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| Birds of California Field Guide (Our Nature Field Guides) | 
| Author: Stan Tekiela
Publisher: Adventure Publications
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $3.79
You Save: $13.16 (78%)
New (20) from $3.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 408874
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 430
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 6 x 4.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 1591930316
Dewey Decimal Number: 598.09794
EAN: 9781591930310
ASIN: 1591930316
Publication Date: August 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: THIS BOOK IS NEW AND IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. SAME DAY SHIPPING WEEKDAYS BEFORE 3:00PM EST
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Product Description
Learn about and identify birds using Stan Tekiela's state-by-state field guides. The full-page, color photos are incomparable and include insets of winter plumage, color morphs and more. Plus, with the easy-to-use format, you don't need to know a bird's name or classification in order to easily find it in the book. Using this field guide is a real pleasure. It's a great way for anyone to learn about the birds in your state.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 What's a good bird book to buy? August 5, 2008
I hate to throw cold water on a bird identification or field guide as they are usually called. I know there are several reviewers who have given this book high ratings,but that aside, it is really not a very good field guide.
There are many choices on the shelves in the bookstores when one goes looking for a "bird Book" to buy for themselves or a friend.Generally,the staff is not knowledgeable or of any help. So what to do? First,talk to someone who has experience in birdwatching,or if you are unable to find anyone;check out the reviews on several field guides.They are usually written by people who are knowledgeable and their only interest is to help you make a choice you will be happy with.
Two of the most popular,and endorsed highly by all birdwatchers are;
The National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. I wrote a review on this one on November 9,2006.
and,
Birds of North America by Kenn Kaufmann. I reviewed this one on November 17,2003.
Along with my reviews,you will find others whose reviews are also very good,and informative in helping you to find the weak and strong points on bird field guides.
A few points must be made about this "Birds of California,that will show you that it simply doesn't measure up with the better and more popular ones. Particularly the "National Geographic",which is owned by most birders and usually their favorite.And by the way,good or poor,there is very little difference in the cost of the various guides.
Back to "Birds of California"
--It is pointless in buying a guide of only area.
--This guide doesn't even come close to including all the birds
found in the state. I don't now the exact number off hand;but it
would be somewhere between 300 and 400 as a guess,much more than the
170 included in this book. Four of us spent two weeks birding around
San Fransisco ,out on ocean (Pelagic Trips),and east into and around
Yosemite;and found 197 species.Simply put, this book would have been
useless .We used the same book we use birding in
Ontario,Canada,Arizona,New Mexico,North Carolina,Florida,or anywhere
else in North America--Namely;the" National Geographic".
--This book presents the birds by color.While some make a case for
this,it has never been a popular concept,and quite frankly,I've
never come across anyone who would want a guide organized this way.
--This book often shows only one plumage.That being the breeding male
plumage.Any useful book gives a minimum of male,female,and breeding
and non-breeding plumages.This is very important as they are
usually all very different.For instance;compare the way Northern
Harrier is covered on pages 219 and 311,this is just never done this
way in most books.
--This book uses photographs exclusively. There are cases made for both
photographs and illustrations.However;illustrations have been
preferred by nearly all birders because they do a far better job of
pointing out the subtle indentifying points.Kauffmann,has been the
most successful with photographs but he uses extensive computer
enhancing techniques. The photographs in this book are very good;but
much more suitable for Calendar bird portraits than Field Guide
Identification shots.
--There are many localized Field Guides;virtually every State has
them.We have them in Ontario,but Birdwatchers simply pass them up.
If you get this Field Guide,you will soon lose your enthusiasm for it when you encounter others and see what they are using.So,why not get the right one the first time---my suggestion is "The National Geographic";you'll never regret it!!
 Quick and Easy Reference Book April 2, 2008
I am merely a casual bird observer with my young boys, but compared to other bird identification books I've owned and looked at, this is by far the most user-friendly for those of any age with no 'birding' backround. The ability to look for the birds by color is just the easiest way to look them up. The ability to view a photo of every bird, both male and female, makes this book outstanding! It also shows where on a California map they can be found during various seasons of the year, nesting, egg identification info., food sources and misc. info. on each birds' habits make it an excellent resource and my kids LOVE using it too. It is also small enough (4"x6") to fit in a jacket pocket when hiking. I think every parent of young children should own at least one.
Very easy to use April 2, 2008
This is book is great for beginning birders. I can recognize obvious differences in bird species (dove versus duck, for example), but I can't always tell the difference between similar species (i.e. sparrow versus finch). So the fact that this book is organized by color rather than type is really useful. Using this book, my family has been able to identify all but one bird that has come to our backyard feeder.
Birding books October 19, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I love Stan Tekiela's books because as a beginner-birder, I find that the color coding is very helpful in identifying birds. His "Stan's notes" section under each bird is also quite informative - something I've not found in most bird books. It's small - fits in most pockets - for easy reference in the field and the pictures are great.
Good field guide, could use better organization November 5, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book is small enough for field work, yet contains a great deal of information. The full-color photographs have insets which show juvenile, seasonal, or sexually dimorphic plumage where appropriate, as well as showing some birds in action shots: a hawk soaring, a willet showing his colors, etc. The species information is concise, readable, and relevant, with color-coded range maps and bulleted information on size, weight, color, food, eggs/incubation/fledging, similar species, and migration information for hundreds of different species, all in a standard one-page per species format. The "Stan's Notes" contain interesting specifics are not included in the bullet points.
My only problem with this book is the organization of the species by color. If the reader sees a very small black and brown bird, for example, they will potentially have to thumb through dozens of black birds and then brown birds, some of them very large, or water birds, or birds of prey, or from a different part of the state. I'd rather not spend my time in the field poring through pages of ducks, owls, doves, and eagles trying to figure out what species of thrush i'm looking at. Also, if a species has enough sexual or seasonal dimorphism in the color of their plumage, it may fall into two or more different color categories. While this field guide does cross-reference these by page number, that makes for even more page turning.
This is a very good field guide, but a more granular organization, perhaps by general bird type (songbird, bird or prey, etc.) within geographical area (NorCal, desert, Sierra, etc.) would have made the look-up process more concise. As it is, plan on taking plenty of Post-it bookmarks along with this book.
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