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National Geographic Complete Birds of North America
This desk reference is the most up-to-date and comprehensive source of knowledge on North American bird identification, distribution, behavior, habitat, and conservation concerns available today.
More an encyclopedia than a field guide, National Geographic's Complete Birds is a browsable treasure trove of facts. This comprehensive volume profiles every bird observable in the continental United States and Canada, featuring species accounts with details that include calls and songs, breeding behaviors, molting patterns, and the vast extent of their polar and neotropical migrations. The precision maps, illuminating photographs, and more than 4,000 exquisite pieces of annotated art make this the biggest and best bird book ever.
This third edition, thoroughly updated, includes:
Information on more than 1,000 species and subspecies
Overviews of every family
Organization reflecting current taxonomy
850 range maps, more than half updated since the last edition
Sidebars on identification challenges such as distinguishing between Bay-breasted and Blackpoll Warblers in fall or separating the various species of white egrets
These 752 pages add up to a lifetime of learning for all devoted birders, from those just beginning birders to those who have been building their life lists for decades.
Bird lovers will appreciate many other titles from National Geographic, including:
Field Guide to the Birds of North America
Backyard Guide to the Birds of North America
How to Know the Birds
Birds of the Photo Ark
More an encyclopedia than a field guide, National Geographic's Complete Birds is a browsable treasure trove of facts. This comprehensive volume profiles every bird observable in the continental United States and Canada, featuring species accounts with details that include calls and songs, breeding behaviors, molting patterns, and the vast extent of their polar and neotropical migrations. The precision maps, illuminating photographs, and more than 4,000 exquisite pieces of annotated art make this the biggest and best bird book ever.
This third edition, thoroughly updated, includes:
Information on more than 1,000 species and subspecies
Overviews of every family
Organization reflecting current taxonomy
850 range maps, more than half updated since the last edition
Sidebars on identification challenges such as distinguishing between Bay-breasted and Blackpoll Warblers in fall or separating the various species of white egrets
These 752 pages add up to a lifetime of learning for all devoted birders, from those just beginning birders to those who have been building their life lists for decades.
Bird lovers will appreciate many other titles from National Geographic, including:
Field Guide to the Birds of North America
Backyard Guide to the Birds of North America
How to Know the Birds
Birds of the Photo Ark
752 pages, Hardcover
First published November 15, 2005
About the author
Jonathan Alderfer
29 books24 followersJonathan K. Alderfer is an art consultant and a bird artist whose illustrations appear in National Geographic field guides. He began his career as a painter in the 1980s as an illustrator of articles for The Western Tanager, the Los Angeles Audubon Society's newsletter.
Jonathan is an avid, expert birder.
Jonathan is an avid, expert birder.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
November 12, 2021
National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, 3rd Edition: Featuring More Than 1,000 Species With the Most Detailed Information Found in a Single Volume edited by Jonathan Alderfer, Jon Dunn is a very highly recommended desk reference guide to every bird species found in the continental USA, Canada, and Greenland. Think of this guide as an encyclopedia of birds. The guide opens with the Table of Contents listing the page number of the birds by families. The introduction follows and provides an overview of the additional information provided in this updated guide by ornithologists and artists. This includes updated range maps. The contents follow the latest taxonomic sequencing and naming conventions adopted by the American Ornithological Society as of July 2018. The introduction also includes information on plumage variation, feather topography, and abundance terms and codes.
For anyone interested in ornithology, National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, 3rd Edition is a wonderful reference guide. As expected the artwork is impeccable and finely detailed. The entry for each bird family provides points of identification based on structure, behavior, plumage, distribution, taxonomy, and conservation. Then the individual genus and species are presented covering identification and plumage distinctions based on gender and age, feather topography, as well as the bird in flight. Similar species are presented, as are the voice calls and songs. There is a status and distribution map and a note on the population. Included at the back are two pages on birds found in Greenland and Bermuda that are not from Canada or the USA. Following that is the list of contributors with a brief biography of each, the credits for illustrations, art and photographs and a detailed index.
