Top products from r/Ornithology

I just realized no one has asked you where you live! All these answers are pretty much North America centric as I am assuming that is where you live.

Everyone has mentioned Sibley (who is pretty much my idol) but there a couple other books that might be interesting to you as well. I would definitely recommend his field guide over his full guide for you.

• The Birder's Handbook is an interesting browse-y sort of read; it has both essays and species info in it. There are so many interesting tidbits to pick up in there.
  
  
• Hope is the Thing with Feathers by Christopher Cokonis is a very interesting and sad read about recently extinct bird species of North America. It is somewhat painful to read--as a birder--because you will never be able to see any of those species in the field but it is a wonderful look at how we both see and have seen birds.
  
  
• Nat Geo's Birding Essentials is a good place to sort of "learn the language" of birding. I don't like their field guides as much as I like Sibley's but this book is quite good at covering a range of birding subjects for the beginner.
  
  Another good idea would be getting a hold of regional field guide or an American Bird Association (ABA) list for your area. It would help you to narrow down the species you are likely to be looking at. Using a field guide full of incidentals/rare/crosses/sub-species can be confusing for a new birder so a smaller list can help you pinpoint which species you should be flipping through your book to look at. You can often find these lists at state and county parks. Your state/local DNR site is a great place to find birding resources in your area!
  
  My favorite bird is the Ovenbird! They are fat and stripey and seriously loud for being sort of cagey undergrowth dwellers. I often log them on my bird lists without ever seeing one because their loud calls are unmistakable (and often unending). They aren't impressive or majestic but they are pretty cute with their stripey orange mohawks.
  

I'd recommend picking up a good field guide and just having fun trying to identify the birds you see around your area. The variety presented in a field guide will seem daunting at first, but it'll quickly become easier as you familiarize yourself with the common families and learn to narrow down the possibilities by range, habitat, behavior, etc. The two major fields guides are by Pizzey & Knight and Simpson & Day. The Pizzey & Knight served me well a few years ago when I was down under. As for a general interest guide, I can only recommend this one, but it's North America-centric. I don't know if there's a good counterpart for Australasia. An excellent way to learn more is to join field trips organized by your local bird club. Plenty of birders would be happy to show you the ropes. If you want to get serious about the hobby, you'd also want to get yourself a good pair of binoculars. Australia's a really fun place to go birdwatching because of its unique and exotic bird life. You're gonna have lots of fun, so get out there and look at some birds!

I think the best way to learn about birds is to actually watch them, so I'd recommend finding your nearest nature sanctuary to see if they have birdwatching walks/classes. If you're in North America, the Audubon Society is a great organization that runs bird sanctuaries and teaches people about birds. There are similar organizations in other regions - you'll just need to do a little online searching. There are also loads of books to help you get started, like this one.

You can also learn a lot about birds online. Cornell University provides online ornithology courses, but they also provide tons of free info about North American birds and their nests, global bird sightings, and more.

I started learning about birds by reading books, and there are plenty of great options. Visit your local library to see what they have. Books cover everything from identification to intelligence to falconry.

What kinds of birds are you particularly interested in? Is there any aspect of birds that you find most fascinating, like anatomy, flight, song, color...?

Well, one of the classics is The Herring Gull's World by Niko Tinbergen.

I've heard good things of Gifts of the Crow but never read it.

Migrating Raptors of the World is a fantastic book that everyone should read, and I am totally not biased by knowing the author. It's a little more ornithological than the other two, which are intended for the intelligent general public. It's an excellent synthesis of all the relevant research, and both easy to read and written at a fairly high level.

Bildstein has a decent book that can be dry at times, but packed with good information.

Another decent one is by Scott Weidensaul here that rumor has it may be updated soon.

Eagle watchers is a good one that is a little more focused towards the people investigating the raptors, but still lots of good info.

Buteo books has a ton of species-specific books that talk about species like Golden Eagles, Merlins, etc.

I highly, highly recommend David Sibley's Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. It gives you a tremendous range of information about what are essentially ornithological subfields (evolution, migration, nesting, etc.), but written in a bright and accessible way. Plus with lots of Sibley's lovely illustration!

I might add that although it uses (mostly) North American birds as examples, the general information and insights will be true for all birders everywhere.

If you are looking for amusing/entertaining birding books, I would recommend Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches? and Good Birders Don't Wear White: 50 Tips from America's Top Birders.

This isn't quite what you're looking for, but Bird Tales from Around the World is nice if you have kids (or just love bird folktales).

Allaboutbirds.org is good for taxonomy.

I don't know of any books besides (expensive) textbooks that would be inclusive. My suggestion would be to see what recent ornithology books your library has. I think if the book is fairly recent and understandable to you, then it would good.
If someone else has a better book suggestion, you could always do the interlibrary loan thing.

If you do want a textbook, I've seen this one used a fair amount.

If you're at all interested in the anatomy and structure of birds, the Manual of Ornithology is something I would definitely recommend.

I agree with everyone else, Sibley is one of the best out there today.

If your in Scotland then the Collin's bird guide is your best bet in terms of an ID tool. The Sibley's one mentioned is more for north America, Whereas the Collin's guide covers Europe and Britain, as well as some of the vagrants that show up from time to time.

I think that this workbook is very good: Finding Your Wings. It helps beginning birders recognize bird taxonomy as the basis of more specific bird identification.

I think I have an older Sibley's, but certainly would never hurt to pick up a newer edition.

And do you suggest any other books I should collect? I was eying this one, but I'm going to see if I can find something at my local book store.

The Birder's Handbook is a great ornithology primer.

I like the Princeton Guide (L. Svensson + others). I'll admit, it's the only guide I've used in Europe, but it's worked well for me.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691143927/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_aYe7AbW5XFWCK

Check your library for Gill's Ornithology. It's pretty much the gold standard on the topic.

Gill's 3rd edition is what I used for ornithology subjects and it is great, very broad.

There's an out of print book called Population limitation in birds by Ian Newton which has loads of info from research up until the early 90s on mating systems, predator-prey relationships etc.

Sounds like you may want to check out the Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior.

I have used Ornithology by Frank B. Gill.

It looks like this: https://www.amazon.com/Ornithology-Frank-B-Gill/dp/0716749831

I don't know about the monarchs, but someone here will be able to clue you in.

Looking further, I find that the Vortex Diamondbacks are really highly regarded. They are on Amazon right now for $166

http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/2016_affordable_8x42/review.html

Vortex Optics New 2016 Diamondback 10x42 Roof Prism Binoculars https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0192GJLMU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_YqvCybKA6BN1H

The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior is a good starting place. It's not as technical as the more academic textbooks, but is much more detailed than some of the other recommendations.

https://www.amazon.com/Nests-Nestlings-North-American-Birds/dp/0691122954/ref=pd_sim_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0691122954&pd_rd_r=1BRNVTKG3GQWQ8VPNSXS&pd_rd_w=Ep8GE&pd_rd_wg=EH2sp&psc=1&refRID=1BRNVTKG3GQWQ8VPNSXS

Still available, on CD: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0618225943

And the other side of North America: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0395975190

iOS app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peterson-backyard-birds-field/id431948401?mt=8

Peterson's Guide is a book; probably in local libraries and still in print. https://www.amazon.com/Peterson-Field-America-Guides-Hardcover/dp/0618966145