Which Birding Field Guide Is Right For Me?

A birding Field Guide will help you identify the birds in your area. It will show you pictures of the birds and maps of where (and when) the birds can be found. There are hundreds of Field Guides for virtually every spot on earth. Field Guides for the United States and Canada may cover individual states, the eastern and western parts of North America or all of North America.

Backyard birders may own two or three Field Guides while experienced birders may own five or six different Field Guides. These Field Guides are books that are designed to be taken into the field with you when you go looking for birds, hence the name. Each Field Guide has its own strengths and weaknesses. Some show multiple plumages for each species. The quality of the artwork and the amount of detail in each drawing varies quite a bit. The best Field Guides will discuss bird habitat and behavior as well as point out the key field marks. This will help you identify a bird and tell it apart from a similar species.

If you have a Field Guide that is 15-20 years old, it is very obsolete. Bird names are changed by the scientists more often than you think. Bird taxonomy changes too. Older Field Guides had all the color plates bunched together in the center of the book (to reduce printing costs) while the bird’s description was someplace else. Range Maps were often lumped together at the back of the book. Newer Field Guides show bird images, maps and the bird’s description all together on one page.

A Field Guide covering just one state will be rather simple and straightforward. Only the more common birds will be included. These are great for kids and for those just getting started. Field Guides covering the eastern or western parts of the continent are typically well written and less bulky than Field Guides covering the entire continent. Field Guides covering 800+ birds found in North America are excellent, but may be a bit heavy to carry.

Here are the best birding field guides available today for North America:

The Sibley Guide to Birds (also available in eastern and western versions)

Peterson’s Field Guide to Birds of North America (also available in eastern and western versions)

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (also available in eastern and western versions)

Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America (includes photos rather than drawings - also in Spanish)

Thayer’s Birds of North America is an excellent electronic Field Guide for Mac or Windows computers. It includes an Identification Wizard to help you identify unknown birds. Another advantage -- it includes bird sounds for over 700 species.

Also popular are:
Golden Field Guides to Birds of North America

Stokes Field Guide to Birds ( eastern and western regions)

National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds ( eastern and western regions)

National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Birds of North America

Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds ( eastern and western regions)

American Bird Conservancy’s Field Guide to All the Birds of North America


US State guides include:
Adventure Publications (by Stan Tekiela)
National Geographic Field Guide to Birds (12 regions available)

Best World Field Guides
Mexico
Belize
West Indies
Trinidad & Tobago
Costa Rica
Panama
Colombia
Venezuela
Ecuador
Galapagos Islands
Peru
Chile
Antarctica
Europe
UK
Middle East
West Africa
Senegal/Gambia
Central Africa
South Africa
East Africa
Kenya
China
Nepal
Northern India
India
Russia/Japan
Southeast Asia
Philippines
Thailand
Australia
New Zealand
Hawaii