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The idea of gifts given or received is now in the minds of readers. Consequently, it’s an opportunity for me to answer the second kind of bird question I am most frequently asked. The first quite naturally concerns bid identification or behavior.
“What’s the best bird book?” That, I hear or read frequently. I can only answer from my own experience. A Field Guide to the Birds (Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston) by Roger Tory Peterson is always my book of choice. This book’s subtitle, A Guide to all the Birds of Eastern and Central North America, explains my preference and gives a clue to why I urge it on first time bird book buyers.
Other guides designed for identification include any bird likely to be encountered in the United States. With the Peterson Eastern Guide (he also has a Western Guide) the process of elimination has already been done. One does not have to look at pictures of and read about Bullock’s Orioles, Bronzed Cowbirds, Painted Redstarts, Golden-crowned Sparrows and Vermilion Flycatchers in order to identify a bird seen in a Virginia backyard. Those are western birds and would not occur in Virginia.
When I want to identify a new species, I look at several possibilities. Next I narrow the field by reading about the range (Peterson has excellent range maps), the behavior and habitat preference. Peterson’s Eastern Guide has done much of the elimination for me.
Before I get involved in the book’s other distinct advantages, I should say that this was my first field guide. The first edition came out at about the time I was in my mid-teens and discovered the world of birds. This guide noursiched me. Is it any wonder that I am loyal and prefer it to all the
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