First off, the book is too big to fit in a sorta big pocket.. Too heavy and bulky to be handy.


The pictures do a bad job a depicting the bird as you see it in the field.
The ratio seem off and can be confusing some times.
The charts it has for distinguishing one warbler from others is inefficient and confusing because there is too much to look at.

It doesn't compare one birds that are similar so that you can be like how do I know if it's not this? The pictures are ugly to look at.


If you saw a sparrow somewhere and you don't know anything about sparrows so that you need a book. You will not be able to figure it out using sibleys because their chart is insane.


It maybe a good bird book for wildlife biologist or people who know everything already for reference sometimes, but for normal people who might need to figure out what the bird they saw was, it is not the book to use..


If you are a birder or becoming one, the blue book, A guide to field identification BIRDS of north america. It even has sonograms for some calls. There are charts comparing all the warblers.. etc by their heads so that you can pick out the one you saw between two birds if not immediately.

The pictures are great. I can only say that the wrentit picture is kinda off but that bird is very unique so it's kinda hard to draw.


It is a sight for sore eyes compared to the sibleys. It is better on your eyes because the pictures and organization are not ugly.

In some of the pictures it has terrain in which the bird might be found sometimes.



Well I am talking too much about it. Just buy BIRDS of north america because it's what all the kool kids have and sibleys sucks and is lame.


pizza

I chose the Sibley guide from other excellent field guides principally because of the notes accompanying each drawing. These notes are short text indicators of distinguishing features of a given bird with a line connecting the note to the feature being emphasized in the drawing. Of course, the general descriptions and "range maps" are an essential part of the guide.

This is an awesome book for birders with a lot of detail and illustrations on each type of bird. I would recommend it.

I think this is an excellant bird guide. I'd recommend it to anyone who is just starting out as a birder or is a lifetime lover of birds.

I purchased this book for my fiance's birthday, as we're new to the birdwatching world. It's aboslutely wonderful, and we'll use it for many years to come.

I bought this book for my little brother in California for his birthday. He has just started getting in to watching the different birds and trying to identifying them by there calls. He really loves this guide book. For any body woh getes in to bird watching, Sibley field guide is a must have...

I own every book on bird identification that I have been able to find for birds of the western United States. This is by far the one I use the most. I've purchased it for several of my birding friends, keep a copy at my home site and one in my truck. One of the points that makes Sibley's guide so useful is that there are no actual photographs of birds. He has drawings that give the "more common" colorations of each species. Photographs seldom yield such a wide spectrum of coloration. I use other bird guides because they have good information, but Sibley's guide is the one most easy to use, and the most practical for really knowing the bird you are identifying.

I purchased this book for my Biology class and it has been more than helpful. It shows each bird in various poses, stages of life and shows the differences between the two sexes. Very informative and easy to navigate!

This is an excellent field guide. The illustrations are well done, and to have several illustrations for each bird is a must for indentification.

As an avid birdwatcher, I would recommend this book over the others available for the beginner bird watcher.

This is a compact field guide derived from David Allen Sibley's highly regarded _The Sibley Guide to Birds_. This may be heresy, but in this instance the derivative surpasses the original, and that is no mean feat.

Most notably, it is compact enough to carry into the field, and that's where birders try to sort through as many diagnostic puzzles as possible. Most species accounts include fewer visual representations than the corresponding accounts found in the Guide to Birds, but the illustrations selected are usually quite sufficient.

Remarkably, the text associated with many species accounts is more informative than the information found in the larger guide: more information about habitat preferences, behavior, and description.

I have noticed some separation from the binding near the middle of each of the two field guides I have (eastern and western) but in neither instance is it really a problem. This isn't going to be my primary North American guide (I'll still rely on the National Geographic field guide for that purpose) but if I carry two guides into the field this will often be the second.

The Sibley field guides are the current standards of birding in North America. Nothing else needs to be said. If you're going to buy one birding field guide - this is the one.

Sibley's perfected what Peterson started. The Western and Eastern birds books are practical field guides. For reference, the Birds of North America book is also advised as you can see the Eastern and the Western birds of the same family/genus and gain a better understanding of the nation's birds.

