National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Sixth Edition

I always felt that when I started carrying my 5th edition of the Geographic Guide as my main field guide, that I had sort of graduated to the field guide of a serious birding hobbyist. I needed to know what else has been seen as I traveled around the nation, just in case, and with 967 species in the 5th edition, I felt like I was covered just in case. I loved the 5th field guide, though it had some issues with color that I am glad to see fixed in the 6th edition. The 6th edition now covers 990 species seen or expected in the United States, keeping up with the new additions to the ABA lists.

Never before have I pre-ordered a book of any kind, but when I learned that the 6th edition was coming out, I just had to see how "America's #1 Bird Guide" was going to be made better. I did pre-order my copy from Amazon as soon as I was made aware of it's availability, I had it in my hands November 4th, 4 days after its November 1, 2011, publication date. Today I finished a page by page, bird by bird review of the new edition, and I do believe that the folks at National Geographic have made some nice improvements and kept their field guide the best that exists for North American birders.

I am thrilled with the new guide.

Specifically, the first thing one notices is the new maps. They are excellent, detailed and include much more information now with migration ranges noted (two excellent examples are Baird's Sandpiper and White-rumped Sandpiper), with migration routes shown separately for spring and fall. Along with those changes, they also included subspecies ranges for the species where that might be important to know. It is worth noting that for species that have complicated sub-species maps, there is a section in the back of the book with 41 detailed sub-species maps that are much appreciated.

Furthermore, there are many more range maps for birds that are not regular visitors to North America (Fea's and Bermuda Petrel come to mind), or have very small ranges (Island Scrub Jay for example). These maps show the Asian, Caribbean or Mexican typical ranges for the species in much more detail and indicate how the species might find it's way to the United States. It is a small detail that I really like. There was never a need to just show where the bird was seen in the US, and I am glad the folks creating this guide didn't stick strictly to US maps only this time around, the map flexibility has really allowed a wonderful addition of knowledge that these maps impart.

The next detail users of the 5th edition will notice that is different in the 6th edition is that every species entry is now broken into three distinct parts. They begin with species description, and then have clearly marked sections on VOICE and RANGE. It is the new and more comprehensive details in RANGE that are substantially improved in this edition. Clearly, they had listers in mid as they added the details they did about how often and when species are seen, or have been seen, that is just an excellent improvement, especially for the serious lister.

A third major change for this edition is the addition of field note details along with the bird images. They are insightful and great reminders for the accomplished birder, but wonderful instructional notes for the learning birder. I have always loved these notes in the Kaufmann guide, and the addition of these notes, in my mind does not detract from the wonderful images. I have always hoped that this feature would be added to this guide, and I never would have expected two other changes to make this anything other than my favorite update to the guide, but both the above outweigh this fantastic change to this guide.

A few small things I liked, images of the ducks flying are now WITH the species accounts. They still kept the duck, shorebird and raptor pages showing flying images of the birds for comparison to similar species, but for the ducks I always wanted the flying images with the species, and now that change has been made. The updates to Red-tailed Hawk are nice, not a comprehensive overview, of course, but more information that can be followed up on if one needs to know more. The new images of the sub-species are a nice basic update that was overdue. Finally, very minor, I loved the image of the Yellow Warbler feeding a just fledged Brown-headed Cowbird. How many times I have seen that in the field. Nice touch.

My suggestions for improvement? I have a few.

One, why doesn't any field guide show the ABA Species Code number? It would be easy to add and I would love to know what are code 2, 3, 4 and 5 species without having to add that information to the guide by hand.

Two, I must also admit at after Crossley's ID Guide, I like having the 4 letter codes with the species accounts. I would like to see those codes added to this guide too.

Three, I was disappointed to see Bachman's Warbler and Eskimo Curlew exiled to the Accidental & Extinct Species section (I love the section for accidentals, and found it surprisingly up to date). If this was my guide, I would keep the extinct North American species, Labrador Duck, Eskimo Curlew, Great Auk, Carolina Parakeet & Bachman's Warbler in their taxonomic places within the guide. It is a good way to place them inside the appropriate taxonomy, AND a great reminder of just how precious every species is, and how we need to protect the remaining species we have so we don't add to this list anytime soon.

Finally, of all the images, I thought the Winter Wren image to be terrible and off color. It was the only image I had a completely negative reaction too. The Winter Wrens we get in Chicago look NOTHING like that washed out light image that they have included for this species now that it has been split from Pacific Wren.

But none of these small suggestions should take anything away from how comprehensive and complete this guide is. The maps are worth the price of the book alone, the image accounts and much better with the RANGE notes, and the addition of field mark notes with the images has been done with respect and insight. This is a fantastic update, and every serious birder, or aspiring birder, needs this update for not just their library, BUT to have with them in the field.

I've looked at many field guides whenever I find myself in book stores. This one caught my eye, and I when I learned that a new sixth edition had come out, I got it right away.

While there are many are good bird guides out there, they usually contain pictures and art that don't show the birds from every angle. The information usually isn't that detailed either, or not there at all. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would love to know how to tell the difference between two very similar species like western meadowlarks and eastern meadowlarks.

This book goes way beyond any guide I've ever seen, the information is in-depth and useful, not to mention that they show the top of the bird's wing AND the bottom of it (though unfortunately, this guide doesn't have under-tail pictures...). For some reason, many guides don't show what the bird looks like from the bottom. Which is incredibly silly since many times they flow OVER you and that's all you get to see.

