National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Fifth Edition - Softcover

Dunn, Jon L.; Alderfer, Jonathan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0792253140 ISBN 13: 9780792253143

Publisher: National Geographic, 2006

Synopsis

Birding is the fastest growing wildlife-related activity in the U.S., and even conservative estimates put the current number of U.S. birders at 50 million. According to the New York Times, some authorities predict that by 2050 there will be more than 100 million—and the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America will be the essential reference for field identification and the cornerstone of any birder's library. This is the ultimate, indispensable bird field guide—comprehensive, authoritative, portable, sturdy, and easier than ever to use.

Among the the new edition's key elements and practical improvements: Every North American species—more than 960, including a new section on accidental birds—classified according to the latest official American Ornithologists' Union checklist 4,000 full-color illustrations by the foremost bird artists at work todayand newly updated range maps that draw on the latest data New durable cover for added protection against adverse weather, plus informative quick-reference flaps that double as placemarkers New reader-friendly features like thumbtabs that make locating key sections faster and easier, and a quick-find index to direct users straight to the information they need.

About this title

About the Author:

Jon L. Dunn, a leading expert on the identification and distribution of North American birds, has served as chief consultant on all four previous editions of this book. He is also a consultant for the American Birding Association magazine, Birding, and the former chair of the ABA Checklist Committee, as well as a member of the California Bird Records Committee and the AOU Committee on Taxonomy and Nomenclature. He lives in Bishop, California.

Jonathan Alderfer, chief consultant for National Geographic's Birding Program, is a widely published author and field guide illustrator. One of the nation's foremost birding artists, he is well known for his expertise as a field ornithologist and an authority on North American birds. He was a general consultant, art consultant, and contributing artist for the NG Field Guide to the Birds of North America 3rd and 4th editions, and the lead editor of NG's Complete Birds of North America. A former Associate Editor of Birding, the ABA magazine, he also served on the Maryland/D.C. Bird Records Committee. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Review:

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 7th Edition rated number one on American Birding Association podcast, by book reviewer Donna Schulman.

"After testing nine bird guides by taking them out in the field, comparing their contents and usability, and interviewing experts about their pros and cons, we choose the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America as the best field guide for most people. Equal parts detailed and accessible, it will appeal to experts and novices alike...beautifully illustrated and impressively thorough, yet still compact enough for you to hold it comfortably in your hands or tuck it into a bag. Its comprehensiveness—including more than 1,000 species of birds—will appeal to more hardcore birders. But its special features, such as thumb tabs and a fold-out visual index, make it accessible for beginners, too." —Wirecutter 

“What’s not to love about a fully updated, thicker Nat Geo guide?” –BirdWatching

"Bins, camera, Nat Geo—the three essential elements for a mega-rarity twitch. No other field guide to North American birds does rarities so comprehensively and so well...The publication of National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 7th Edition is one of the top bird book events of 2017." —10,000birds.com

“This latest edition of an eminent classic is so good that soon enough it won’t be read at all: it will be quoted, referred to, even recited by birders, young and old, who have committed its wisdom to heart and put its information to use every day in the field.” –Birdaz.com

“If you want to become a better birder, get this guide and use it often. The text is thorough and accurate, the plates are a gratifying combination of painterly and precise, and the layout is a tour de force.”  —Ted Floyd, editor of Birding magazine
 
“National Geographic has packed so much—new species, new art, revised maps, subspecies details, updated taxonomy and the latest ID tips—into this newest edition of their classic field guide that I suspect it may simply explode.”  —Scott Weidensaul, author of Living on the Wind

"Updated, upgraded, and indispensible. The illustrations are better than in any other field guide; the fully revised text is detailed, accurate, and well organized; and the maps are unmatched. This is the guide for birders and field ornithologiests." —Dr. J. V. Remsen, Jr., Museum of Natural Sciences, Louisiana State University 

"A stellar update of this standard-setting field guide. The new edition offers innovative features for all skill and interest levels, from those seeking a basic ID to those who want their field guide to deliver the goods on behavior, taxonomy, and distribution."  —Dr. Terry Chesser, Chair, AOS Committee on Classification and Nomenclature (North and Middle America)
 
"New birds, new knowledge and new art work just made the most essential guide for North American birders even more essential....You only need to buy one field guide for North America, and the National Geographic is it." —Neil Hayward, author of Lost Among the Birds "[This edition] continues to improve on the already outstanding previous editions.  The addition of many new illustrations as well as updated text and range maps make this book the standard for North American field guides." —Mark W. Lockwood, author of The TOS Handbook of Texas Birds

About this edition

• Publisher: National Geographic
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0792253140
• ISBN 13: 9780792253143
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 504