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America is the companion volume to The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America.

The Western volume covers the 703 bird species found west of the Rocky Mountains. As with any bird field guide, the user wants comprehensive, easily accessible, clear information that make identifications quick and indisputable. Sibley's field guides cover all the species within the range of the volume arranging the birds in vertical columns on the page with most two-page spreads showing four species. This means that there is room for large detailed, beautiful illustrations with field marks for the diagnostic features. These marks are extremely helpful for the new birder to show what to look for and how to distinguish one species from another. This arrangement is particularly helpful when confronted with the terrible and mysterious LBJs or little brown jobs. The reader can make quick comparisons between similar species.

The text covers key identification characteristics and field marks that are marked on the illustrations, whether the species is common, uncommon, rare, etc. to an area, nesting, behavior, food and feeding, and voice description. Accompanying the text is an excellent range map showing the bird's full North American distribution.

The inside of the front cover gives a quick reference guide to the parts of a bird and the meanings of the various colors on the range maps. The inside of the back cover provides a map of the USA and Canada, i.e., what counts as North America for birding purposes. The first leaf inside the back cover is a Quick Index making the groups of species within the volume easily accessible.

The volume is compact enough to fit into a hip pocket with a bit of manoeuvring. Since it covers only part of North America, it is lighter than single volume field guide covering all of North America.

The Sibley field guides have two special features. One is that if there is some interesting or noteworthy characteristic about a bird or group of birds, Sibley put in a text box. For example, there is a text box on the Drinking Methods of Pigeon and Doves explaining that they are the only North American birds capable of siphoning water. The other is if a species is more common in the east say rather than the west, then the Eastern volume will have more illustrations and adjusts the text to reflect more about the species. For example, in the Western volume, the Blue Jay has four illustrations and the text starts with "uncommon", while in the Eastern volume the Blue Jay has five illustrations and the text starts out with "common".

A single field guide is never sufficient. A birder needs to compare the information and illustrations of two or more field guides. This and its companion volume are excellent choices for one of the guides and I highly recommend them.

This has become THE book I carry if I only have room for one on my birding trips. It fits easily in my fanny pack along with an extra pair of binoculars. I love it that it is specific to birds in Western North America, which is usually where I travel. The illustrations and habitat/migration maps surely help identify the birds, but a true highlight of this book is the prose. One need only visit pages 72-73 and read aloud the paragraphs on Dabbling and Diving Ducks to see what I mean.

This is a great book for idenitifying birds. The pictures are not of real pictures of birds, but they offer great identifying marks and views of many birds. Good book!

I particularly like having the migration areas on the same page as the bird's description. I don't know why other books have these in the back of the book. I also think they do a better job than most books in showing both males and females as well as particular features of birds' appearances.

I bird in the NW US using this guide. I began birding in early 2007 and this was recommended by the master birders in my local Audubon society. I used a copy of a Peterson guide in Europe and the Sibley is much easier and logical. It's an excellent companion book to my own book, 40 Excuses to Get Together with the Girls if you're working on Excuse #10 (Because I want to know that bird's name).

That's all that needs to be said. The hardcover is luscious. The new softcover is great - get them both.

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America is a must-have for any birder. It comes in a large, hard-back version, but this smaller, soft-cover version is perfect for carrying on birding excursions and in the field. If you are even a casual birder, add this field guide to your collection.

I am a 40 year old Birder and found Sibley too cut and dry. I like the old folky Roger Tory Peterson.

The Sibley's drawing - thanks to new techology - presents better images than A Field to Western Birds.

I'm glad to have both in my library.

I recently traveled West for the first time and this text was not only the right size (Sibley's other guide too large for the field) but the color plates were very accurate and helpful. I recently reccomended this text to my Bird club if traveling out West.

I have several field guides and all are good. But this one is the best. It offers the most accurate and diverse illustrations and descriptions.

