An excellent, fact filled guide. The illustrations are fantastic! A great gift for any bird lover to keep on the back porch or at the cabin.

This is such a great guide for not only families but also individuals who love birds. We've learned a lot since reading this and picked up our own copy. Would recommend for homeschooling too.

This was a brilliant read. It was back so full of colours ever pages had beautiful pictures or colours on it. I loved the layout of the book everything was well labelled making it easy to use. Every bird was well described with size habitat etc. I liked learning about the different area of the birds as many you just don't think to look at or pay any attention to. I thought it was great that at the back of the book to note down your garden birds each page held a useful tip to remember when observing your birds. To be honest I don't think anything was missing out everything seen to be covered and so well explained without being heavy on the writing. I might not live in America but I certainly loved reading it and learning about to different birds to mine. but I was happy to see we share some birds. I definitely recommend this book if you want to learn or keep track of the birds you see in your area. It's such an interesting reference book.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating such a fantastic and beautiful guide. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this amazing author. 

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/a-field-guide-to-backyard-birds-of-north-america-by-rob-hume-quarto-publishers-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

Very interesting and thorough book for beginning birdwatching, covering everything from how to attract birds to your yard to wing and body structure to bird behavior. Although this includes drawings of some common backyard birds, there aren't a ton and they are from across all of North America, so don't count on finding a whole bunch for your area in here: use this guide more as a primer on HOW to birdwatch, and then get a more specific regional field guide for identification.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Great bird guide with the information needed to identify backyard birds of North America. Not too much information that it becomes overwhelming, though. Love the logbook in the back.

For anyone who wants to begin watching the birds in their yard, this is a great reference. The book begins with a quick tutorial on birds--the various components of their bodies (beaks, feet, feathers, etc.), their colors, eating and mating habits. The next section focuses on birdwatching--things to look for, how to make notes, binoculars, and more. Then, there is a catalog of 50 common backyard birds. It's by no means intended to be a comprehensive description of birds, but rather a quick reference for the beginner. Each entry has a color drawing of the bird, and information about their size, habitat, locations (summer and winter) and type of food. I especially liked that the key to the symbols used is shown on every set of pages, rather than just at beginning of the section. The final section of the book is a logbook where the bird watcher can keep track of their observations.

The key to the value of this book is that it is intended for the true novice. If you are a beginner at learning/watching birds, this would be a good starter book. The log pages would be useful even after you've learned the basic birds in the book. However, for anyone with some knowledge of birds, the book would be too elementary. For example, only one species of hummingbird and one species of owl are included. With only 50 common birds in this , you would be better off with a more complete guide to birds in your region.

A Field Guide to Backyard Birds of North America
by Rob Hume
Pub Date: June 28, 2022
Chartwell
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. This is an essential guide/companion to bird watching in North America.
My husband and I have enjoyed bird watching and this book is great! The basics of bird-watching, including when, where, and what to look for, as well as how to take accurate notes and make sketches.
A fascinating introduction to the amazing world of birds, including facts on their anatomy, feathers, calls and postures, courtship, and nests.
A unique logbook, filled with tips to get the most out of bird-watching, so you can chart your own findings and observations over 2 years.
More than 50 of the most commonly seen birds in the United States are in one comprehensive species catalog.
How to turn your own backyard into a safe and hospitable bird reserve. Love this book.
4 stars

Genius! I enjoyed this book so much! I got a copy for my father-in-law, as he is always taking photos of birds and sometimes not sure what the names are, and learning extra stuff about them.

Good field guide. Pictures are great.. I tried it in my backyard. was easy to identify birds that I might not usually know

This is a gorgeous book and especially appropriate to the new bird lover. I plan to give it as a gift to my husband. The layout makes it easy to read and the illustrations are beautiful.

A Field Guide to Backyard Birds of North America is a well illustrated field guide for a wide range of wild birds in North America written by Rob Hume. Due out 28th June 2022 from Quarto on their Chartwell imprint, it's 208 pages and will be available in flexibound format.

Roughly 1/3 of the book is introductory ornithological info about general bird biology and behavior. The information is layman accessible and easy to understand as well as factually accurate. The next chapter includes a collection of specific profiles for common birds which readers would be likely to see in their own backyards. The listing of birds includes 52 entries for birds which readers might expect to find in much of North America, including urban areas, parks, and suburban environments and parklands. There are no photos, but the drawn color illustrations are clear and distinct and easily recognizable.

