billed Kite (page 127) it would seem like the bird is about to fall backwards.
Finally, what's the use of including long-extinct species like the Great Auk, the Passenger Pigeon, and the Carolina Parakeet in a FG? It's a different matter in cases where there might still be some hope that the species would be rediscovered, like in the case of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.
Field guide wars!
