Rating: 
Summary: No longer required
Review: 5 years ago this field guide was required for all serious birders but with the new field guides this one isn't need any longer. It's a bit too big to easily carry around the field and Sibley's is a better guide for the home. Kaufman's Birds of NA is a better book to carry around.If you like to have bird guides this is one of the best but it's no longer the best.
Rating: 
Summary: A mom's opinion
Review: As a mom who is very much the amateur and does 95% of my birding by checking who appears at my feeder or outside my car window, I'm awfully fond of this book. I've only been on a few "serious" bird walks, I have had limited opportunity to compare field guides in depth. All I know is that I find it very helpful to have the bird, occasionally a comparison, and it's range all mashed together. If it counts for anything, my 2 year old has learned to identify owls, hummingbirds, a few ducks, and raptors due to this book. I feel it's an excellent choice for other beginning birders of any age.I can't, however, speak for those birders who know what they're doing. On a side note, it is much easier to get tie-ins to the Peterson guides (audio and computer stuff) than for most other guides. Pick your guide well, because once you are familiar with one guide it's uncomfortable to get cosy with another one!
Rating:
Summary: The best birding book on the market for the U.S.
Review: As a naturalist and educator I usually look for regional guides on plants and animals, but this field guide is so comprehensive that it's more useful than any of the regional guides for our Gulf Coast area. This is the first bird book to buy no matter where you live in the continental U.S.
Rating:
Summary: best bird guide owned
Review: Being an avid birder, I have several different bird guides. The one that happens to be the most beddraggled is my copy of Field Guide to North American birds. If I'm headed out into the field and plan on carrying only one, this is the book I reach for. The format lends itself for id of new species better than any other guide I've run across and the most comprehensive also. Excellent choice for the beginner to the most advance, a casual observor or an avid birder.
Rating:
Summary: I never thought I'd stop using Peterson in the field...
Review: but I have, for the most part. I had always preferred Peterson b/c I (a) thought the art was better and (b) liked having a guide which filtered out species I was unlikely to see in a particular area. The new NGS guide is taxonomically, artistically, and generally better, enough so that my Peterson now rarely leaves my shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: What happened to the Press Check?
Review: Can't believe how poorly this book was printed. I was so excited to see the 80 new species included in the this Third Edition, but when I started flipping through the book I was SO DISAPPOINTED. Didn't anybody go to the press check when this book was being printed? The colors are way oversaturated and the registration on some of the pages is absolutely horrible! As I bird lover, I want to know as accurately as possible what color a bird should be when I look at a guide and as a graphic designer, I assume that color proofing would be of utmost importance in a book like this. I returned my copy right away and will look for a used Second Edition somewhere.
Rating:
Summary: The quintessential guide to bird identification.
Review: Field Guide to the Birds of North America is the most conclusive compilation of species seen in North America. This essential birding tool accurately depicts visually and descriptively, and provides range maps on joining pages (no need to flip around). In the introduction not only do readers learn about scientific terms and classifications but how to identify birds, choosing proper field equipment such as binoculars, and the importance of journalizing observations. I am looking forward to the release of a revised edition this spring!
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: For birders, there's never been a better time to find a field guide. Sibley and Kauffman have both published very good guides recently, serious competition for the venerable National Geographic guide. First, you can't go wrong with any of the three. They are all very good, although each brings different strengths and weaknesses. Second, if you bird with a companion, carry different guides: one of you take National Geographic and one of you take Sibley or Kauffman. Third, measure your skill level against the assumptions of the various guides. If you are a novice, then Kauffman might be your best choice. If you are a beginner who has a bit of experience, then National Geo may be your best choice. If you are an advanced beginner or better, then perhaps Sibley. But as an overall choice, with decent art (although not quite as good as Sibley), decent identification highlights (although not quite as good as Kauffman), quite good behavior cues, excellent treatment of vagrant birds and highly readable text, National Geographic emerges as the most versatile of the three. If you can, get all three. If you can't get all three, this is probably, by the thinnest of margins, the best choice.
Rating:
Summary: A bird book for the car......
