The Best Guide for the Field

As a new birder, I did a lot of checking before buying a guide. I found Sibley to be the best guide for the field. While there is limited information, this guide provides essential information needed to make a positive identification. It includes multiple images of birds as well as any variants for gender, age, etc. While I would definitely suggest at least looking at other guides, I would say this is the essential guide for time in the field. Additionally, now that the larger Sibley Guide has been split into a Eastern and Western version it is portable: it fits in my back pocket as I trek through the woods.

I have most of them, but really only use this one

The Sibley book is the only guide I really use anymore. It just seems every time I find a tough bird to ID the sibley book is the one that makes my mind up. The drawings are almost caricatures of the birds, really accentuating what you need to pick out. The Nat. Geo book is good (more artistic drawings) and I keep my official tally in it, but when I go out walking around I take sibley. It also fits in your back pocket While Nat. geo. (Other Favorite) Doesnt. Peterson Guide I'm not a huge fan of. Flipping around to find the Range map, That bugs me.

A good field guide for visual identification.

This is a good field guide, and the drawings of different birds are nice. I especially like the fact that there are, very often, drawings of juvenile birds alongside the drawings of the adults, and there are usually drawings of both male and female adults. However, the listings for each type of bird are rather short and don't offer much detail. This book is good for visual identification of different birds, but I'll have to stick to other books if I want a more in-depth look at behavior, breeding and nesting habits, etc.