After receiving the guide, I immediately put it to work identifying a hawk who decided to eat a lunch of raccoon on a deck post at my house. (It was a Krinder's Red Tail Hawk, sometimes treated by some as a subspecies, kriderii.) The illustrations were perfect and helped me enormously. And yes, the voice was a husky scream, shee-eeee-arrr. Then I was off identifying another bird from a photo (Golden-Crowned Kinglet). The National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, 3rd Edition was an ease to use.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of National Geographic for TLC Book Tours.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/ on 11/15/21
For anyone interested in ornithology, National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, 3rd Edition is a wonderful reference guide. As expected the artwork is impeccable and finely detailed. The entry for each bird family provides points of identification based on structure, behavior, plumage, distribution, taxonomy, and conservation. Then the individual genus and species are presented covering identification and plumage distinctions based on gender and age, feather topography, as well as the bird in flight. Similar species are presented, as are the voice calls and songs. There is a status and distribution map and a note on the population. Included at the back are two pages on birds found in Greenland and Bermuda that are not from Canada or the USA. Following that is the list of contributors with a brief biography of each, the credits for illustrations, art and photographs and a detailed index.
After receiving the guide, I immediately put it to work identifying a hawk who decided to eat a lunch of raccoon on a deck post at my house. (It was a Krinder's Red Tail Hawk, sometimes treated by some as a subspecies, kriderii.) The illustrations were perfect and helped me enormously. And yes, the voice was a husky scream, shee-eeee-arrr. Then I was off identifying another bird from a photo (Golden-Crowned Kinglet). The National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, 3rd Edition was an ease to use.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of National Geographic for TLC Book Tours.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/ on 11/15/21
October 30, 2021
Ever since we moved into our house and had our own little piece of suburban outdoor space, we have become avid birders. This book is going to be a great reference in identifying the birds that visit our yard. I obviously didn’t read this behemoth cover to cover, but I did arm myself with sticky flags to bookmark birds I know we’ve already sighted. I glossed over many of the oceanic coastal birds and others that weren’t in my region, but I loved the section about hummingbirds. I developed an appreciation for a few new-to-me species and also took away some fun factoids. Owls are so cute with their binocular front-facing eyes. I didn’t realize how freaking fast peregrine falcons were. I was unaware that cowbirds lay their eggs in other species nests and shirk parental responsibility. And did you know orioles are actually a species of blackbirds? This book is packed with information and tons of beautiful illustrations, and I know I’ll refer to it for years to come.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via TLC Book Tours.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via TLC Book Tours.
November 11, 2021
The new Complete Birds of North America, in its third edition, is a gorgeous book for bird lovers’ reference. While its scientific descriptions and information make it less of a coffee table piece and more of a reference tome, its beautifully detailed illustrations and maps make it an accessible reference for any level of birder. The book is divided into sections by bird family, with a brief description of each grouping’s behavior, plumage, geographical habits, and details on any endangered species or conservation efforts.
I especially appreciate the concise introduction that reminds readers of the taxonomic organization of bird species and the language used in describing plumage — and “feather topography”! It makes the illustrations and species descriptions found later easier to understand. This book makes me want to sit on my porch with a pair of binoculars and watch my bird feeders!
Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for the review copy. This is my honest review.
I especially appreciate the concise introduction that reminds readers of the taxonomic organization of bird species and the language used in describing plumage — and “feather topography”! It makes the illustrations and species descriptions found later easier to understand. This book makes me want to sit on my porch with a pair of binoculars and watch my bird feeders!
Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for the review copy. This is my honest review.
October 28, 2021
While you can't quickly search up the weird bird eating everything out of your feeder, eventually you'll find it and you'll learn a whole bunch about that bird. I really am enjoying this and have been busy searching up birds I see in my neighborhood or looking up birds that I know are around where I live just to learn about them and see what they look like. Definitely a comprehensive book, this would make a pretty great gift for any birder or perhaps someone just starting out.
December 4, 2018
Seriously informative and well-done book on birds. It quickly became my in-home reference source (it is quite a brick of a book). Okay, here is my routine now that I am all about birds. Field spotting with notebook (and guide given I still have so much to learn). I take with me a foldable quick reference guide to birds (either Western Pa Audubon Society, What’s in your backyard, or Pa Birds), and the Cornell Labs field guide. I use both as needed in field. Then at home for every bird I see I read this Nat. Geo. book and the Crossley ID book, and the Cornell field guide. Between these books I get so much knowledge about each bird. It’s awesome.
