Price: $45.00 - $22.44
(as of Sep 19, 2024 08:26:12 UTC – Details)
“Undoubtedly the finest guide to North American birds.”—Guy McCaskie, Birding
The publication of The Sibley Guide to Birds, First Edition quickly established David Allen Sibley as the author and illustrator of the nation’s supreme and most comprehensive guide to birds. Used by millions of birders from novices to the most expert, The Sibley Guide became the standard by which natural history guides are measured. The highly anticipated second edition builds on this foundation of excellence, offering massively expanded and updated information, new paintings, new and rare species, and a new, elegant design.
The second edition of this handsome, flexibound volume offers a wealth of improvements and updates:
• All illustrations reproduced 15 to 20 percent larger for better detail.
• Includes nearly 7,000 paintings digitally remastered from original art for enhanced print quality.
• Expanded text includes habitat information and voice description for every species and more tips on finding birds in the field.
• More than 600 new paintings, including illustrations of 115 rare species and additional paintings of common species and regional populations.
• More than 700 updated maps of ranges, showing winter, summer, year-round, migration, and rare ranges.
• 85 bird family pages now cross-referenced to species accounts.
• Revised taxonomic order and most current common names for every species.
The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition, brings the genius of David Allen Sibley to the world once again in a thoroughly updated and expanded volume that every birder must own.
Publisher : Knopf; 2nd edition (March 11, 2014)
Language : English
Flexibound : 624 pages
ISBN-10 : 030795790X
ISBN-13 : 978-0307957900
Item Weight : 3 pounds
Dimensions : 6.4 x 1.45 x 9.8 inches
5
Reviewer: Jon F
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent once again, but improved throughout.
Review: Don’t let some initial lukewarm reviews stop you from getting this wonderful guide. It’s greatly expanded and improved in nearly every respect. It’s packed with much more information on ID, behavior and distribution. There are more illustrations per species and coverage of many more rare species has been added. The range maps are updated and improved.In a number of the plates the colors are noticeably darker and richer than those in the first edition. This is intentional and in almost all cases this is a welcome improvement (i.e. Accipiters, thrushes and male Redhead which were too bright/pale in the first edition). A very few species are a little too dark for my taste (such as Pink-footed Goose and White-faced and Glossy Ibis), however I don’t see any illustrations so dark that they lose needed detail.I’ve found the illustrations- with very few exceptions- are extremely accurate and lifelike, in typical Sibley style. In most cases the newer paintings blend seamlessly with the older and retouched artwork. Nits to pick? On a few birds the reds and oranges aren’t quite right. The male Scarlet Tanager is a deeper red than it should be and the Chipping Sparrow’s rust cap looks brownish, while the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak’s red breast is a shade too deep and dark. But to emphasize, this is the case in only a very few illustrations. Overall the new edition more accurately portrays its subjects than the first edition (which was already pretty darn good).There are perhaps a dozen paintings out of a total of over 900 species and 7000 illustrations that don’t perfectly represent a particular bird in question (and for the most part these appear to be relatively minor color corrections needed the scanning/printing process). That’s a tiny percentage of “errors” and I can’t see where any of these very minor issues affect the usefulness of the guide. Nor do they affect the identification of the species involved- with the possible exception of Chipping Sparrow. Most of the plates in this second edition are no darker (or barely so) than in the first edition.There are a few minor labeling errors which will be corrected in subsequent printings, but considering the scope of this book they are truly minimal and don’t warrant much in the way of complaints.Obviously no guide is perfect, but I really can’t find anything significant to fault in the new Sibley. On the other hand, I can find plenty to praise. The quality of the paintings and printing in many cases is noticeably improved over my first edition. In fact, after looking through the new guide and then going back to the old one, I found myself even more appreciative of the changes. The excellent first edition (which I am a big fan of by the way) now looks generally overly bright and washed out by comparison. It took me just a bit of time to adjust to the deeper/darker colors in the new edition, but I’m very pleased with almost all of them. In nearly every case they accurately depict the way birds look in the field.Another plus is the layout and general appearance of the new edition. It’s cleaner and more comtemporary. The amount of text is greatly expanded and very helpful. There is so much information packed into this edition. Tips on ID (and similar species ID pitfalls), range, vagrancy, behavior are many.I can definitely understand why some have a problem with the comparatively small narrow font (though for me- at 53- this is not an issue). On the other hand a large and darker font could detract from and take attention away from the images of the birds themselves. I find it to be just visible enough without distracting from the illustrations. Clearly however, this is a matter of personal preference.I find this second edition to be a second remarkable achievement by David Sibley. What you are getting is worth many times the asking price. An absolute must have for any active birder or anyone interested in North American birds. The new standard.UPDATE: I’ve heard of variations in printing resulting in wild variations in color reproduction. I’ve been able to look at three different copies of the guide (two in local bookstores and my original from amazon). The colors- in these three copies at least- were essentially identical, and all looked good to me.
Reviewer: Ryan W
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The second printing (July 2014) corrects color and print issues making this an excellent follow-up to the first edition.
