The 8 Best Birdwatching Guides (2023 reviews)

Best part: jonathan alderfer favorite field guide costs reasonable and it is available to ship in 24 hours. The National Geographic guide has full-colour, accurate and detailed artist renderings of the birds, mostly with some element of their likely habitiat. The cover-flaps' quick indexes to families and species are a great idea, doubling as reliable book-marks when you've got to take another look at the bird. The tabs on the side are very convenient and well-organized.

If you're new to birding, the visual index inside the front and back covers is indispensable, and the Quick-Find Index flap built into the front cover is super handy. It's good for beginners and offers good field marks for identification. An index on the inside back cover makes finding birds quick if you know what species and group you are seeing.

Why We Like This:

Field-identifiable subspecies and subspecies groups are clearly labeled and treated in often impressive detail
Definitely small enough to take with you on trips
Small and lightweight so you can carry along on your adventure

Best For adults: David Allen Sibley Birdwatching Guide

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate guide. The david allen sibley birdwatching guide is exactly that - it's a simple guide that hits all the right notes. If you'd like to know much more about your favorite birds than the typical bird identification handbook provides, this is a book you'll truly want to have. This is more than a conventional bird identification guide. The text in What It's Like illuminatingly entwines the illustrations, creating a textual tour of force, one that demonstrates how good print media can be.

The illustrations are special, detailed and colorful. This is a pretty disorganized book with a million factoids and lots of great Sibley drawings. The images will engage the attention of children from age 2 to 100 and beyond. There is no flimsy book cover, the book cover is imprinted.

Why We Like This:

Wonderful insight for beginners and probably experienced birders as well
Beautiful pictures and vignettes on bird biology
New and hot release

Best For photographers: Roger Tory Peterson Birdwatching Guide

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Best part: roger tory peterson birdwatching guide costs comparatively low and it is available to ship in 24 hours. There are many field guide options, and every birder has a favorite. It is a gift for someone new to birding and probably the easiest and easiest to carry. The guide features peterson’s wonderful paintings which show the idealized bird, with distinctive field marks, like a bright eye stripe, highlighted by an arrow. The hand drawn pictures of the birds are beautiful and have identifying marks and other characteristics clearly defined. It's a manageable size to tuck anywhere where you can grab it quickly.

The pictures are vibrant, and the book is a little larger than the last one so it isn’t as convenient to carry. It is a gift for someone new to birding and probably the easiest and easiest.

Why We Like This:

Easiest bird book to find species
Delivers what they promise

Best For enthusiastic amateur birdwatcher: National Audubon Society Birdwatching Guide

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Not everyone likes to purchase guide for their daily purpose, but the national audubon society birdwatching guide would be an anomoly. This National Audubon Society field guide for birds has lots and lots of nice, but small, photos of birds. The bird is pictured from only one angle. Faster and more accurate than google or apps, Paperback has vinyl cover easy to clean. The layout is organized and easy to find what you want with high quality pictures. The bird species are grouped by type and color, so it is easy to locate and identify a particular bird.

The first part of the book is made up of photos which are just fantastic. The color plates are beautiful and descriptions are great. It is certainly priced right.

Why We Like This:

Pictures are great and the descriptions of the birds also
Good for beginner and novice alike
Excellent guide for backyard birding and new birdwatchers

Best little Field Guide: UDVARDY Birdwatching Guide

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The udvardy birdwatching guide is suitable and reliable and fits well with your daily purpose. This field guide only tells the birds in western regions of north america. It measures 4" x 7-1/2" x 1-1/2" thick, just the right size to fit into your pocket or day-pack if you're inclined to take it on a walk. It can impact ease of use in the field. Sections on bird-watching, accidental species, and endangered birds make these the most comprehensive field guides to birds available.

The Smithsonian guide to north american birds uses photographs rather than the painted profiles and includes a cd of bird song as well. The birds are arranged within their families by their predominant color, and the silhouettes are colored accordingly, to make it even easier to find your bird. Because they are painted the attention to detail is AWESOME and really helps with the harder to identify birds.

Why We Like This:

Great book for enthusiasts and beginners
You will be able to enjoy the bird world and teach kids about nature
New and hot release

Best For Pocket Field Guide: Donald Stokes Birdwatching Guide

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The donald stokes birdwatching guide is satisfactory and appropriate and fits well with your regular usage. This book explains where is the natural habitat of each bird, pictures of both the male and the female description of their bird calls, and what each bird prefers to eat. It's thumbnailed by dominant bird color for easy identification. It can easily fit into a pocket and is light weight. It is organized by colors so you can quickly flip to the right section.

The birds are sorted by color for easy identification, and there's an index in the front and back covers that lists all the birds alphabetically if you're looking for info about a bird you know. This is a nice book for beginners and kids because it is color coded so it makes it easier to find a suitable match when you don't know what it is that you are looking for. The book is color-coded,meaning that if you want to find out which bird is feeding, you only need to remember its color/colors and go to that section of the book.

Why We Like This:

Nicely presented for a beginners guide
Perfect beginner id book for kids or adults
Lot of satisfied buyers

Best For Quick Field Guide: Jonathan Alderfer Birdwatching Guide

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The jonathan alderfer birdwatching guide's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. The Black-Billed Cuckoo is much less common and declining, therefore much less apt to be seen. It is a nationally known bird artist and author who has worked on a number of national geographic's birding books. It is easy to use and identify birds.

This guide has accurate pictures of male/female winter/spring coloring that really helps in finding the bird you are actually looking at. There are pictures of the birds, a map indicating where they like to live, and about their food, nesting, plumage, and their voices. It is good for a quick field guide, light weight & very complete information. The pictures, particularly on the inside back cover, make it very easy to locate the bird you are actually looking at. It is important to keep feeders clean and to place them in safe locations—but if you take proper care, feeding will benefit the birds, helping them survive and reproduce.

Why We Like This:

A must have for new birds and old one's
Wonderful way to identify the migrating birds as well
Easy to read and great identification pictures
Lots of pictures, tells a lot about the birds and easy to use

Best For learning The general principles Of Bird Identification: David Allen Sibley Fantastic Book

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Best part: david allen sibley fantastic book costs comparatively low and it is available to ship in 24 hours. This little book is of great value to both the rank beginner and to the birder who has been beating the bushes for decades. It is great for those wanting to go deeper. It provides general guidance and great advice to enhance your birdwatching experience. It's just a perfect little book that melds text and illustration in a way that seems to effortlessly expand your knowledge of bird identification.

This book helps you with basics on what you need to focus on as a beginner and what characteristics you need to pay attention to when making an identification. It is the highest power that can be used easily. This book isn't a substitute for that first hand interaction, but makes you much more prepared for those experiences.

Why We Like This:

Allow your curiosity about birds to take you in other directions
Must have basic for bird watchers
A great help to identify birds