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ShareMore than 10 years in the making, David Sibley's Guide to Birds is a monumental achievement.
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The beautiful watercolor illustrations (6,600, covering 810 species in North America) and clear, descriptive text place Sibley and his work squarely in the tradition of John James Audubon and Roger Tory Peterson; more than a birdwatcher and evangelizer, he is one of the foremost bird painters and authorities in the U.S.
Still, his field guide will no doubt spark debate.
Unlike Kenn Kaufman's Focus Guide, Sibley's is unapologetically aimed at the converted.
Beginning birders may want to keep a copy of Sibley at home as a reference, but the wealth of information will have the same effect on novices as trying to pick out a single sandpiper in a wheeling flock of thousands.
The familiar yellow warbler, for instance, gets no less than nine individual illustrations documenting its geographic, seasonal, and sex variations--plus another eight smaller illustrations showing it in flight.
Of course, more experienced birders will appreciate this sort of detail, along with Sibley's improvements on both Peterson and the National Geographic guide: As in Peterson, Sibley employs a pointer system for key field markings--but additional text blurbs are included alongside the illustrations to facilitate identification.
For more information about the title The Sibley Guide to Birds, read the full description at Amazon.com, or see the following related books:
The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America — The Sibley Guide to Birds has quickly become the new standard of excellence in bird identification guides, covering more than 810 North American ... > read more
The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America — The Sibley Guide to Birds has quickly become the new standard of excellence in bird identification guides, covering more than 810 North American ... > read more
Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America — World-renowned birder Kenn Kaufman addresses a long-running paradox of bird field guides with his Focus Guide. While beginning birdwatchers prefer ... > read more
Sibley's Birding Basics — “I wrote and illustrated this book to help every inquisitive birder, from novice to expert. Whether you can identify six birds or six hundred, ... > read moreRecommend this page on Facebook, Twitter,
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