There's been improved migration maps, and new subspecies migration maps, which is incredible. They also have accidental species, which is mind-blowing as well. The beginning of the book teaches you all about how to read and decipher the latin/greek names, the entire anatomy for different species, basic birding identification skills, and more.

I could go on forever about how great this book is, it's like a bird-college text book! I wouldn't settle for any other guide!

I am a bird photographer that has been photographing Condors at the Grand Canyon for the last ten years. When I buy a new field guide the Condors is the first bird I turn to and that tells me how accurate the info is for the entire guide. This guide fails miserably. The info on the Condor is about 10 years old. I quote "Population in the wild now about 100; 100 more in captivity." As of December 2011, there are 390 condors known to be living, including 210 in the wild. And about 75 of those are in the Grand Canyon/southern Utah area. Then it goes on to say "...but still no sucessful breeding outside captivity." Huh? There are a minimum of 6 Condors that are free flying in the Grand Canyon area that were born in the wild, including Condor number 350 (-0) who is going to turn 8 years old in a few months and is now of breeding age. We will have grandkids flying at the canyon in few years. The range maps are also out of date. A lot of the Grand Canyon Condors now live in the Zion National Park area.

The California Condor is one of the rarest birds in the world and the captive breeding and reintroduction program is one of the most successful ones ever attempted. If NG can't get their info right about the Condor I find it hard to trust anything else they have to say.

I am rating this a four but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't recommend it to any birder. This is a fine guide and anyone who already uses the earlier National Geographic guides will be happy with this one. The drawings are mostly very good, and some of the images, especially the duck pictures are beautiful along with being accurate. Other reviewers have pointed that not all is perfect. Certainly the Winter Wren picture is sub-par. Field marks are indicated by text descriptions a method that I find inferior to the use of arrows in Peterson. I do think the small size of the pictures is a minor limitation that in a crowded market may be a deal killer (I didn't purchase the 5th edition because of the small size of the pictures). There is a lot of information packed in the book and larger images might make sense going forward. None of these objections are critical. What is important is the inconsistent printing. A number of black birds in my copy are just too dark. Other birds, such as the Purple Finch are a bit lighter than one would hope. Would anyone have a problem in the field, no, but it is a quality issue. If the printing were more consistent I would rate it a five.

This book and the latest Sibley guide (east, west or both) make great side-by-side companions. The differences in the images and information seem complimentary to each other to help a neophyte bird watcher like me. I struggle to use one book for identifying birds that I have photographed yet when using both books, I can compare images and information and make conclusive decisions. I strongly recommend both books... but neither singularly.

Shelve all your other field guides to North American birds and put away a number of other important reference books, for Dunn and Alderfer's brand-new sixth edition leaps beyond previous editions, as well as all competition, by providing an exhaustively detailed and accurate field guide that serves at the same time as an AOU Checklist of North American Birds and as an encyclopedia of North American birds. Study it at home. Carry it afield. It has no peer.

Nice illustration & descriptions aren't enough to justify this book.
The broad scope and organizational structure of this book doesn't lend itself to field usability. Imagine you're along a slew in South Dakota; You pick up your binoculars and spy a crow-size bird with a Killdeer like paint job. What is it? Let's find it in the NG Bird book. A Flycatcher? Hawk? Wait, here it is...No, that's a bird only found along the shores of the Yucatan peninsula. Here it is...No, that bird is only along the Alaskan coast. And so it goes. If you don't have an underlying knowledge of birds and a birding vocabulary like this book then it makes a poor field identification book.
Suggestions: Buy a book organized in a manner consistent with your bird understanding and one suited to the area you'll be watching for birds.

Many North American birds migrate north to south across the entire continent. However, despite claiming to be a field guide for "Birds of North America," this book does not include the southern half of Mexico. What a shocking omission! Southern Mexico is where many North American birds end up every winter!!! Mexico is an enormous country with lots of birds and is very much a part of North America! The range maps in this book show only the northern half of Mexico and the book fails to indicate where in southern Mexico many of the birds are located. It is very frustrating to look up a bird I've just seen on my travels in southern Mexico only to find that its presence in southern Mexico is entirely omitted. I would think National Geographic would have a better handle on basic geography. This book should be called "Birds of Canada and the United States." If you are interested in birds only in Canada and the US, it is a good guide. If it had an accurate title I would have given it 5 stars. But its title implies it is a much more thorough guide than it is.

The sixth edition of the National Geographic Field Guide is, simply put, the one book every North American birder needs to have on the shelf. Beginners will find it attractive, easy to use, and portable; intermediate and advanced birders will refer to it again and again with profit--and with surprise at how much it can teach even the most experienced among us. [...] for a full review.

This is one of the most complete and well written north american bird guides available. It is perhaps a little large and some might prefer a smaller guide that can fit in a smaller pocket for long hikes, but if you have a large pocket in your jacket or trousers this guide is well worth carrying. It is laid out with quick guides on the front inside and the rear inside covers that make this book very easy to use. Although I have been birding for at over 40 years, I am not an advanced or expert bird watcher, just a casual enthusiast. I recommend this book to all us that enjoy the activity but are not so good at it that we don't need a good guide book anymore.