We have all the guide books here at the field station, and after looking through them all, Sibleys is definitely my favourite (and has been praised by everyone else too). I've gone and ordered both Western & Eastern books myself. Having read the comments from other reviewers, it's true that some of the drawings may seem slightly duller than the real bird or drawings/paintings in other guides, but this hasn't caused me any identification problems. What really hooked me on this guide was how it illustrates the bird not only perched, but also in flight (below and above views), and illustrates differences between sexes and between adults and juveniles. Also, for some species, characteristic flight patterns and other important diagnostic features are highlighted and/or illustrated. Finally, features are pointed out on the drawing with arrows so one knows what to look for specifically.

Overall, an excellently organised guide book, standard "field guide" size, without the feeling of there being a loss of information. We have the big book here too (for all of NA) and it seems to contain the same information so bigger isn't neccessarily better! I recommend the two regional guides instead: less birds to decipher between and easier to carry with you in the field!

Sibley's is simpley the new standard for bird books. I have many other bird books, but this is the only one I cary to the field.

I've been using this as my guide default guide for over a year now, after hearing from fellow birders that it is the "new standard". I agree with that assessment, but recently I've been gravitating back to carrying Peterson's guide as well. The strength of Sibley is inclusion of range maps on the same page as the bird; a real frustration in using Peterson. However, "similar species" are rarely indicated, whereas Peterson always includes this; a very handy tool when trying to ID a difficult bird. Sibley also frequently fails to note a key field marking in the illustration (and even in the text, which needs be sparse, due to the small size of the book.) If you are going to buy ONLY one field guide, buy Sibley. If you are serious about birds, you'll have several; I have four others for Western NA, but rarely carry them into the field. Guides with photos instead of illustrations can be useful as well, but do not buy one as your only guide.

I've been using this as my guide default guide for over a year now, after hearing from fellow birders that it is the "new standard". I agree with that assessment, but recently I've been gravitating back to carrying Peterson's guide as well. The strength of Sibley is inclusion of range maps on the same page as the bird; a real frustration in using Peterson. However, "similar species" are rarely indicated, whereas Peterson always includes this; a very handy tool when trying to ID a difficult bird. Sibley also frequently fails to note a key field marking in the illustration (and even in the text, which needs be sparse, due to the small size of the book.) If you are going to buy ONLY one field guide, buy Sibley. If you are serious about birds, you'll have several; I have four others for Western NA, but rarely carry them into the field. Guides with photos instead of illustrations can be useful as well, but do not buy one as your only guide.

This book is very detailed and in depth ....and the pictures are accurate... best bird guide on the market!!

This book is very detailed and in depth ....and the pictures are accurate... best bird guide on the market!!

Already had the Eastern version and liked it very much. I'm no expert, but I think these books are setup really nice for identifying birds.

Already had the Eastern version and liked it very much. I'm no expert, but I think these books are setup really nice for identifying birds.

New guides to bird identification are being published all the time but unfortunately there is a trend for more and more information getting packed into larger and larger guides (especially for the guides to various Neotropical regions). Such guides are essentially manuals rather than "field guides" and are typically left in a car or at home. Plus they strain the budget. That's why I especially like this little field guide. It's small, compact and portable--and relatively cheap--yet it includes the bare essentials required for accurately identifying birds in the field. I require students in my undergraduate Vertebrate Biology course to purchase the book and to use it in the field (northern California) to identify birds. I challenge my students to see who can first identify each new bird we see, so it's fun watching them compete with each other to name a given bird. And they appreciate the small size and light weight of the guide. Thank you David Sibley and Alfred A. Knopf for providing a bona fide "field guide."

If you have a bird feeder near your house and maybe a bird bath, too, you're more than casually interested in birds and this book is for you. I use it to satisfy my curiosity by identifying the unusual birds that occasionally show up in my urban back yard, such as the small hawk that hunts all those little brown birds around my bird feeder. I also take it along on drives through the countryside, along with a good pair of binoculars. Seeing an interesting bird can be a good excuse to stop driving for a bit and look at something more interesting than other cars on a highway.

fast shipment, good business manner when she notify me of the shipment.

The physical size of this book and its clear detail makes it an ideal reference for glove compartment or large pocket. Pictures and text are well put together. I found it lacking, however, for use in identifying the very rare or accidental occurence of some species. I now use it in conjunction with National Geographic's "Field Guide to Birds of North America".

