- \n
- Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America (Peterson Field Guides)<\/a>
and related guides by Peterson (depending on your area) is still, in my opinion, the number one essential guide.<\/li>\n
- The Kaufman Field Guide and the Smithsonian Field Guides<\/a> are excellent second books, following the rule that if you are a birding family and don\u2019t share well, get multiple guides but make them all different from one another.<\/li>\n
- The Crossley ID Guide to Eastern Birds<\/a> is too big to be a field pocketbook but too good, in the way the birds are presented, to not be one of your key books for birding in the region.<\/li>\n
- Birds of North America and Greenland<\/a> is a new guide to supplement the usual guides, covering the western edge of North America and Greenland in more detail than the usual. Maritime and New England birders need this one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
How to be a birder<\/h2>\n
- \n
- National Geographic\u2019s Birding Essentials<\/a> is for the new birder, covering how birding works, how to use bird guides, etc.<\/li>\n
- The Young Birder\u2019s Guide to Birds in Eastern North America<\/a> is a field guide with help on how to go birding for kids about middle school age.<\/li>\n
- How to Be a Better Birder<\/a> is a more advanced guide but quite accessible to the noobie.<\/li>\n
- The Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding<\/a> … if you don\u2019t have this book you\u2019re doin\u2019 it rong.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Categorial Guides<\/h2>\n
- \n
- Hawks at a distance<\/a> is a unique approach to bird identification using long distance photos and a \u201cwhole bird\u201d approach.<\/li>\n
- Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America<\/a> falls between the categorial category (a particular type of bird is covered) and academic books.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Regional Bird Guides Outside the US<\/h2>\n
- \n
- South Africa: Birds of Southern Africa<\/a> is a classic now out in a new edition. Highly recommended.<\/li>\n
- South Africa: I discuss two other Southern Africa guides here.<\/a><\/li>\n
- Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives<\/a><\/li>\n
- Birds of Central Asia<\/a><\/li>\n
- Cotingas and Manakins<\/a> covers a major South and Central American class of birds, is a very new book and is rather spectacular.<\/li>\n
- Antarctic Wildlife: A visitor\u2019s Guide<\/a> is not just birds, but it includes the birds you\u2019d be likely to see on an organized tour of the Southern Continent.<\/li>\n
- Birds of the West Indies<\/a><\/li>\n
- Birds of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire<\/a><\/li>\n
- The Birds of New Jersey: Status and Distribution<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Academic or Topically General Books About Birds<\/h2>\n
- \n
- The Birder\u2019s Handbook<\/a> is not new but it is fantastic, all about bird ecology and behavioral biology and stuff.<\/li>\n
- The Atlas of Birds<\/a> addresses diversity, behavior, and conservation of birds world wide.<\/li>\n
- Bird Migration and Global Change<\/a><\/li>\n
- How birds migrate<\/a><\/li>\n
- Three academic books on bird migration<\/a><\/li>\n
- Avian Architecture: How birds design, engineer, and build<\/a> is a spectacular overview of bird nesting and related behaviors.<\/li>\n
- Living Dinosaurs: The Evolutionary History of Modern Birds<\/a> is a high priced academic book that includes a series of scientific studies of bird evolution from Dinosaurs to more recent times.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Bird Song (and more)<\/h2>\n
- \n
- Music of the Birds Volume 1<\/a> is an experimental book, in iAuthored iBook format, focusing on a handful of selected species in Eastern North America.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Children\u2019s Books<\/h2>\n
- \n
- On the wing: American Birds in Migration<\/a><\/li>\n
- How Birds Fly<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Also, don\u2019t forget to read ALL of my posts at 10,000 birds<\/a>! There\u2019s some other good posts there too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is a summary of several of the better books I\u2019ve had the opportunity to review here, organized in general categories. This is written from a North American perspective since most of my readers are North American (though many of you live to the west of the \u201cEastern Region\u201d … but you probably know that). … Continue reading The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide to Birding Books<\/span>
- How Birds Fly<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- On the wing: American Birds in Migration<\/a><\/li>\n
- The Atlas of Birds<\/a> addresses diversity, behavior, and conservation of birds world wide.<\/li>\n
- South Africa: I discuss two other Southern Africa guides here.<\/a><\/li>\n
- Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America<\/a> falls between the categorial category (a particular type of bird is covered) and academic books.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- The Young Birder\u2019s Guide to Birds in Eastern North America<\/a> is a field guide with help on how to go birding for kids about middle school age.<\/li>\n
- The Kaufman Field Guide and the Smithsonian Field Guides<\/a> are excellent second books, following the rule that if you are a birding family and don\u2019t share well, get multiple guides but make them all different from one another.<\/li>\n