Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America
by Roger Tory Peterson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Roger Tory PetersonBrand: Peterson
Foreword: Lee Allen Peterson
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-01
ISBN: 0618966145
Number of pages: 544
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co
Book Reviews of Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America
Book Review: "Helpful" and "indispensable"
Summary: 5 Stars
The reviews here on Amazon and elsewhere describe the great value of this lovely tribute to Roger Tory Peterson for anyone interested in birds in the United State and Canada. It was fun to compare those reviews with how the first of Peterson's books was received back in 1934; here's John Kieran writing for "The New York Times":
'This handy volume is offered as "a bird book on a new plan," possibly under the influence of the New Deal in wider but not always greener fields. The jacket warning includes the public notice that "This book will at once take its place as an indispensable pocket companion for Eastern bird students, both beginning and advanced." If the word "helpful" is substituted for the word "indispensable," this reviewer will accept the claim without further question.' (The entire review appears in the first Comment.)
Over the next decades, the jacket's claim proved to be prescient; for me and for many other bird lovers the book became not only "helpful" but "indispensable". We have three well annotated versions in our library, one stored right next a pair of binoculars.
Peterson's contributions to birding continue with the publisher of this memorial volume; "The mission of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History is to continue the legacy of Roger Tory Peterson by promoting the teaching and study of nature, and to thereby create knowledge of and appreciation and responsibility for the natural world."
Today there are a large number of excellent guidebooks which make Peterson "helpful" but no longer strictly "indispensable"; here's my personal checklist of some other great birding books and resources:
The Sibley Guide to Birds with its wonderful paintings.
The Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America with its excellent photographs.
The National Geographic Complete Birds of North America with its comprehensive coverage of all birds north of Mexico.
Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion: A Comprehensive Resource for Identifying North American Birds describing birds in words only.
The Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America by Ted Floyd with multiple photos and CDs of bird songs.
And, of course, the almost limitless resources offered by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology such as A Field Guide to Bird Songs: Eastern and Central North America
One can carp a bit about the title; "North America" apparently excludes Mexico, which has a tenth the area of the US and Canada but 30 percent more bird species. Birds of Mexico and Central America (Princeton Illustrated Checklists) is a great way to start exploring the birds of that part of North America.
Nonetheless, Kieran's summary paragraph is still absolutely accurate: "But for the amateur, the eager bird student, the text and charts will be a real help in the big days afield or the quiet evenings at home when a satisfying expedition has been completed, or an even more ambitious one is being planned."
I would argue this book is still "indispensable" for any bird lover's library, simply as a collector's item, but much more for its great beauty and for it's wonderful "feel" in the hand and and when lying flat on the table.
Robert C. Ross 2008
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