My last bird book was a petersons from 25 years ago. Amazingly it has worked well for a causal birder. Recently we felt like up grading. I bought three books, the sibley has range maps right with the bird , which the petersons does not have any more. ( my old copy does have that feature.) This was a good buy, My mother likes the small Oregon Birds , its pocket sized ,and color oreinted. I use the petersons because once I narrow my choices, Petersons has more options.
Now we know we have laurence and western finches in our yard, and possible a fox sparrow.
happy birding!
Looking at the bindings, my 25 year old copy has the best!

I have found this book to be well done and put together. I started using it about two weeks ago and have found it easy to use and I like the pictures and imformation on the birds that is given.

Excellent book and about time. Sibley's orginal book was just too large to carry around so we used Kauffman as a field guide. While his book is also good, Sibley manages to give you pictures of the same bird in its juvenile plumage, males and females, morphs, flying and other variations. You can really get a more positive ID on your birds with this book. I also have the one for Eastern North America for visiting friends in Texas and beyond. The more books the better, but Sibley's divided versions of his big book is a must.

I was required to get this book as part of my Introduction to Zoology course, and I wasn't looking forward to having to page through it while gazing at birds. The entire thing seemed really droll. But birdwatching is actually really fun, and there is something highly addicting about being able to name every kind of bird in your area.

The way the guide is set up allows you to have just a general idea of the kind of bird you're looking for (large, small, waterfowl, etc) and then groups the birds by type. It offers a section at the beginning that serves as an introduction to bird watching, general "rules" (like, be quiet, walk softly, and treat the birds with respect), and provides a reference as to what you're really looking for (beak shape, wing shape, flight pattern, and other "field marks") to help you identify the birds.

As if that wasn't enough, it also gives you a handy reference chart for what kind of binoculars / field glasses you should be using!

The entire thing is small enough to fit in the pocket of cargo pants, or in a small purse, or the side pocket of a backpack. It is not quite hardcover, and not quite paperback -- rather, it is a paperback book clad in a very sturdy plastic sort of cover, and the pages are all glossy. So, if you're bird watching in the rain or fog, or in some other damp region, you don't have to worry about the book being ruined.

This is really an excellent resource. If you are just starting out into the realm of birdwatching, I highly recommend this book as a jumping off point.

This is the guide most highly recommended by my daughter's science teacher for her bird watching project. We are total first-time novices, yet this guide was easy to learn, user-friendly.

I have owned several bird books, including Peterson's and The Sibley Guide to Birds (my two previous favorites), but find this book more useful because it's smaller (though still not happily totable), you don't need to refer to the back of the book for maps, and birds are confined to my half of the continent. I also find it useful that voice is included in the descriptions, and have used that several times as the tie-breaker.

While I understand that size constraints make it impossible to include everything, I do wish the illustrations weren't primarily profiles. There are many times I want to know what the bird looks like from the front (or even the back, although that's really asking a lot). Because of that I supplement this book with the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, which features drawings of birds in more natural postures - less stylized and at random angles.

I find that the two books work very well together, but I always reach for Sibley's first.

I have owned several bird books, including Peterson's and The Sibley Guide to Birds (my two previous favorites), but find this book more useful because it's smaller (though still not happily totable), you don't need to refer to the back of the book for maps, and birds are confined to my half of the continent. I also find it useful that voice is included in the descriptions, and have used that several times as the tie-breaker.

While I understand that size constraints make it impossible to include everything, I do wish the illustrations weren't primarily profiles. There are many times I want to know what the bird looks like from the front (or even the back, although that's really asking a lot). Because of that I supplement this book with the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, which features drawings of birds in more natural postures - less stylized and at random angles.

I find that the two books work very well together, but I always reach for Sibley's first.

Purchased this book for my husband and have since purchased for other friends interested in the outdoors and bird watching. The color pictoral guides are beautiful as well as accurate and useful in identifying. He prefers it to Sibley's Field Guide to Birds of North America especially for west-coasters.

