Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Every bird watcher will want this book in his or her library
From the moment I first opened David Sibley's new field guide, I was mesmerized. It offers a compact presentation on every species of bird north of the Mexican border and is undoubtedly one of the most user-friendly guides ever developed. In many ways, Sibley takes Roger Torey Peterson's method to its logical end--a guide that capsulizes all the essential information about similar species, arraying them close to each other for comparison. But unlike Peterson, Sibley presents ample information on the many plumages of individual species which are apt to confuse even some of the most experienced birders. Sibley's art work is very appealing to the eye, and his bird potraits are all very naturally posed. He also points out distinguishing field marks with text arrayed alongside his portraits, facilitating rapid identification. His approach also offers flight views together with perched views where that is helpful.There are a few negatives--only a few. The book would be unwieldy to carry in the field. (Best to bring it along and leave it in the car, perhaps.) The range maps are for the most part too small to easily distinguish, especially where birds appear in only limited areas. And the description of songs and calls strike me as inferior to Peterson's, from which I've learned most of the songs and calls I know over the past 40 years. In comparison to the other new bird guide just published, Kenn Kaufman's "Focus Guide," I much prefer David Sibley's. While Kaufman has crammed an incredible amount of information into a small, very quickly accessible volume, Sibley's is far more useful in distinguishing between species. Kaufman's is far handier to carry along in the field, but it offers far less data on individual species than Sibley. (Although I cannot feature using this information, Sibley even gives the average weight of each species--a fascinating bit of information not readily available in most other guides.) In any event, if you are a person interested in birds at any level of expertise, you are bound to enjoy David Sibley's excellent new guide. Buy a copy as soon as you can!
Rating: - New Standard for Bird Field Guides
David Sibley has written an excellent field guide. This book surpasses National Geographic's "Field Guide to Birds of North America" and the Peterson's Series of Bird Guides. It includes a greater number of illustrations and portrays more of the various ages of the birds. One has to appreciate the flight views of the many birds.The colors of the illustrations are excellent. This corrects one compliant of the 3rd edition of National Geographic Field Guide. Advanced and beginning birders will benefit from the examples. The range maps have been adjusted in several cases. Sibley has taken great care in producing the most up-to-date field guide. The accompanying text is very informative. It is packed with information about each species. Sibley "Guide to Birds" definitely shows that years were taken to produce this comprehensive reference. If there is a downside, this book is heavy. Many pages were required to incorporate all the interesting and informative information contained in this fabulous book! Sibley has set a new standard in Bird Field Guides. It will be years before this book is surpassed. Sibley's "Guide to Birds" is a must book for any birders library.
Rating: - Stalking the Perfect Field Guide
The Sibley Guide isn't aimed at beginning bird watchers attempting to identify a bird in the field. While even absolute beginners will appreciate Mr. Sibley's exquisite watercolors, this is primarily a visual reference and not a how-to-do-it key. Birds are in taxonomic order, and there is serious discussion and depiction of races within a species, something that will baffle novices. Beginners would be better served with the National Geographic Guide of Kenn Kauffman's new book.But for intermediate and advanced birders, or for serious beginners, this is a nearly perfect guide. In particular, I found the pages showing all of the flycatchers on one page, or all of the woodpeckers, or all of the small gulls, to be exceptionally well done. For the treatment of individual species, well, in most cases, you will only find better drawings in the specialty books. I'd be proud to hang any of Sibley's 6,000 or more watercolors depcited in this book on my wall at home. It's larger than a traditional field guide, but not so large that you can't lug it along in the field. Other reviews imply it's the size of an unabridged encyclopedia; in fact, it's about half again the size of the National Geographic guide. A few quibbles: - Stay away from the first printing. There seems to have been a problem with the color. The color quality (and accuracy) is much better in second and subsequent printings. - Some of the unusual birds, the rarities, are omitted. This spring it was my pleasure to watch a Eurasian Bullfinch. It's a bird that's in National Geographic, but not in Sibley. I'm told Sibley stayed with the birds he knew. Perhaps that's the explanation. - To the extent behavior is used in identifying birds - Empidonax flycatchers, for example - it's probably not described sufficiently. But these are truly quibbles. Overall this is a remarkable piece of work and already a classic in its field. There isn't yet a Perfect Birding Guide but David Sibley's work is as close as anyone has come.
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