How to Choose a Birding Field Guide

The hundreds of field guides on the market may confuse a beginning birder looking for a first guidebook. Here are the steps to finding the best field guide for any particular region.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Determine the region in which you will be doing the majority of your birding.

2. Call a local chapter of the Audubon Society or a bookstore, or access an online bookstore to see what field guides are available for your region.

3. View each field guide if possible. Consider size, ease of use and coverage of your area.

4. Choose the guide that is best suited to your skill level and your region.

Tips & Warnings

• Ask local birders which guides they prefer.
• Choose a guide with a built-in checklist to keep track of birds you see.
• Once you have mastered the birds in your region, upgrade to a North American guide such as the National Geographic Society's "Field Guide to the Birds of North America."
• Beginners should avoid purchasing a field guide to all of North America or the world.
• Be sure the guide you purchase is a field guide with color plates of each species, not merely a bird-finding guide to the region.

[mkm45]

on 11/12/2008 I love the Sibley guide, but I have four including a Stokes' which has pictures, not illustrations. I think it is nice to have a couple because birds vary even within a species or you don't always get a full view of a bird and having a couple of different books lets you see them from a different angle or variation. They are also great for sharing on hikes or with kids.

on 11/22/2005 Check out Audubon's new Sibley Guide. A little bulkier than others, but it covers the variations within a breed and it is easy to use.

on 11/22/2005 I've moved around and traveled over my lifetime, but my second foster father taught me how to watch for birds. I've seen eagles right here in our neighborhood, sparrow hawks, sparrows, wrens, goldfinches, thrushes, doves, and that's just a start.