Purchased this book for my husband and have since purchased for other friends interested in the outdoors and bird watching. The color pictoral guides are beautiful as well as accurate and useful in identifying. He prefers it to Sibley's Field Guide to Birds of North America especially for west-coasters.

This is an outstanding guide and relatively easy to use. As with all field guides, however, it is best used in conjunction with other guides.
It is well organized, has good illustrations and the content, while of necessity brief, is to the point and useful for identiying birds in the field.

This is an outstanding guide and relatively easy to use. As with all field guides, however, it is best used in conjunction with other guides.
It is well organized, has good illustrations and the content, while of necessity brief, is to the point and useful for identiying birds in the field.

Like it's Eastern North America companion, this guide has features that exceed other guides in quality and quantity. It provides what you need for basic identification as well as extras that make your sitings much more certain. It's a bit bulky for a field guide, but the volume's flexibilty offsets this minor negative. Along with the Sibley Guide to Bird Behavior (kkeep it in your car or at home) to use for that final confirmation of your siting when you're in doubt but have noticed some unusual or distinctive behavior which the Bird Behavior volume provides.

Like it's Eastern North America companion, this guide has features that exceed other guides in quality and quantity. It provides what you need for basic identification as well as extras that make your sitings much more certain. It's a bit bulky for a field guide, but the volume's flexibilty offsets this minor negative. Along with the Sibley Guide to Bird Behavior (kkeep it in your car or at home) to use for that final confirmation of your siting when you're in doubt but have noticed some unusual or distinctive behavior which the Bird Behavior volume provides.

While the Big Sibley Guide mostly deserves the praise it has received, the smaller Field Guides are a disappointment. They don't have the great knack that Peterson's, for example, has for giving you the precise few things you need for quick identification in the field.
For instance, I recently visited southern California for the first time and saw cormorants with blue throat patches. My Sibley Field Guide was not particularly helpful. Upon returning home, I saw that my other guides, Peterson, National Geographic, Golden, made it clear that it was Brandt's cormorant in its breeding plumage. A fine point, perhaps, but an unforgivable omission in a book that aspires to be a standard reference. I won't take it out into the field anymore.

While the Big Sibley Guide mostly deserves the praise it has received, the smaller Field Guides are a disappointment. They don't have the great knack that Peterson's, for example, has for giving you the precise few things you need for quick identification in the field.
For instance, I recently visited southern California for the first time and saw cormorants with blue throat patches. My Sibley Field Guide was not particularly helpful. Upon returning home, I saw that my other guides, Peterson, National Geographic, Golden, made it clear that it was Brandt's cormorant in its breeding plumage. A fine point, perhaps, but an unforgivable omission in a book that aspires to be a standard reference. I won't take it out into the field anymore.

I have read all the other reviews on this page and my stance has not changed. I received this book for Christmas from my parents who got my hints that I like to look at nature a little more closely than most other people. By no means am I a great bird-watcher, but I'm definitely working on improving!

While this guide to Western N.America may not be the honkin' encyclopedia other people want to sift through, this book makes for a great excursion guide, a quick way to look birds up. I am, at the moment, in possession of three other bird books, including the Audubon guide. Some have actual photographs, others have different charts. I can't say how often I actually refer to Sibley's in the end. It's just a more "natural" book to flip though.

Sibley gives you the basics, here, not extraneous info that weigh down your backpack. I like to keep track of what I see, and then do further research relaxed at home with a drink.

The first 17 pages is the usual fare of introductions to birding, color recognition, song recognition and learning, maps, and season keys. The next 7 pages includes a "Bird Topography." I don't know if this is birding lingo or creative writing, but I reference these pages often. Sibley's fantastic drawings are given black & white, sketch, and enhanced colorized treatments with breakdowns of body and wing parts for several different birds. Again, as a beginner, these are essential to me.

Thereafter are all the birds in the Western N.A. as detailed by Sibley's hands. Living by the ocean, I have access to a huge variety of birds that I never enjoyed when living in the Rockies.

I wouldn't state that the beginner should begin with only this one book. I found that I learned more about bird recognition by looking at several books. Every author has something original to say. But if there is one book to own, it would be Sibley's.

Nycticorax!