Review - Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America

The recently published Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America was authored by Ted Floyd, a leading authority on birds, and editor of Birding Magazine.

Ted brings to this guide, his experience as an instructor with the American Birding Association's Institute for Field Ornithology program. His interests include avian status and distribution, bird conservation, and birder education, among other environmental subjects. In addition to leading birding trips throughout North America, Ted has published over 100 articles and has been a frequent speaker at birding festivals and ornithological meetings.

The book has an attractive cover displaying a stunning Red-Headed Woodpecker. As you open the cover, there is a list of plumage, molt, and age terminology, as well as a key to the range maps and ABA Codes used in the book, that explains the status of each species defined within the regions of North America.

The introduction contains useful information, from explaining how the guide is set up, to various bird behaviors, habitat, and tips on how to identify birds. There are also some excellent illustrations on bird anatomy, showing a photograph and a matching labeled drawing, explaining the various parts of a bird in a clear and concise manner that is easy to understand.

At the top of each page and section, there is a color-coded strip that separates the different categories of birds, so once the guide becomes familiar, it will be a cinch to just open to the color-coded section and find the bird you're looking for. Each species also has a helpful code, numbered from 1 to 5, indicating whether it is common or not.

The book contains 46 group essays, covering information about taxonomy, habitats, behaviors, feeding, migration, and conservation status. It includes 2000 beautiful color photos of 730 species, showing the birds in their proper habitat. This is more helpful than just a cut-out of the bird, like some guides use. I am very impressed with the quality of photography, which is critical for me when I'm trying to identify a bird. Next to each photo is a useful and detailed color-coded map showing range, migration, and information about the bird. Alongside the map, the written information about size, weight, differences between genders, adult and immature birds, behavior, diet, song, and habitat is very useful. The text is written in a such a way that anyone can understand it, from novice to experienced birder.

Recently, a friend who lives in Montana, sent me pictures she had taken of Cedar Waxwings. I see Cedar Waxwings here in Connecticut, but I wondered what the difference was between Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings, both of which occur where she lives. I quickly located Waxwings in the index at back of the book, and opened to the section, where I found Cedar Waxwings and Bohemian Waxwings. They were conveniently side-by-side in the book, so I was able to compare them. Similar birds that can easily be confused, such as an Alder Flycatcher and a Willow Flycatcher are side-by-side, so one can more readily spot the differences. This seems to hold true in many cases, as long as the birds are within the same category, in this case, flycatchers.

The comprehensive glossary of terms in the back of the book is extremely useful, as well as metric conversions for those of us who are metrically challenged. There is also a species checklist that could be used for personal sightings and a life list.

Included with the book, is a five-and-a-half hour DVD of bird songs, and an accompanying bird song enclosure that lists the contents of the DVD numerically and includes a small thumbnail and description of the calls contained within. The disk includes 138 major species (587 vocalizations including flight, song, and call.) Each MP3 file has an image of the bird embedded. The DVD format allows you to use the disk on a computer or an MP3 player. Not having an MP3 player, I popped it into my DVD slot on my computer and it opened in Windows Media Player. The sounds were vibrant and clear, and the pictures that were provided with the vocalizations, were useful as a reference tool. This is key when trying to learn about birds, so I think, while the experienced birder might not need such a guide, the amateur might indeed find this feature useful.

As someone who considers herself a beginning birder, and a "nature walker" who enjoys taking photos of what she sees, this book is ideal for me. I like to know what I'm taking pictures of and I think this is going to be a very useful tool in identifying and learning about birds.

A friend of mine in South Carolina, a highly experienced and dedicated birder of many years, purchased this book before I received mine, and she and her birding companions found it very useful the first time they took it out. It was very helpful to them in confirming a rare sighting.

If I have one complaint, it would be more about me, than the guide. As age progresses, my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be, and I would like to see the text a little larger, so I don't have to wear my reading glasses, but the book offers so much information that it would probably be cumbersome if the text were any larger.

I think this will be my new favorite birding guide. Would I recommend this book?

.

Absolutely.

Disclosure: In no way was my opinion influenced by the publishing company, the author, or any other source. The opinions expressed are my own. Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers for giving me the opportunity to do this review.