Half the page content is identical pages provided in a log format for readers to make entries and keep track of sightings. Each of the two page spreads includes a small highlighted text box with bird tracking tips and advice for maximizing enjoyment and understanding.

The book also includes a basic glossary, and index, but no bibliography or links for further reading.

Three and a half stars. It could be a good resource for beginning bird watchers, family activity, or possibly for scouting/activity groups, school library and the like.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This is a logbook for bird watchers that show you the pictures of the birds you commonly and some that are not so common to your backyard along with their names. This book also teaches you what to do to make your backyard a safe haven for the birds. A good read.

Hitting the perfect blend of happy and informative, this book really worked for me. I was utterly charmed by the illustrations and I found the shared information about binoculars, and bird baths to keeping a birding journal and drawing birds you meet in your yard, or wherever.

After moving to the rural countryside after the constant noise, lights, and busy-ness of Las Vegas, I’ve found watching the birds and wildlife that are consistently in our yard (we have a chipmunk that lives under our stairs, a family of bunnies each year, mama deer and baby deer, and occasionally wild turkeys talk a walk through) to be some of the happiest moments of my days. I love the tracking tips in the journal and I found this book / journal to be just perfect for me, and I would imagine, many others.

* As a long time homeschooler, this is a book I absolutely will buy for my homeschool bookshelf.

Definite recommendation.


eARC kindly provided by Chartwell Books - Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.

Introductory Backyard Birding

I would not call this a comprehensive guide to birds of North America, but it is an excellent place to start.

The first 1/3 of the book elaborates on foundational knowledge: types of wings, feet, beaks, plumage, etc. As well as insight into turning your yard into the best bird habitat it can be.
The middle is devoted to a select number of common birds, and the last sizeable chunk is your field log.

All-in-all, this book really caters to anyone who wants to create a safe space for their local feathered friends offering exceptional insight into tips, tricks, and pitfalls to avoid. Backyard bird watching has never been simpler!

I was, however, expecting more information/variety in the number of birds featured. If anything, this guide would make an excellent start-up and log but you would want to keep additional resources on hand for identifying and cross-referencing your bird species. Perhaps something more local to your region.

I will certainly be taking many of the actionable steps included here and using them to improve my urban aviary.

[Thank you to NetGalley and Chartwell Books for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.]

This book is a fantastic resource! The beautiful and informative pictures throughout are detailed and precise and certainly help make identifying birds easier. The bird catalogue of various specious is especially helpful with fantastic illustrations and a logbook is included at the end as well.

What a wonderful book! I’m I live in the U.K. but this book was still really interesting. It discussed anatomy, different features, how to attract birds to your garden, how to start bird spotting as well as detailed descriptions and drawings of the birds themselves. I also loved the log book at the back which would be perfect to check and log birds you’ve seen! Would make a lovely gift for any bird spotter!

What a fantastic bird book for bird lovers! I absolutely love this book. The details of all the different types of beautiful birds. Better yet, birds you can find in your own back yard! Wonderful information and beautiful pictures that go into great detail of all types of birds. Highly recommend!

A Field Guide to Backyard Birds of North America is an awesome book filled with lots of information about birds, how their bills and wings work, as well as a quick visual identifying guide. It is very thorough and features Audobon-like illustrations. This is basically a very helpful resource/encyclopedia on birds! A must have for any classroom.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of A Field Guide to Backyard Birds of North America by Rob Hume. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Chartwell Books for providing an ARC to review.

I give this book a solid 3.5/5. I appreciated that the author went into detail about birds' anatomy and how different beaks, wings, and feet indicate specific types of birds. It was also useful to get tips on how to attract wild birds to my yard. Also, ways to keep them healthy and safe while feeding. My biggest complaint was the lack of a map to indicate the location of the species shown. That is a personal preference when I look at bird-related books since it is often hard to tell what the bird is, and I often rely on location to help me make identifications

This book is an instant coup de coeur. Beautiful and precise illustrations, lots of useful and interesting information separated in clear and efficient sections, guides on how to identify species, what food to include in your feeder, and a comprehensive list of North America birds: everything one needs to learn about and enjoy birds and bird watching.
As a bonus, this book also includes two years worth of logbook and tips on how to take notes of your observations.

A must have for anyone interested in birding.