And I’ll just read entire chapters on particular birds, finches, swallows, warblers.... there is a reason they are in the same family. It all helps when learning this bird stuff.
And I’ll just read entire chapters on particular birds, finches, swallows, warblers.... there is a reason they are in the same family. It all helps when learning this bird stuff.
November 17, 2021
Do you have any bird lovers in your family or are you a bird lover yourself? National Geographic has a new third edition of the Complete Birds of North America. It has more than 1,000 species of birds detailed in it.
I used to love watching for birds out of my Great Grandparents window. They had a dog-eared field guide they would check to determine what any unknown bird was. This book is a large hardcover book with beautiful glossy pages. It is not a field guide, but more an encyclopedia of everything you would like to know about birds. There is a great introduction of bird watching that shows a map of north America and the range for birds. It explains taxonomic organization, plumage variation, feather topography, and abundance terms and codes. Beautiful artwork of the birds is included and is mostly from the 2017 edition of the book.
The book is split up into families. The start of each family section gives information in general about the family. Then there are separate entries about each species. The entries have a map showing where the bird is found, a nice drawing of the bird, how to identify the bird, flight, similar species, voice call, status & distribution, migration, rare status, dispersal, and population.
I thought it was interesting that the last species included was the Pied Wheatear a stray from Eurasia that came to North America the summer of 2018. My daughter is obsessed with owls and is having a fun time looking through this book.
Overall, Complete Birds of North America is a great book for a bird lover or anyone who would like to know more about birds.
Book Source: Review Copy from Hachette Book Group for being a part of the TLC Book Tour. Thank-you. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
This review was first published on my blog at: https://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2021...
I used to love watching for birds out of my Great Grandparents window. They had a dog-eared field guide they would check to determine what any unknown bird was. This book is a large hardcover book with beautiful glossy pages. It is not a field guide, but more an encyclopedia of everything you would like to know about birds. There is a great introduction of bird watching that shows a map of north America and the range for birds. It explains taxonomic organization, plumage variation, feather topography, and abundance terms and codes. Beautiful artwork of the birds is included and is mostly from the 2017 edition of the book.
The book is split up into families. The start of each family section gives information in general about the family. Then there are separate entries about each species. The entries have a map showing where the bird is found, a nice drawing of the bird, how to identify the bird, flight, similar species, voice call, status & distribution, migration, rare status, dispersal, and population.
I thought it was interesting that the last species included was the Pied Wheatear a stray from Eurasia that came to North America the summer of 2018. My daughter is obsessed with owls and is having a fun time looking through this book.
Overall, Complete Birds of North America is a great book for a bird lover or anyone who would like to know more about birds.
Book Source: Review Copy from Hachette Book Group for being a part of the TLC Book Tour. Thank-you. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
This review was first published on my blog at: https://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2021...
November 4, 2021
National Geographic calls Complete Birds of North America ''an ideal companion" to their Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Edited by two leading experts on North American birds, this book is not a field guide, rather it is more of an encyclopedia.
This is a book for serious birders, filled with detailed scientific descriptions and classifications including Plumage, Behavior, Distribution (including maps), Taxonomy, Similiar Species and Conservation. The full-color illustrations of the birds, both at rest and in flight, are simply stunning. You'll see some incredible photos as well, and the one of the vulture is a little scary. (I have no desire to see that bird up close and in person, thank you.) The introduction to this comprehensive book explains all the terms inside and the manner of organization of the book.
Over 1000 species of birds are described in complete detail. You'll discover there are 33 variations of sparrows and 11 different wrens. I've spent much time in Southern Florida where pelicans are in abundance, and I found it fascinating to learn that they can spend up to 21 hours a day resting, and that they are gregarious birds. You can often them in groups of hundreds and even thousands.
If you have an orinthologist on your holiday gift list, buy them this book which will give them many hours of not only serious information but entertainment as well. It will look beautiful on the bookshelf as well.
Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on the tour.
This is a book for serious birders, filled with detailed scientific descriptions and classifications including Plumage, Behavior, Distribution (including maps), Taxonomy, Similiar Species and Conservation. The full-color illustrations of the birds, both at rest and in flight, are simply stunning. You'll see some incredible photos as well, and the one of the vulture is a little scary. (I have no desire to see that bird up close and in person, thank you.) The introduction to this comprehensive book explains all the terms inside and the manner of organization of the book.
