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Post by kestrel on Mar 30, 2019 20:35:37 GMT -8
I'm trying to decide whether or not to retire my "Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America" (published in 2008) and replace it with the "National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America" (published in 2017). The reason why I'm considering this is due to all the lumps and splits of various bird species over the past decade. Not sure which guide is better.
Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations?
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Post by Ben on Mar 31, 2019 7:20:49 GMT -8
I've got the National geographic field guide. I was hoping it would have more details about the birds (i.e. habitat, habits), but it's only got a description, voice and range written for each species.
They also have a "complete birds of North America" which I'm guessing has the details I was hoping for in the field guide.
One major thing for me with the Nat Geo guide for me is that the order of the bird families has been changed a lot. For instance they put swifts, hummingbirds, and sandpipers before birds of prey.
It's a decent book, but it won't have all the updates (recent changes like Gray->Canada Jay)
The Sibley guide is pretty nice (there is also a second edition that i don't have). But it also has only a small amout of writing for each species, but what it is really good for is comparing species because they are drawn side by side and in the same posture.
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Post by Chris on Mar 31, 2019 17:13:37 GMT -8
I have the National Geographic one and the Sibley's. Both are good but I find I use the Sibley's more frequently.
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Post by kestrel on Mar 31, 2019 17:50:51 GMT -8
Yeah I just bought the Sibley's guide for western North America. Might make more sense to get the one for eastern North America instead of the National Geographic one, maybe.
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Post by Randy on Mar 31, 2019 20:21:51 GMT -8
I have the National Geographic one and the Sibley's. Both are good but I find I use the Sibley's more frequently. I agree. I use the Sibley app more than anything else at this point. In my opinion, with respect to ID, Sibley's is superior - both the app and hard copy. The downfall is that there is not a great deal of other information provided. The app has all the calls/songs. Regarding range maps I think they're probably all good but you really can't get any better than the eBird maps. Habitat info is definitely lacking in Sibley's. I grew up and learned with National Geographic but now it's Sibley's for me.
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Post by johnjoan on Mar 31, 2019 20:30:29 GMT -8
I use 2 apps on my iphone, the Sibleys and IBird Pro. The IBird app list similar species when you look a a bird and its not right, you can go to similar and it will bring up other birds similar to the one you thought. IBird has a very extensive search program via size, colour, habitat etc. I then use Sibley's for confirmation. Sibley's lets you compare 2 birds, but does not give you a suggested list of other birds that are similar.
I find both work well for me
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Post by Ben on Apr 1, 2019 6:21:16 GMT -8
As far as apps go, I just use Merlin. Other than being good at identifying what bird you're seeing via a picture or various information, you can also list the species you've installed (you can pick what region you wish to install the birds for). For each species they have a description, range map, pictures, and calls/songs... From the eBird app you can also easily open a specific bird in Merlin, which I find pretty handy. and it's free! The nice thing about an app vs a book is that it's updated regularly (hopefully) so you don't need to worry about getting a new one after a certain number of splits/lumps/renames.
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Post by kestrel on Apr 1, 2019 16:49:59 GMT -8
I have the Sibley’s app as well, which I find handy for listening to calls and songs. The book however, doesn't have a battery to recharge and doesn't require scrolling or clicking in order to see different species.
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Post by Gord on Apr 1, 2019 20:40:40 GMT -8
I have the Sibley’s app as well, which I find handy for listening to calls and songs. The book however, doesn't have a battery to recharge and doesn't require scrolling or clicking in order to see different species. I like the Sibley's field guide myself after having several different guides over the years. All are on my shelf still but the Sibley's is the one I use. Jon, I like your avatar.
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Post by kestrel on Apr 2, 2019 16:50:57 GMT -8
I have the Sibley’s app as well, which I find handy for listening to calls and songs. The book however, doesn't have a battery to recharge and doesn't require scrolling or clicking in order to see different species. I like the Sibley's field guide myself after having several different guides over the years. All are on my shelf still but the Sibley's is the one I use. Jon, I like your avatar. I find the Sibley's series to be the most practical one that I've used. I think I'll stick with that. Yeah that avatar is very clever
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