Loved this bird book! I thoroughly enjoyed learning about all the different types of birds. Especially learning about all the birds I see in my own back yard. Very informational and so much fun to read about different types of birds!

a handy and great visual for quickly identifying birds - would be useful on the phone or even better the ipad when traveling. Would recommend.

This is a great starting guide for people who are interested in birds and who want to start identifying them. It is not an expansive tome, rather, something that can easily be carried on a walk or hike.

The first few chapters discuss some of the features of birds. Ever wonder how the feathers adhere back together after you've separated them? What about the different types of beaks? This information is provided in an easy to understand description. I have always be fascinated with feathers, Now I know why and how they physically work. The book also describes what birds will eat and what type of nests they build.

Other useful features of this book include a "Bird Finder at a Glance," a logbook for you to note information on the birds you see,, and how to choose and use binoculars, among other helpful information.

There are a lot of birds in this book, but not every one that you might run into in this country. I'd recommend this book for a beginning birdwatcher.. I'd keep this next to the chair where I observe the birds at my feeders.

This is a comprehensive list of backyard birds that includes photos, detailed descriptions, and wonderful information on birds one might see in their back yard. It's a great reference book that any bird lover will enjoy to have on hand to identify birds.

This is a gorgeous and informative book on birds. I love the pictures, the information, and the journal format which allows you to take notes of when you see the various species.
This is a great book for all serious birdwatchers, as well as the casual observer of our feathered friends.
I can't wait to explore more and research more about the birds that visit my backyard, and that I see when out and about!

NET GALLEY REVIEW | A Field Guide to Backyard Birds of North America by Rob Hume

Review: This is a nice little guide! It has some very good information for not only an inexperienced birder but also some good tidbits for those who are just a little bit more experienced than inexperienced (me). I was able to learn a lot bout bird biology, eggs, posturing, and different ways to describe birds when cataloguing them. The illustrations were pretty standard as far as bird illustrations go. Something of note that I really appreciated was the quick “Things to Know” beside the illustrations. These tidbits included things like size, habitat, breeds, winters, and foods as well as when they mature (winter vs. summer) BUT ALSO what kind of feeders they’re likely to fly up to for a snack! There’s a nice, long section in the back of the book for recording the birds you see.
Recommending: This would be a great gift for someone wanting to get into birding, but maybe not for a seasoned birder.

This is a great beginners guide to bird watching. The book is broken down into various sections including, but not limited to, a section on basic bird anatomy, basic bird habits (calls, nest building, posture, etc), bird sketching, choosing the right binoculars for bird watching, and a bird tracker. There is also an extensive guide of various backyard birds including some of their found locations and basic features.

I think this would be an excellent guide for any bird watcher and as someone who knows very little about birds, I really enjoyed how accessible this guide was for a newcomer to the birdwatching community. I was able to identity a few species that I am observed in my own backyard, which was quite neat.

Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I can only identify a handful of birds; they are the most simple ones-robin, bluejay, cardinal, red tailed hawk, pigeon, and maybe a few more. I hear birds all the time though and sometimes seeone flying by. With this guide, I will be better able to identify what i see.

The book begins with an introduction and a helpful section called Bird Finder at a Glance. The latter showed me that I knew a bit more than I credited myself for and has pictures of many breeds. Following this is a section on Bird Life where there is information on everything from feathers, to nests, to songs, courtship and much more. The next section is titled Making the Most of Birding which is filled with good advice. Also included is a catalog of US backyard birds and even a logbook.

This comprehensive and well illustrated books will be welcomed by novices and even some experienced bird watchers. It is a good resource.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

What an absolute fantastic bird book!

I recently discovered the hobby of bird watching and feeding birds in the backyard. I’ll admit as an artist, there’s a little bit of an altruistic motive for it, but I’ll take it!

What this book does is break down not only how to bird watch, how to feed them, but even has a section of how to sketch them and take proper notes!

The illustrations in here are also just gorgeous. They are detailed and beautiful, covering many of the pages. I love how the colors are portrayed because even black birds have multifaceted colors.

I highly recommend this field guide for anyone’s bird watching collection. It would also make a great coffee table top gift too.

This is a great beginner's guide to birding or even just use as a reference guide to birds you see in your backyard. It helped me identify a few bird species I frequently see in my back garden.

A BLAST

This guide has fantastic imagery and a good set up for new birders. What I enjoyed most was the easy introduction into identifying birds as well as the crisp illistrations that helped identify common birds. The log in the back was an increased perk because it gave a good place to make mistakes and get used to how to identify birds. A really good beginners guide and good for well seasoned birders.

This is a beautiful field guide sure to please any bird watcher. Comprehensive, beautifully illustrated, and highly detailed, this book is a perfect book for any bird watcher. Half of the book is a beautiful two-year logbook with bird tracker tips, so a novice might find this book especially beneficial.

Hume's book is an exhaustive look at every aspect of a bird: their bodies, behaviours, habitats, the foods they eat, their movements, etc. Each part of the bird's life is divided into these particular topics, and Hume details aspects of a wide range of birds within these categories. For instance, we learn that warblers have narrow bills because they eat ants while birds of prey have hooked bills because they dig into their prey or bite their prey with the bill. This is fascinating material even for someone like me who has not given birds much thought beyond the Alfred Hitchcock film where Tippi Hedren's character was terrorised by birds.

The book also includes a glossary, a visual dictionary of the birds, and a logbook for those birdwatchers who want to keep track of the birds they spot.

As an experienced birdwatcher this was a ok quick guide, however I feel it might leave beginners with not enough ID knowledge. Needs more images and highlights on key identification features in order to be useful.