| The Sibley Guide to Birds | By David Allen Sibley | Knopf Publishing Group | Edition 2 | 2016 | Paperback | 598 pages, plates with colour illustrations | colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9780307957900 | £44.99p |
Publisher’s View:
- A best seller for more than a dozen years, and now: the completely revised and updated second edition of the most comprehensive, widely acclaimed bird guide available.
- Among the revisions that have been made for this second edition:
All illustrations are approximately 15%-20% larger than they appeared in the first edition - Every image from the first edition has been re-digitized from the original art
- 600 new paintings: including illustrations of 85 rare species and additional aspects of the species included in the original edition
- Two-thirds (4356) of all original art has been revised, providing improved detail, and reflecting new physical and behavioural information
- Expanded text includes conservation status, habitat, and tips on finding species in the field
- More than 600 updated new maps
- Elegant overall new design
The Author:
David Allen Sibley began seriously watching and drawing birds in 1969, at age seven. Since 1980 he has travelled throughout the North American continent studying the natural world, both on his own and as a leader of bird-watching tours. This intensive travel and study culminated in the publication of his comprehensive guide to bird identification, The Sibley Guide to Birds, followed by The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behaviour, Sibley’s Birding Basics, The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, and The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts.
Other’s Views:
“[…] The Sibley guides are the current standard for North America. I would recommend that every birder in the US and Canada have a copy of the large Sibley for reference. It is also a good choice for those outside these countries that are interested in North American birds. […] This pretty much sums it up: “No book published in this century (and only one in the last) has been so catalytic a tool for bird identification. If you spend part of your life studying birds, you cannot be without the Sibley Guide.” (Pete Dunne in his Essential Field Guide Companion)”
– Grant McCreary (06-04-2007), read the full review at The Birder’s Library
“This wonderful book is comprehensive – erudite – in fact, magnificent, a powerful book that will start a new generation of bird books and birding. It provides triple the educational content over any predecessor. The treatments are innovative and superb.”
– Frank Gill, the Director of Science at National Audubon Society
Fatbirder View:
I think ‘Sibley’ is simply the best North American field guide ever published. I cannot comment on this second edition as I’ve not seen it, but all accounts say it is even better than the first and I’ve no reason to doubt that.