Bird Ident. field guides

I am looking for good field guides for birds of the North and South American continents. All suggestions please.

Hari

Can't speak for South America but the new Sibley guides (east & West) for North America are great.

I really like the Peterson's field guides.

Alfred

You could have a look at the National Geographic Society's "Field Guide to the Birds of North America". I bought the first edition many years ago, it's now in the fifth edition (I need to buy a new one ). The guide is very good, and highly recommended by many Birders, it usually rates first or amonst the top 3 in most reviews of books for birds.

I've been birding since I was 10 years old, leading bird tours for a decade and I swear by the National Geographic Guide to North American Birds. Best all around field guide there is covering all of North America. Sibley's new guides are great, but do not cover all of N Am in one book. The larger (first) version of Sibley is excellent, but too big to carry in the field. Peterson's do not cover all of N Am in one guide, there's an eastern and a western version.

Ethan is right the Petersons field guides split the North American continent in two but in my opinion this is a ver good thing. Primarily because it makes the field guide small and easy to put in a back pocket or even a shirt pocket. Try that with either the Sibley (even his smaller split versions) or the NG guide.

I also find the Petersons identification system the best (it is so good in fact that the US military used it to help in plane indentification) plus I find his written descriptions the best of all the guides.

I do quite a few bird ID guides including all of the sibley guides and the NG guides, and I can tell you that not one of them is perfect. But for identification I personally find petersons the best.

-J

The Peterson Guide also gives you the bird’s range. I find that helpful and usually use it as my first choice.

Alfred

For North America - if you get just one book, the definitive guide is Sibley's Guide to Birds. I have tried and used almost all of them at this point and nothing else comes close in my opinion. Accept no substitute

Hari,
IMO, the Sibley's and the National Geographic are the best.
Bill