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National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, Western Region
written by Miklos D. F. Udvardy
Studio : Alfred A. Knopf
by Alfred A. Knopf
Release Date : 1994-09-27
Publisher : Alfred A. Knopf
Released : 1994-08
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780679428510
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 17 reviews)
List Price : $19.95
Our Price : $9.00
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Product Description |
Introduced in 1977 and completely revised in 1994, these bestselling photographic field guides have become the birding bibles of more than four million enthusiasts. Virtually every bird found in North America is brought to life in a full-color photograph and with textual information on the bird's voice, nesting habits, habitat, range, and interesting behaviors. Accompanying range maps; overhead flight silhouettes; sections on bird-watching, accidental species, and endangered birds make these the most comprehensive field guides to birds available.
Note: the Western Edition covers the Rocky Mountain range and all the states to the west of it, while the Eastern Edition generally covers states east of the Rocky Mountains. |
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Americancivilwar.com |
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A favorite of birdwatchers (especially those who prefer photographs to illustrations), this field guide, revised for 2000, accounts for the 544 bird species that live in the region west of the Great Plains. The clearly printed color photographs capture birds at rest and in flight; preceded by black-and-white silhouettes, the plates are organized by visually based, intuitive categories--"hawk-like birds," "pigeon-like birds," and "perching birds," for example--that make on-the-fly identification a fairly simple matter. The images are matched by clearly written text that describes a given bird, gives an approximation of its voice, and details its habitat, range, nests, and behavior. Sized to fit in a jacket or backpack pocket, this is a valuable companion for any birding outing in the region. --Gregory McNamee |
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Recommended |
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Compact, well-written, precise, comprehensive, informative, brilliant color plates, tough outer cover - what's not to like? Highly recommended. |
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National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, Western Region |
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A very good resource. We had the Eastern US version and this west coast version is a great supplement. Easy to use. |
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Hardly needs my review but... |
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I love all these books. I remember using my moms growing up and it was the first thing I looked for when I moved to a new area and wanted to get to know the birds on my back porch. Perfect for the seasoned bird watcher or the novice. |
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an overall decent field guide |
As a general all round guide, this book is helpful and has a place in any naturalists library. The color plates are the best of all the bird guides.
The index cross-references the color plates with the descriptions making it pretty staightforward. The cover is a durable leatherette, the binding pretty good (although the color plates will loosen up with use). The Audubon guides are definitely a step up from the Peterson and Stokes guides.
Now for the criticisms. The descriptions are far too brief and vague. An example: for the Cooper's Hawk, the voice description is:
"A rapid series:kek kek kek kek kek". Mmmm . . . Doesn't help much . . .
The summary is also 3 sentences long . . . c'mon, did the editors get tired here or what?
The descriptions throughout are not much more detailed than this, especially the voice descriptions. And trying to print out the phonetics/sound of a birdsong has always seemed pretty futile to me anyway; the most effective way of learning the signature of a bird's song is to listen to a recording.
Except for overhead photos of most of the raptors, there are almost no flying photos of all the other birds. I think this could be a much needed additon to any future editions. Feather identification is a big part of birding.
All in all though, this is the first guide I turn to when I need to know.
Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts
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Best Bird book on the market |
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My wife and I have been using the Easten Region Field Guide for years and found it to be the best. We recently moved to the western area and quickly realized that we needed the Western Edition. A great book for birders. |
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