The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America by David Allen Sibley, Rick Cech Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America
Book Review: Great to carry with you
Summary: 5 Stars
This is outstanding as a field guide. Get a larger book for more details to keep at home.Book Review: Excellent, But RTP Is Still the Best Field Guide
Summary: 4 Stars
David Allen Sibley's "Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America" is an excellent book. Buy it. Own it. Give it as a gift. The fact remains, though, that the Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide is still the single very best field guide you can own.
I've been birdwatching for decades, on four continents. My lifelist is in the hundreds. I'm also a teacher and I devote much time to thinking about the best way to present essential information.
As truly awesome as Sibley's guide is, the Roger Tory Peterson guides are simply better.
Why? RTP was a master at condensing an infinite amount of information and conveying it in the most easily understood method. The amount of information you *could* know about birds is virtually infinite. Did you know, for example, that the ring around a robin's eye is broken up into three? Probably not. Do you need to know that to identify a robin? Absolutely not.
RTP's book focuses on the key information you need to know to identify a bird in the field: the essential information about the bird's appearance, behavior, song, and similar species.
David Allen Sibley's book, on the other hand, presents a plethora of information you do not need to know. With all that, his verbal descriptions missed vital info found in Peterson.
I tried to give this book a test run while birdwatching and I found it unusable. I was distracted by TMI -- too much information. My eyes darted about the page, unsure of where to focus, a problem never encountered when using a Peterson guide.
I love Sibley's book and I'm glad it exists. Recently, though, I wanted to buy a field guide for someone I'd hoped might take up birdwatching. I considered Sibley, but went with RTP. The first and still the best. Sibleys' book is great, but, to me, it is a supplement to RTP, not a replacement.
Book Review: Sibley Guide to Birds of Eastern North America
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the book I needed to learn birds in more depth. The details and wealth of knowledge in the book are great.Book Review: Great guide for eastern birding!
Summary: 5 Stars
This guide is well laid out and gives excellent drawings of the subjects. I have had it about a week now and am enjoying using it to identify all sorts of my little friends. The only complaint that I have is that it does not clearly elucidate that differences in gender are only shown when they are significant. It took a little time to realize that point. The layout is also different from some of the other guides that I have used, but this is not really a big issue. It is well worth the investment and is sized so that it is easily carried in the field. Happy Birding!Book Review: Sibley Bird Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I have looked at several bird books and this one is the best by far. It shows the female, male, young birds for all areas of the US and has great pictures of the birds. I also like the page before each section that shows a small picture of each bird in a recap so you know what birds are covered in that section.