Over 1000 species of birds are described in complete detail. You'll discover there are 33 variations of sparrows and 11 different wrens. I've spent much time in Southern Florida where pelicans are in abundance, and I found it fascinating to learn that they can spend up to 21 hours a day resting, and that they are gregarious birds. You can often them in groups of hundreds and even thousands.
If you have an orinthologist on your holiday gift list, buy them this book which will give them many hours of not only serious information but entertainment as well. It will look beautiful on the bookshelf as well.
Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on the tour.
July 19, 2022
This book is huge. It's an over 700 page hardback and to me it's more of a coffee table book than a birding book. The bird descriptions are all one after the other, so that a bird's information may stretch between different pages, forcing you to flip back and forth to read/view everything. Birds are separated by type, including incredibly rare (for North America) birds that have only appeared on this continent once. To me it would make for confusion for anyone wanting to use this as an identification guide. The pictures are also all drawings, and while they're pretty, I don't find that drawings are good for identification and these pictures are almost too pretty, as in I can identify the birds at a glance because I know what they look like in real life but I think I would struggle to do the reverse: identify anything I was unfamiliar with. If you would like a massive book to peruse for random bird facts, this is a good book. I have seen this book recommended for birding and it would not make my list except as a "this birder owns all the other more useful birding guides and would like something pretty to add to the shelf." This was a gift and I'll keep it, but I would not have bought it for myself and I don't know that I'll get a lot of use out of it, personally.
December 27, 2021
Beautiful book with so much information.
The pictures are very detailed and a joy to look at.
Definitely a must for anyone who loves our feathered friends.
The pictures are very detailed and a joy to look at.
Definitely a must for anyone who loves our feathered friends.
January 20, 2022
Beautiful book! Wonderful pictures and lots of information. We've enjoyed learning more about the birds who visit our feeders.
February 1, 2022
Enjoying sharing with my kids.
January 4, 2018
An extended version of National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, with all its pros and cons. The book is not a field guide, because it's big and heavy. But more space did not improve lack of information on habitat, behaviour, morphs, and such things as annual cycles, times of breeding/migration/moulting, descriptions of nests (their location, material and so on), and preferred food.
Still, it is the best guide to American birds I found so far. It contains recognisable pictures; distribution maps for all birds that are more than just unexpected visitors; fair descriptions; and some notes on voices. Unlike the vast majority of American field guides, it offers species according to taxonomy, not "color" or habitat.
Still, it is the best guide to American birds I found so far. It contains recognisable pictures; distribution maps for all birds that are more than just unexpected visitors; fair descriptions; and some notes on voices. Unlike the vast majority of American field guides, it offers species according to taxonomy, not "color" or habitat.
October 14, 2008
This is NG's answer to Sibley's guide and Sibley's Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. I like the NG's organization better. Sibley's goes by family, NG by individual bird. Too heavy to carry around but great for reference. It might not have as many different plumages as Sibley's, but it has beautiful and accurate illustrations, and its maps and other graphics beat Sibley's hands down. This is the reference book I reach for first.
March 15, 2012
For serious birders, this is a great resource! There are 962 species of birds recorded in North America; 4000 illustrations of them are found here. One of my favourite is the hummingbird bird. There is a dozen pages of information here to help identify various breeds of "hummers", the smallest of all birds.
May 2, 2019
Everything you need to know about North American birds in this beautiful and informative National Geographic publication. 700 fact filled pages with location maps, 150 photos and 4000 superbly drawn illustrations (all in color) featuring 960 individual bird species. Terrific book for bird watchers and nature lovers in general.
July 17, 2010
Entering into a life of more wilderness. Trying to identify what's around me.
I love browsing this but when trying to find a bird I've seen in my backyard it's a bit hard to locate since everything is organized into species and families.
I love browsing this but when trying to find a bird I've seen in my backyard it's a bit hard to locate since everything is organized into species and families.
March 28, 2013
Awesome!!!!!
March 21, 2015
Loved the field guide version of this book, so I bought this one as a more complete version to keep at home. A coffee table book full of useful information. I love it!
September 19, 2019
the most complete bird reference in my personal library.
March 8, 2018
Enjoy it as a reference routinely.
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October 12, 2013False
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews