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This book should be the first one you buy (well, if you are in the eastern half of the US).

But it should not be the last. The Peterson Guide uses drawings (important -- NOT photos) to show you the typical features of the birds around you. Other great guides -- like the Audubon series -- use photos, but photos are harder for a beginner to use for a sure-fire identification. Or this beginner anyway...

No bird in the field looks exactly like the lovely Peterson drawing, but no two bird photos are ever alike, either (even of the same bird). Use the Peterson to get to know the bird species around you, and maybe next buy a guide like the Audubon Society Field Guide (just because -- I dunno, they seem like a one-two punch to me)! It's great to go looking with both, but if I had to choose one, it would be Peterson.

To learn more about birding in general, Sibley has a nice, shortish overview book called "Sibley's Birding Basics."

I'm only getting started, but this is some advice about what's helped in beginning to learn all this wonderful stuff about the living world all 'round.


The is the best bird guide book I've ever seen or owned!   April 26, 2004
I owe a few bird books but this is the best and most handy one to identify a bird I'm not familar with. I love the arrows pointing to the areas for quick identification. It shows me what I should be looking for and sure helps when the bird won't stand still. The book is so light, I can have it on hand at all times. I even have it next to me in my own backyard. If you want a book to start out a new hobby of identifying birds, this is the one to get. Then start collecting from there. In fact, I'm considering buying another one for my car for spir-of-the-moment identification away from home and leave one at home for the backyard.


Very useful and handy!   January 20, 2004
Really needed a good (and easy to use) guide for our new bordering-on-the-woods house. We get tons of bird traffic at our feeders, and this book is organized well enough that I can quickly identify the species we see.


The field guide that started it all   February 15, 2003
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

If you're getting into birding, or want a good field guide to see what birds are at your cabin or in your yard, this is it.

It's got the bird listed opposite from the description and has arrows to show field marks of a species. New in the 5th edition are:

Maps on the same page as the description (maps improved too!)
The description mentions how common the bird is in the east.
The area covered doesn't take a sharp turn and leave out the tip of texas

If you're getting more into birding I'd highly recommend David Sibley's guide, it has many more views and plumages of each bird, but is a bit large to take in the field.


Probably the best of the field guides   November 20, 2002
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

The 5th edition of Peterson's field guide is an improvement over previous edtions. The maps are included in the front with the birds now, in addtion to having a separate more detailed map in the back of the guide.
These range maps are the best of all current guides because the details are easiest to see because their so big.
Sibly's is great also but because of it's size(the guide itself) I wouldn't recommend it for the field, more as a reference for back home.
So if your going to own just one field guide the 5th edtion Peterson's is the best all around guide out there.