Review: **UPDATE 2**I have purchased the second printing of this second edition and I am very happy with the corrections. The richer colors add new life to Sibley’s paintings, the text is clear and easy to read and the layout is much improved. Page space is better utilized in this edition, allowing Sibley’s beautiful illustrations to take center stage. The only caution I add is that, to my knowledge, there is no way to know what printing of the second edition you are purchasing when ordering through Amazon.com.**UPDATE**The second printing has been released and should be available at brick & mortar book stores as well as a number of online stores. Hopefully Amazon will make a distinction between the first and second printings so that its customers can order the correct one. In case there is no way of knowing which printing you are buying from Amazon, I offer the following 2 options:1) Go to a brick and mortar book store and physically purchase the guide. You will want to turn to the copyright page and look for “Second printing, July 2014”. If it says “Second Edition, March 2014” then you are holding the first printing with the off colors and light font.2) Go to an alternative online source such as Buteo Books, where the second printing is in stock, available for shipping and it is specified as the second printing. They even have the option to buy the first printing if one is so inclined.When I obtain the second printing, I will update this review. So far, I have heard good things: the font is readable and the colors are more representative of what one would see in the field. I’m looking forward to this second printing!**A very annoying feature of this guide is the font. Not the size necessarily, but where many of the bird illustrations are WAY too dark, the font is way too light and lacks contrast. I keep tilting the book to get a better angle as if the text is catching or reflecting light but it’s not. I have great eyesight, but I find the text a strain to read. Many of the birds are too dark and the colors are simply wrong. This shouldn’t be a matter of opinion. The book betrays itself with statements like “brilliant red” on the scarlet tanager when it’s obviously showing dark red; “flaming-orange throat” on the blackburnian when it’s dark orange; “bright orange-red bill (never as dark red as many Caspians)” on the royal tern, well it’s not bright and when you flip to the Caspian it’s almost the same color! The orange-crowned warbler is green, the hooded warbler has a highlighter-yellow face, the baltimore oriole’s orange is more like an american robin’s red and there are many more disappointments. Some of the bird’s faces are so dark that you can barely discern any detail. Sibley set the bar and his second edition does not measure up.Update: Thank you to R. Matz for providing a link to an article from birdforum.net in which Sibley has stated in a Facebook correspondence “There are a few images (like the male Scarlet Tanager) that are obviously not OK and will be corrected in the next printing, but I think that involves a very small number of images. The font is another issue, and it’s clear that too many are finding it hard to read. Tests are already being done to find a way to fix that in the next printing.”Improving the readability of the text will be a major improvement. Along with the male Scarlet Tanager, I hope Sibley will fix color issues with the following birds:- Eastern and Western Bluebirds (too dark)- Orange-crowned Warbler (too green)- Blackburnian Warbler (make the orange “flaming”)- Baltimore Oriole (brighten the orange)- Lighten some of the birds on which the facial features cannot be discernedI look forward to the next printing (which should be available this September)and the fixes it will offer. A “Thank you” to B. Walker for contacting Knopf to find out that a fix is in the works and that we should have a new print available to purchase by late Summer.
Reviewer: estefania
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Muy completo en cuanto a las especies de Norteamérica
Reviewer: Sygna Image
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Excellent book. Very detailed and accurate. Illustration of all birds is excellent. One of the best books I have ever owned.
Reviewer: Majano
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: He adquirido recientemente este libro y me parece una pasada. Muy completo, bien maquetado, con unas buenas ilustraciones (aunque no lleguen al nivel de otras guÃas como la Svensson, igualmente son buenas) y a un precio realmente asequible. Personalmente, no he tenido ningún problema con el color de la impresión de las ilustraciones.————————————-I’ve recently acquired this book and I think it’s wonderful. Very complete, well laid out, with good illustrations (although they don’t reach the level of other guides like Svensson, they are still good) and at a really affordable price. Personally, I have not had any problems with the color of the printing of the illustrations.
Reviewer: Mr. D. Brown
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The finest book on all birds of USA
Reviewer: Gérard
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: C’est incontestablement l’un des meilleurs guides pour cette région du monde même si sa taille ne le rend pas très pratique à emporter sur le terrain. L’Amérique du Nord est un grand continent et il y a de nombreux oiseaux à voir. Si les auteurs avaient voulu privilégier la légèreté de l’ouvrage, ils auraient dû sacrifier un certains nombre de pages, ceci ce faisant au détriment de l’aide à la détermination. J’avais déjà un vieil exemplaire du National Geographic, mais celui-ci est bien meilleur. Les dessins sont bons et les oiseaux sont représentés dans leurs différents plumages. Les cartes manquent forcément de précision étant donné la taille de l’Amérique du Nord mais elles sont d’une aide certaine. Je n’ai, en revanche, pas aimé la classification des espèces à cocher située à la fin de l’ouvrage. Elle respecte la taxonomie actuelle mais elle n’est pas très facile à utiliser à mon sens. J’aurais préféré la classique classification alphabétique.
