The Sibley Guide to Birds

This is the second edition of this book (I gave the first to my mom) and is a fabulous resource for anyone even casually interested in their backyard birds. Now my backyard includes a river, this book has been a great help to ID migratory birds I've never seen before (like the greater scaup) and birds I didn't see in NH (like the broad wing hawks that I see almost daily flying over the yard). Most bird groups get a spread that shows all the species in that section so it's easy to pick your suspects. Each bird then gets a page detailing its different phases, flight positions, range, song/voice and sometimes even babies and fledglings. Plus the artwork is phenomenal.

Sibley's deep knowledge of and passion for bird identification is impressive and full of insights, For me, it's more for reading when you've just come back from birding, with lessons learned enriching one's experience or adding to one's next birding experience.

Short Book Reviews for CML by Jan Erik Pierson

Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf. New York, 2000.

Birdwatching at its best is a fantastic, close view of a wild bird, revealing the full beauty of the creature before you and allowing you to observe well not only its plumage and shape but also its behavior and habits. As such, this popular pursuit is an evolving study of detail, as the novice accumulates knowledge through experience and repetition. David Sibley’s magnificent guide is the single best reference to support such an avocation. Larger than a standard field guide and thus likely to be left in the car on field trips, it is an aesthetic delight…armchair birding at its best. The 810 species and 350 show more regional forms covered in this book are beautifully illustrated in flight, at rest, from above and below, and at various ages, and the same-page text, range maps, and annotations add a wealth of information that make leafing through this guide just plain fun, let alone highly informative, and a must for every nature aficionado’s bookshelves. show less

Move over Peterson. You don't have to be a hard-core birder, "twitcher" or ornithologist to own this book. Even if you are a new or casual bird watcher, this should be your first field guide. Unlike the smaller Peterson's, you can't really take it out in the field, but no matter.

The flight illustrations are very useful. Sibley allows us to now identify warblers and sparrows on the wing. In the old days, we would only attmept that with hawks and other much larger birds.

Amazing book on ID'ing proper bird species. Was head and shoulders above any of the others in it's class. Details and paintings of birds are impressively detailed, and the field marks are easily pointed out, with relevant details like differences between Juv & Adult, range pointed out on the same species page (which is different than the Petersen Guide). One other point that was incredibly helpful was the gliding profile that shows what the typical species profile would look like if you were to view it gliding head on. Be advised - this book is not intended (or at least shouldn't be thought of) as a field guide to take with you on birding trips. It's the size of a standard hardcover novel, so it's really impractical to stick with you in show more a pocket for field use. However, Sibley does publish a smaller version for each of the Western & Eastern US that is the typical field guide size. show less

This is my current favorite North American field guide. The illustrations are stunning, and very accurate, and there's loads of text and great maps. All around a wonderful guide, and not too big that it can't be carried in the field (although it is on the large side). Still, when I'm only bringing one guide, this is the one I choose.

What can I add to what everyone else says? Only that, even though my eyes can no longer see birds' markings in the field, I'm keeping this guide. It's just so neat to look at a bird in all its different plumages.