Reddit reviews National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Sixth Edition (National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America)
We found 6 Reddit comments about National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Sixth Edition (National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Includes: New art figures Unique subspecies maps Extensive migration information overlaid on species maps Field-mark labels on all artwork Text updates to include new species Reorganization reflecting taxonomic changes in the bird community Organization, readability and increased page count with a fresh new designAuthors: Jon L. Dunn and Jonathan Alderfer
Personally, I like the National Geographic Guide to the Birds of North America for a guide that you can carry.
Sibley's is the definitive best guide, but is more of a desk reference. It's a bit big to carry around. Though, there is also a Sibley's app if you like to have the guide on your phone.
Sibley's is probably the most popular ID guide, and it's the one I use. A popular alternative is the National Geographic guide.
Here is a fairly comprehensive review of 100+ brands of binoculars across many price ranges. It is a few years old now, but I haven't come across any better guides since then.
There are more things that you can buy later, but those two things are enough to get started. The main thing I would recommend would be to find a local group (e.g. Audubon club or other naturalist/birdwatching group) to go on birdwatching trips with. She will learn far more from experienced birders than from a book, especially at the beginning.
The new Sibley guide is my favorite, hands-down.
Some also like the Nat Geo guide (6th edition) - great range maps, broken down by subspecies where relevant! - but the artwork is less consistently good, in my opinion.
Sibley's illustrations are clean, easy to navigate, intelligently laid out for maximum ease of comparison, and (frankly) beautiful. The second edition (=new) also has added life history information for many species.
I own both, but whenever prompted to recommend only one, it will always be Sibley. The first edition played a huge role in me getting into birding. :)
Happy birding!
^(edit: fixed grammatical error)
If both you and your girlfriend like watching birds in your area, i suggest buying a bird book to encourage your interests. It's a lifelong hobby that only gets more interesting as time passes. I'm sure others will have their own favorite, but my suggestion is:
National Geographic Birds of North America
Good luck!
This was the only book required for the course. The lab is all memorizing birds and their scientific names, ID-ing them from specimens, and field outings to view them. The actual lecture part is mostly anatomy so far. I think we'll get into behavior as well, but it's all pretty in depth.
For field guides the more generalized ones are usually easier to get a hold of. A few you could look at are from National Geographic, Peterson, and Sibley. There are also some books for getting started, such as Sibley's Birding Basics. Backyard Bird guides are also a good place to start.
For North Dakota specifically I found this great pdf that covers all the basics of bird watching, and this field guide. Hope this helps!