National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Sixth Edition

I always felt that when I started carrying my 5th edition of the Geographic Guide as my main field guide, that I had sort of graduated to the field guide of a serious birding hobbyist. I needed to know what else has been seen as I traveled around the nation, just in case, and with 967 species in the 5th edition, I felt like I was covered just in case. I loved the 5th field guide, though it had some issues with color that I am glad to see fixed in the 6th edition. The 6th edition now covers 990 species seen or expected in the United States, keeping up with the new additions to the ABA lists.Never before have I pre-ordered a book of any kind, but when I learned that the 6th edition was coming out, I just had to see how "America's #1 Bird Guide" was going to be made better. I did pre-order my copy from Amazon as soon as I was made aware of it's availability, I had it in my hands November 4th, 4 days after its November 1, 2011, publication date. Today I finished a page by page, bird by bird review of the new edition, and I do believe that the folks at National Geographic have made some nice improvements and kept their field guide the best that exists for North American birders.I am thrilled with the new guide.Specifically, the first thing one notices is the new maps. They are excellent, detailed and include much more information now with migration ranges noted (two excellent examples are Baird's Sandpiper and White-rumped Sandpiper), with migration routes shown separately for spring and fall. Along with those changes, they also included subspecies ranges for the species where that might be important to know. It is worth noting that for species that have complicated sub-species maps, there is a section in the back of the book with 41 detailed sub-species maps that are much appreciated.Furthermore, there are many more range maps for birds that are not regular visitors to North America (Fea's and Bermuda Petrel come to mind), or have very small ranges (Island Scrub Jay for example). These maps show the Asian, Caribbean or Mexican typical ranges for the species in much more detail and indicate how the species might find it's way to the United States. It is a small detail that I really like. There was never a need to just show where the bird was seen in the US, and I am glad the folks creating this guide didn't stick strictly to US maps only this time around, the map flexibility has really allowed a wonderful addition of knowledge that these maps impart.The next detail users of the 5th edition will notice that is different in the 6th edition is that every species entry is now broken into three distinct parts. They begin with species description, and then have clearly marked sections on VOICE and RANGE. It is the new and more comprehensive details in RANGE that are substantially improved in this edition. Clearly, they had listers in mid as they added the details they did about how often and when species are seen, or have been seen, that is just an excellent improvement, especially for the serious lister.A third major change for this edition is the addition of field note details along with the bird images. They are insightful and great reminders for the accomplished birder, but wonderful instructional notes for the learning birder. I have always loved these notes in the Kaufmann guide, and the addition of these notes, in my mind does not detract from the wonderful images. I have always hoped that this feature would be added to this guide, and I never would have expected two other changes to make this anything other than my favorite update to the guide, but both the above outweigh this fantastic change to this guide.A few small things I liked, images of the ducks flying are now WITH the species accounts. They still kept the duck, shorebird and raptor pages showing flying images of the birds for comparison to similar species, but for the ducks I always wanted the flying images with the species, and now that change has been made. The updates to Red-tailed Hawk are nice, not a comprehensive overview, of course, but more information that can be followed up on if one needs to know more. The new images of the sub-species are a nice basic update that was overdue. Finally, very minor, I loved the image of the Yellow Warbler feeding a just fledged Brown-headed Cowbird. How many times I have seen that in the field. Nice touch.My suggestions for improvement? I have a few.One, why doesn't any field guide show the ABA Species Code number? It would be easy to add and I would love to know what are code 2, 3, 4 and 5 species without having to add that information to the guide by hand.Two, I must also admit at after Crossley's ID Guide, I like having the 4 letter codes with the species accounts. I would like to see those codes added to this guide too.Three, I was disappointed to see Bachman's Warbler and Eskimo Curlew exiled to the Accidental & Extinct Species section (I love the section for accidentals, and found it surprisingly up to date). If this was my guide, I would keep the extinct North American species, Labrador Duck, Eskimo Curlew, Great Auk, Carolina Parakeet & Bachman's Warbler in their taxonomic places within the guide. It is a good way to place them inside the appropriate taxonomy, AND a great reminder of just how precious every species is, and how we need to protect the remaining species we have so we don't add to this list anytime soon.Finally, of all the images, I thought the Winter Wren image to be terrible and off color. It was the only image I had a completely negative reaction too. The Winter Wrens we get in Chicago look NOTHING like that washed out light image that they have included for this species now that it has been split from Pacific Wren.But none of these small suggestions should take anything away from how comprehensive and complete this guide is. The maps are worth the price of the book alone, the image accounts and much better with the RANGE notes, and the addition of field mark notes with the images has been done with respect and insight. This is a fantastic update, and every serious birder, or aspiring birder, needs this update for not just their library, BUT to have with them in the field.

