The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America

Sibley Birds West is a fantastic resource for those looking to dive into the birdwatching. As someone relatively new to this world, I stumbled upon this book, and it has been an invaluable starting point. The standout feature of this book is the stunning illustrations. David Sibley's artistic talent truly shines through. The illustrations are not only beautiful but also incredibly accurate, bringing each bird to life on the page. The book's format is refreshingly concise, making it accessible to beginners like me. It provides just the right amount of information to get started. This straightforward layout makes it easy to identify birds and enjoy the learning process. Sibley offers brief yet informative descriptions of each species, giving you a great starting point for your birding adventures. What's particularly enjoyable is how he adds interesting details about bird behavior, habitats, and unique traits. Whether you're just starting or have some experience, this book with its captivating illustrations, concise format, and helpful information is a must-have companion for birdwatching. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring the world of birds.

Excellent book for bird identification.

I ordered this book the day after I was hired to survey birds in National Park properties through out the Chihuahuan Desert. The second edition of "Birds West" is the first Sibley publication I've owned and I can not deny it has been a spectacular investment in the field. Up until this point I have relied on National Geographic's field guide to Western Birds and have been referencing both through out the season. What sets Sibley apart is not necessarily his artwork (which is exceptional regardless), but his knack for providing extraordinarily helpful information in a brief format. The Nat Geo guide attempts to cram visual, behavioral, and habitat information into a small paragraph which allows maximal room for illustration. Sibley, on the other hand, has developed a format geared to maximize the recognition of diagnostic traits in the field. Each section is prefaced with a reference page showing each species, grouped into genus, side by side. This really helps you recognize the shared traits of a genus which can make all the difference when you're in a location with 6 wren species coming from 6 different genus. On the individual pages, Sibley gives more than adequate descriptions of the habitat you're likely to find each bird in and his comprehensive illustrations and sketches high light even the least expected diagnostic features. Thanks to this I was able to initially ID a Black-chinned Hummer from its display flight pattern alone. The only short-coming of this regional field guide is a trivial one unique to the situation I find myself in. Surveying areas that fall right on the border that divides Sibley's Western guide from his Eastern, he has chosen to exclude some rarities, like the Great Kiskadee and Ringed Kingfisher, that would've been helpful. These are also excluded from my Nat Geo guide, however I have no doubt Sibley has included them in his comprehensive field guide. For the price, artwork, and the quality and breadth of information provided, this is definitely the book I'd recommend highest to any serious birder looking to gain familiarity with Western species.

I’m just getting into bird watching, and this has been a great starter book for me. I know there are apps, but there’s just something about a physical book that helps me stay unplugged during my activity.

I love my sibley book, I've had it for almost a year now! It is built for being outdoors and the variety in details, drawing and description wise, is amazing. The sounds are an interesting add on as they aren't the most useful until you actually hear the bird, and some birds make the same sounds, but when you do get to hear it is kinda funny how accurate the written sound is. My only complaint is that there's been a couple of times where I've seen the page number associated with the birds at the beginning of a family not actually have that bird on that page. At first I thought it was just how it got printed, pages were smaller or bigger than anticipated so the bird got pushed a couple pages backwards or forwards in the family. Then I realized it wasn't because in this case (photos added) the birds page number is behind it's own family. The table of contents/checklists is accurate though. To make sure it wasn't just my book that was wrong, I conveniently has another and it also showed the same thing. Thought I'd bring this to attention because it's strange for the pages to be wrong so badly. The kestrel is not on pg. 240 haha.

In an attempt to resolve the legibility debate, I offer the following facts that I hope enablie you to make your own independent judgement: The paper is strong, glossy, and very white, providing excellent contrast to… The type is a legible, clear and set in a modern, narrow San Sarif font. The ink is solidly black. The font size looks to be about 4 points. That’s the size of the legalese on corporate products that you are not meant to read, but could if you really tried. Folk with older eyes should bring a magnifying glass. The images are well-drawn and would be works of art at a larger size, but are too small and dark to show full detail. The majority of images easily fit within a 1 inch box. Again… bring a magnifying glass. Despite what might seem like critiques above, I give the book 5 stars because they clearly did their best to squeeze a lot of information down to carry-along size. And anyway, any nature wanderer who doesn’t have a good magnifying glass is already missing the best show on Earth (or what’s left of it).

Great information and it's an actual BOOK! Doesn't need to be charged, no ads, doesn't run out of battery while you're out in the field! Brilliant!

The Sibley Guide to Birds, Second Editionは素晴らしい図鑑だが、如何せんフィールドへの携帯には大き過ぎて適していない。幸いSibley Guideには、西部と東部に分冊され、サイズも小さくなったバージョンがあり、これはその西部版である。 小さくなった分、フルバージョンと比べると、種数は西部用なので減っているのはもちろんだが、イラストが小さくなり、また掲載点数も少なくなっている。また、もとのSibley Guideもテキスト解説部分は少なめであったが、この分冊版はなお一層簡潔になっている。イラストはフィールドガイドとしても少し小さめである。 まだ出たばかりなので、校正上のいくつかの間違いがある。急ぎでなければ、来年以降の修正が反映されたPrintingでの購入をお勧めする。 一応この図鑑の大きさや掲載種数を以下に記載する。 掲載種数 715種、 大きさ 12.4 x 2.8 x 19.8 cm、 重さ 635g、ページ数 477＋使い方や名称のページ

Love this book! I work in Conservation Biology and needed a good field guide for bird ID, this book is awesome and highly recommended by professionals in the field! Beautiful pictures and seasonal/sex plumage differences.

Laas detallada para la region

La mejor guía de aves para la zona

El libro llegó en perfectas condiciones y el contenido es muy bueno y completo, lo recomiendo ampliamente para todos aquellos que les interesen las aves