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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MollyM/CA" data-source="post: 1377159" data-attributes="member: 72531">There's a lot to be said for the Zim-Robbins Birds of North America. Range maps for every species, right opposite the descriptions, drawings that look to my eye more like the birds than even Sibley's, sonograms for many species, taxonomic order, completeness, and best of all it still goes into a big pocket. Major groups are color-coded on the edges of the pages. (I still depend on sticky-arrows to mark the groups we see the most)The older editions are smaller and I thought better bound -- I carry my older sewn-binding hardboard copy in the front seat bin in my car all the time. At about $16 US dollars for the new it's a pretty good price, too. Sonograms (graphs of the calls or song) look rather daunting but it's not hard to learn to read them -- if you sit down with the book and a known species when it's singing a lot, the sonogram becomes almost as recognisable as a drawing. I find them very helpful.Sibley is always in my car, too: it has more plumages for some species, and often more lifestyle information, which can be helpful. It may be lucky when you live in the Central Valley -- our glories are waterbirds and raptors, and they're often best seen from the car.</blockquote>