| Stokes Field Guide to Birds Eastern Region: Eastern Region | 
 enlarge | Authors: Donald Stokes, Lillian Stokes
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: CDN$ 22.99
Buy Used: CDN$ 6.58
You Save: CDN$ 16.41 (71%)
New (12) Used (10) from CDN$ 6.58
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 94026
Media: Paperback
Edition: 0
Pages: 496
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0316818097
Dewey Decimal Number: 598.2974
EAN: 9780316818094
ASIN: 0316818097
Publication Date: January 29, 1996
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Condition: Shipped from the US -- Expect delivery in 1-2 weeks. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy!
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 11 | | NEXT » |
 Easy to Use March 3, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
To replace my falling apart copy of Peteson's Field Guide I bought the Audobon and Sibley's Guides. Stokes Guide is a recent purchase and this is the one I'll be using. The colour tab index makes it quick to find the pages you need (essential in the field) and all needed information is printed on one page so you don't need to also find information on habitat and behavior in another section of the book. If you need better pictures and more information, refer to Sibley's when you get home (that book is too difficult to navigate for quick identification and too big for the field). The Audobon Field Guide also has a bit more information, but you need to look in two sections of the book. The Peterson guide also makes you look in two sections of the book. By the time you've done that the bird will probably be gone. The Stokes Guide is bigger than Peterson or Audobon, but the ease of use makes up for the disadvantage of a slighter bigger book. Stokes and Peterson use drawings. Sibley and Stokes use photographs. Both have advantages & disadvantages. Thus, I'll use Stokes in the field and Sibleys at home.
 A tried-and-true field guide March 8, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Stokes Field Guide-Western Edition has become my pocket reference of choice in the field. I wore out my first copy from overuse, which is a high compliment to its usefulness (and binding sturdiness). As a pocket guide and quick reference, you cannot beat Stokes' "bang for the buck." It offers most of the basics that most birders would need in the field:
* Quick color tab index
* Large photos (which usually capture indicative plumage)
* Good all-up glance at ID, feeding, nesting, and other relevant behavior
* Nice North American habitat guide that zooms in if the range is geographically smaller
* Habitat type info has been very helpful Downsides are few, but:
1. I think the anatomical reference is incomplete, but for most purposes basically adequate.
2. The "quick reference to the most common birds" pages seem somewhat pointless because the species are so arbitrary.
3. The color quality in some photos aren't as indicative as I'd like, but you have to expect some inconsistencies due to the nature of photographs, habitat and lighting.
4. There really isn't a section on responsible birding, ethics, and avian conservation. Their conservation section consists of BBC and CBC census data only. That said, I love this guide. Between the Stokes and Sibley ID guides used in tandem, most people won't need another field resource for visual field identification.
SUPERB FIELD GUIDE WITH LARGE PHOTOS!!! January 8, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I recently got into this hobby of birding, and was looking for a good book to take with me on weekend jaunts, or to I.D. birds in my backyard. I am by no means a professional, but a casual birder. For that purpose, this fantastic book is much more than adequate! I like to 'check off' each corner page when I spot one of the birds shown, and the real color photos are an invaluable tool! Just this morning, this gorgeous Red Shouldered Hawk was sitting on a fencepost (was visiting my brother in the Cleveland, Ohio area), and I was able to readily I.D. it using this book. My next purchase will be a pair of digital binoculars with a built in digital cam. That way, I will be able to take a snapshot of these critters, and I.D. them later, if I can't at that moment! Plus, all the information on each bird is on one page! This is really a fascinating hobby, and I am glad to own this book (and the Western version) as my first guide! I highly recommend it.
 Adequate April 2, 2003
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an adequate resource for a novice birdwatcher and it is well-organized. However, after testing this book in 3 Western wildlife refuges, I've decided that I would like more information on the behaviors and habits of each bird. I am by no means a "bird geek," but am simply seeking to know more about the natural world as I hike or row through it. The book provides little more than just name, rank, and serial number. Also, although the photography is mostly sharp and useful, some of the seagoing bird photographs are blurred and grainy, resembling a Bigfoot photo. I have been looking for the ultimate guide to Western birds but I'm going to keep looking.
Pretty Stoke'd about this Bird Book September 27, 2002
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There's not a bird that can get by me with this book in hand. Of the three bird books we own, I'd say the Stokes "Field Guide to Birds" is at the top of the nest.Besides the individualized color-coded sections with categories for Seabirds, Hawk-like birds, chicken-like birds, bird-like birds, flycatchers, and on and on, the book also features some quick guide features that help you in a tight bind when you have spotted a bird, reached for the binoculars with one hand, reached for the book with the other hand, all the while scaring off your prized find. The quick alphabetical index is on the inside cover if you know enough about your bird types to narrow down the search quickly. If you are more of a visual bird boy, there's a Quick Guide displaying wonderful pictures on a white background of 53 of the most common feathered friends. To even make it more handy, there are "learning pages" among all the individual bird genus species pages. These are truly insightful giving tidbits of info on Flycatchers, Hawks, Shorebirds, Gulls, Warblers, and Sparrows. You will be educated by them learning how to identify immature birds, birds by behavior. It just may include that one tip that helps you put a pos ID on that hard to find match. Compared to other bird books like the popular "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds" this book doesn't leave you flipping between pages to find all the info you are flapping your wings to get a hold of. With this book I have ID'd Scrub Jays, Northern Flickers, Black Phoebe's, Western Kingbirds, and the Yellow-billed Magpie and consequently learned you can find that Magpie nowhere else but Northern California. This bird book flies high, higher than the rest.
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