Review: For years, I've used the Peterson field guides to identify birds. Most of my bird watching has taken place in the Eastern U.S. mountains and north and south of the coastal area where I live, as well as WI (summer) and LA (winter). The Petersen guide book for the Eastern region meets most of my needs, but I also own several other books (Smithsonian and Audubon). I became interested in the National Geographic book BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA because I admire the NG magazine. The NG is a heavier book than the Eastern Peterson, perhaps because it shows birds from both the Eastern and Western areas of the country, but the Peterson maps show the full range of "Eastern" birds--even if a range extends to the West. Both books show ranges that extend into Canada. The NG book is nifty because the little maps that appear in the back of the Petersen books are on the same page as the bird illustrations. The birds illustrated in both books are clustered by category. For example, Petersen shows male and female Downey, Hairy, Northern Three-toed, and Black-backed woodpeckers together, as does the NG. The Petersen guide has little arrows that point to distinguishing marks, but NG does not. I find these indicator arrows very helpful when I am trying to tell two closely marked birds apart. The NG does show a tiny row of variants across the bottom of the page (For example, the woodpecker page = fasciatus, dosalis, orius, etc.) The bird colors are less differentiated in the Peterson than the NG illustrations. For example, stripes on the Peterson Three-toed woodpecker's belly are less articulated than those shown on the NG bird. I don't think this matters as one seldom gets close enough to see the mottling. The Peterson birds are hand drawn and relatively flat, while the NG birds are more rounded, i.e. modeled. The Petersen birds look like the Audubon paintings. The NG illustrations remind me of digital photos of taxidermist stuffed birds (probably why the colors are so differentiated). Both books provide measurements and Latin names. The Peterson book provides text that describes birds that might prove confusing with your bird of interest. The NG book provides text that describes the attributes of regional variants. This latter feature won't help you in the field since you almost never see regional variants in the same location. If you are a serious bird watcher you will probably want both books and the Audubon and Smithsonian books as well. If you can only afford one book, I recommend the Peterson book. I have used my Peterson book for so long it just falls open when I hold it in one hand, so I am probably prejudiced.
Rating:
Summary: A bird book for the car......
Review: For years, I've used the Peterson field guides to identify birds. Most of my bird watching has taken place in the Eastern U.S. mountains and north and south of the coastal area where I live, as well as WI (summer) and LA (winter). The Petersen guide book for the Eastern region meets most of my needs, but I also own several other books (Smithsonian and Audubon). I became interested in the National Geographic book BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA because I admire the NG magazine. The NG is a heavier book than the Eastern Peterson, perhaps because it shows birds from both the Eastern and Western areas of the country, but the Peterson maps show the full range of "Eastern" birds--even if a range extends to the West. Both books show ranges that extend into Canada. The NG book is nifty because the little maps that appear in the back of the Petersen books are on the same page as the bird illustrations. The birds illustrated in both books are clustered by category. For example, Petersen shows male and female Downey, Hairy, Northern Three-toed, and Black-backed woodpeckers together, as does the NG. The Petersen guide has little arrows that point to distinguishing marks, but NG does not. I find these indicator arrows very helpful when I am trying to tell two closely marked birds apart. The NG does show a tiny row of variants across the bottom of the page (For example, the woodpecker page = fasciatus, dosalis, orius, etc.) The bird colors are less differentiated in the Peterson than the NG illustrations. For example, stripes on the Peterson Three-toed woodpecker's belly are less articulated than those shown on the NG bird. I don't think this matters as one seldom gets close enough to see the mottling. The Peterson birds are hand drawn and relatively flat, while the NG birds are more rounded, i.e. modeled. The Petersen birds look like the Audubon paintings. The NG illustrations remind me of digital photos of taxidermist stuffed birds (probably why the colors are so differentiated). Both books provide measurements and Latin names. The Peterson book provides text that describes birds that might prove confusing with your bird of interest. The NG book provides text that describes the attributes of regional variants. This latter feature won't help you in the field since you almost never see regional variants in the same location. If you are a serious bird watcher you will probably want both books and the Audubon and Smithsonian books as well. If you can only afford one book, I recommend the Peterson book. I have used my Peterson book for so long it just falls open when I hold it in one hand, so I am probably prejudiced.
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