Pros: Very easy navigation, light, satisfying imagesCons: Possible outdated map ranges and names in future Bottom line: This book is worth every penny as it provides easy navigation, point’s outs every detail on identifying birds, and is very easy to carry anywhere. As a person who has been bird watching for a decade, no field book that contains all bird species in North America has been able to fit easily in my bag except for this one. I tend to go out in the field quite often and often need a field book to confirm my ID on birds especially the birds that give a majority trouble with identifying (Gulls). I am a fan of technology and have used the electronic field guides for iPhone but I still suggest having actual book as way for you not to drain your battery. The images all matter on preference for expert birders and I believe this will leave most somewhat satisfied. I have been a fan of using Sibling guides for years as Field Guide for birds but as soon as a friend recommending me to update and look into a Nat Geo Field Guide for birds, this was by far the one of the best recommendation for a new and improved field guide for birds.Price I overall paid $11.45 used including shipping. It was really worth it as this book looks new and was most likely untouched by user. I recommend buying it used if you are unsure about Nat Geo Geo guides as I was. If this is your first field guide purchase, I believe it’s worth the price you pay and all beginning birders should have it.Content The content is overall outstanding. It provides very clear wording accompanied by imagery that can aid you in identifying in a majority of birds. It provides you range map for all birds along with brief description of birds. I believe that these will be outdated in the near future along with names but that is the con in purchasing a field guide print. It also describes the sound of birds in word which can be helpful for some. Very excellent when it comes to describing plumage, size, and other unique aspects in birds.Navigation Probably one of the best features of this book. Has a quick find index that is ordered by family taxa with the page numbers. It also has cut-out sections that outline the main families which is very helpful. If you know the taxa very well this could be very helpful for you to easily find the bird you are looking for.. If you are a starting birder, this is also very useful in getting you familiarize with your bird taxa.Weight/Size Very easy to carry around and light. Easily fits into my small backpack for a book containing all North America bird species. The font size is also large enough to read which is great for those who are far-sighted. The one thing about the font that bothers me is the text that outlines field marks. It is in a lighter font than most fonts in the book which can be troubling to read when light is hardly available. The size and weight overall makes it excellent to carry around in the field.ImagesThis all matter on preference for art style. As a birder who often uses Sibley books, I still prefer some images of birds in the Sibley over Nat Geo but regardless this books gets the job done in helping anyone identifying birds. The print on some images of birds seem a bit odd to me but it will pass. The images also have birds placed in positions that you are likely to find them in the field which can be helpful for identification.

All I have enjoyed Sandsls no show

My husband and I have a place in Southwestern Ontario and we have a back yard that backs onto a ravine so we get to watch the various animals and birds. Curious to know the names of many of the bird species, he borrowed this book from the local library and then kept renewing it. Since Father's Day was coming up, I decided to surprise him with the book and was he thrilled. He still tells people about what I did and how the book is amazing with the gorgeous pics and information. He keeps it nearby for a constant resource and will bring it back to the BC West Coast with us when we return for the winter. What a talented person/persons who put this book together.

I bought this book for an ornithology course. Really useful illustrations and descriptions that helped with identification. If you're a new birder, I'd recommend it.

This book is great! Much more detailed than my previous guide, Birds of British Columbia by Lone Pine. I highly recommend this National Geographic book for anyone who needs help identifying birds.One thing to note is i wish Amazon would pack their shipments much better. I ordered this book with several other items and a few things where scratched and the book had a slight crease on the cover.

This is one of the textbooks for my zoology class and it is wonderful! Not only does it categorize birds by taxonomic family has common and scientific names. Additionally, it has excellent illustrations of each bird in both genders, during all seasons, and even in flight and standing. It uses simple terminology that anyone can use. It also has a detailed map showing each bird's range during multiple times such as migration or breeding, or their year-round range. Excellent reference!