National Geographic Field Guide To The Birds Of North America, 4th Edition

I have a couple of field guides to various flora and fauna that are as still good as new, due to the fact that they have been of little use to me.Not so with this guide: with its now grubby, battered, curling pages and covers - this absolutely superb guide has been useful to me hundreds of times, and still has a lot more to give!Originally purchased to identify birds visiting my backyard feeder, then carried into swamps and woods for an environmental study program, the "National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America" has lived up to its name perfectly! My issue is 8" by 5" by 1", has 480 pages, and features more than 800 birds of this continent.The illustrations alone are worth buying this book for: each is a small work of art, and much better than any photographs that I could take. Add the all maps, information, introduction and indexes and all the reader needs is a pair of binoculars to learn about these wonderful creatures of the air.I don't expect that this guide will ever completely outlive its usefulness. Climate change and encroaching civilization has so affected wildlife that familiar species disappear, are replaced by others not seen before in a given region, suddenly reappear again, then seemingly vanish again, at least for a while - or so in my observations.All but a couple of readers have praised this guide completely, and I wholeheartedly agree with the majority: if you are interested in the birds in your area and want to know more about them, then spring for a copy!

Great book, in very good shape, perhaps in excellent shape.

I took the advice of several experienced birder reviews on this page and bought the Sibley and Peterson Bird field identification guide books in addition to this National Geographic guide book. The reviewers were right on the mark regarding the illustrations. Sibley by far has the best realistic and multiple angle illustrations and was the only one which showed the 1st winter coloring of the Lark Sparrow which we were having trouble identifying. We are not experienced birders, but we were very pleased with the 3 books. Take the experts advice and be sure to get Sibley's book as well. Peterson is also a nice book to have. We appreciated the advice in advance so we did not have to wait and find out the hard way. If you are an expert or novice or simply are interested in identifying the birds in your back yard, you will not be disappointed if you can get all three books. If you can only afford one book, then I would go with Sibley.

See above. We have a bird bath in our back yard that was filled with what was actually a flock of birds , and your book helped me to identify them as Cedar Waxwings, which I had never seen around here.

I bought this for my son- in-law. I have one of my own . The one he had wasn’t as good

Great for looking birds up

Purchased this book as a Christmas gift for a daughter in law who has become an avid bird watcher. She has enjoyed the information contained in the book.

My grandkids are homeschooled and they love to study things in nature. I'm afraid they already have this book worn pretty well, they have used it everyday for a few weeks. It is a very informative book, with lot's of great pictures.