National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 7th Edition Paperback – Illustrated, September 12, 2017

I recently replaced my old edition of this work with this, the fifth edition and must say I am quite pleased. I am one of those individuals (like many birders) who rely on a number of field guides and reference books. The previous edition of this work has for a number of years been one of the pillars I rely on.Now everyone has their own favorite field guide and of course I am no exception. How a guide becomes the favorite of any individual depends upon numerous factors, but I have found one of the leading reason is simply that each birder uses what he or she is most familiar with or the first guide they began using. With me, as many, many others, I have been a Peterson fan for well over 50 years. I still use the Peterson guides and they are the first book I reach for. But this is not to say that I am not oh so grateful for all of the other wonderful identification books we now have available, this work from National Geographic included. More about that later....I find the pictures in this particular guide very helpful and for the most part extremely accurate. If you compare the illustrations in this work with Sibley or Kauffman, it stands up pretty well. I find that the Peterson work will bring identification points to my attention quicker and I find both Sibley and Peterson easier to use from a visual aspect, but I suspect that is personal preference and simply what I have become more use to over the years.Now as to illustrations, in my case I find that if I use one illustrated guide (or two or three) combined with a guide that uses photographs, such as the Audubon or Smithsonian, my chances of identifying what ever it is I am trying to identify, increase greatly. I am a strong believer in using multiple books!The range guides in this work are quite good as far as it goes, but as with all guides and filed books, you have to remember that ranges are not written in stone. We are going through a tremendous range change at present due to the climate changes we are experiencing and as each year passes, I am amazed at the number of species If spot that have no right to be where they are; according range maps. Birders need to be alert to this.I like the quick find index found in this book and love the thumbtabs which are quite handy. This edition includes "every North American Species - 967 in all." Two things to note here: First, the species count is continually changing with new subspecies being added and older subspecies being grouped. I no of no field guide that can constantly keep up with this as quickly as changes take place. Secondly, beginning birders often make the mistake of including Mexico and parts of Central America as "North America." This is not the way they have divided up the "bird world." Anything south of the U.S. boarder is not considered North America as far as bird guides go.Note: As has been pointed out by a number of reviewers here, the arrangement of this work may take some getting use to as the authors have used the new taxanomic order as approved of by the American Ornithologist Union. This will be no problem for new birders, but old birds like myself had to do some mental adjustments when first using this work.I would never ever make the statement to the effect that "if you only have one bird book to your name...." as I am a strong believer in multiple books but that being said, if you do indeed want only one book, then I hardly feel you would go wrong with this one.Don BlankenshipThe Ozarks

First off, I am a novice birder so take that into account when reading my opinion of this book. I have recently gotten into birding and decided to purchase this book as one of my choices (the other was the Sibley Western/Eastern North America which I will compare to in this review.) The layout of the book is very easy to navigate; photos on one side, text on the other. The thumbtabs also make it easy to reach a particular section of the book within seconds as does the quick-find index on the back flap of the book. The illustrations are very detailed and have more of a 'bolder' look to them making identification easier. The Sibley illustrations are a bit lighter and have a simple look to them. Too many details can sometimes end up confusing you so the simplicity of the Sibley is useful. For many of the birds, the National Geographic contains several illustrations showing juvenile, adult, and winter plumage (as does the Sibley.) General description is very good in the National Geographic book; the Sibley is better at identifying key areas via the illustrations.A feature I like on the National Geographic is full pages of all the different hawks, raptors, shorebirds, etc. in flight. You can easily scan a lot of the birds on a couple pages and identify certain aspects of their form without having to switch back and forth multiple pages. Range maps are easy to 'read' on both books.Overall, I go to the National Geographic first when identifying birds and use the Sibley as a backup to double check my IDs. I would highly recommend this as a first book, but in actuality, it's always better to have a couple books.

We have the Sibley (east and west) and the Peterson (east and west) and before seeing this book I wondered how you could really add with already having these two.This guide is a super valuable addition and the perfect compliment to bundle with these others. It would also be great on it's own for a budding birder, as it does span the full continent.Amazing artwork with a representation of the species. There is also a cool style approach to the images that is a bit different with a more playful and organic to the placement of illustrations. I'll admit, being more used to the Sibley and Peterson utilitarian layout, it took me a minute, but now I love the variation.The textual descriptions are one of the most in depth of the three guides, with more details on behaviours and habitats. Also the 4-letter alpha codes are included for each species. The one detail now included is bird weight, which doesn't really help with IDing, but we do it sometimes, though it is available in the others, who don't have the alpha codes.The sub-special illustrations, explanations in text, and maps are really interesting a must for the bonafide bird nerd. Super cool and really thoughtful new information.Absolute must for your birding / bird loving friends.Only minor/subjective complaint: Really? The Bald Eagle on the cover. I mean, it's a symbolic bird for many, and it spans most of the continent, but it's so done. What about another avian friend being featured? A blue heron, a wood duck, a cedar waxwing, a belted kingfisher, pileated woodpecker, yellow warbler, barn swallows, purple martins--so many other birdies to be seen.

This edition is much improved over my 1990s copy. It does include all birds in N. America, but the book is a bit bigger than a regular field guide so there is room for decent descriptions of the birds. There are nice thumb tabs too for the different families, which just delighted me. Highly recommended!