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Sibley's Birding Basics | 
 enlarge | Author: David Allen Sibley
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 58163
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 168
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.1 x 0.7
Dewey Decimal Number: 598.07234
ASIN: B001E96HBM
Publication Date: October 1, 2002
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
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Product Description
“I wrote and illustrated this book to help every inquisitive birder, from novice to expert. Whether you can identify six birds or six hundred, you’ll be a better birder if you have a grounding in the real nuts and bolts of what birds look like, and your skills will be even sharper if you know exactly what to look for and how to record what you see.” —David Allen Sibley
The Sibley Guide to Birds and The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior are both universally acclaimed as the new standard source of species information. And now David Sibley, America’s premier birder and best-known bird artist, takes a new direction; in Sibley’s Birding Basics he is concerned not so much with species as with the general characteristics that influence the appearance of all birds and thus give us the clues to their identity.
To create this guide, David Sibley thought through all the skills that enable him to identify a bird in the few instants it is visible to him. Now he shares that information, integrating an explanation of the identification process with many painted and drawn images of details (such as a feather) or concepts.
Birding Basics begins by reviewing how one can get started as a birder: the equipment necessary, where and when to go birding, and perhaps most important, the essential things to look for when birds appear in the field. Using many illustrations, David Sibley reviews all the basic concepts of bird identification and then describes the variations (of shape, size, and color) that can change the appearance of a bird over time or in different settings. And he issues a warning about “illusions and other pitfalls”—and advice on avoiding them.
The second part of the book, also plentifully illustrated, deals with another set of clues, the major aspects of avian life that differ from species to species: feathers (color, arrangement, shape, molt), behavior and habitat, and sounds.
This scientifically precise, beautifully illustrated volume distills the essence of David Sibley’s own experience and skills, providing a solid introduction to “naming” the birds. With Sibley as your guide, when you learn how to interpret what the feathers, the anatomical structure, the sounds of a bird tell you—when you know the clues that show you why there’s no such thing as “just a duck”—birding will be more fun, and more meaningful. An essential addition to the Sibley shelf!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
Very Helpful November 16, 2008
I'm new to birding and this handy introduction is a big help. For instance, learning that the beak is indicative of so much about a bird is a most helpful clue. And there is more. Of course Sibley is the expert. Do you know what "pishing" is. You'll learn about it here.
 Beginners MUST HAVE Book October 21, 2008
This is an excellent book for beginner bird watchers. It teaches you how to avoid common mistakes in properly identifying a bird. It also explains the different terms for bird body parts and feathers. It's a short and easy to read book. I ordered Sibley's other book after reading this because there was still a lot I wanted to learn that wasn't covered in this book. The illustrations are incredibly good!
I bought this book on sale at Strand's in NY.
** I went out birdwatching after reading the book and realized that it's actually a GREAT book with very useful and practical information. I want to increase my rating to 5-stars, but can't figure out how.
Fantastic book May 15, 2008
This is a great augment to any birder's library on the basics of bird identification in the field. David Sibley is a awesome writer and can bring his knowledge down to an understandable level.
Easy to use... which is good for me. December 20, 2006
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
I'm a novice birder, to say the least. I like Sibley's guides because they are straight forward and easy to navigate. The drawings are all done by Sibley himself, not a team of various artists... believe me, it matters. Birds are shown from various angles, by sex, and at various stages of life. I think any Sibley guide would make a lovely (different) house warming gift along with, perhaps, a bird feeder.
Happy birding!
There's more to birding than found in the standard Field Guide October 30, 2005
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
Almost every field guide gives a an introduction to the skills that need to be learned if one wants to develop any proficiency in finding and identifying birds in the field.In this book David takes it a whole lot further and has produced a book that covers all the skills needed and would be a great asset to any birder,be they a novice or a long time seasoned birder.It is not a book to replace the normal field guide but instead is a super addition to hone the skills of any birder,regardless of their skills.I won't try to cover what is in this book as other reviewers have done a fair job of it already.
What this book does is to explain why a bird was found where it was,why it was not something else,why is it such and such when it only remotely resembles the picture in the field guide,how could you tell,it's too dark to see the colors,and on and on.
You will also learn the many subtle differences and field marks to look for ,especially if you want to try to describe a bird to someone else,write it up in your journal or even to help if you listen to and hope to understand some more experienced birder describing a bird you may even be looking at.
One way to show what this book is all about might be to compare it to Baseball or Bridge.The standard books tell you all the rules and finer points of the game;this book tells you how to play the game.
Don't let the fact that this book has only 154 pages and not very expensive fool you.It is very unique and would
be welcomed by any birder who doesn't already have it.
I must say,however,that this is not the type of 'bird book' to buy if you just want to buy one book.It is definately the book to buy to go along with any other Field Guide that covers all the birds in an area;such as National Geographic's Birds of North America,Peterson's Field Guides,American Bird Conservancy's field guide to All the Birds of North America,Kaufman's Birds of North America,Sibley's Guides or any of the other excellent guides available.
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