Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America | 
| Author: Kenn Kaufman
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy New: $3.03
You Save: $15.92 (84%)
New (28) Used (20) from $2.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  51 reviews
Sales Rank: 11147
Media: Turtleback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 392
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 4.8 x 1.1
ISBN: 0618574239
Dewey Decimal Number: 598.097
EAN: 9780618574230
ASIN: 0618574239
Publication Date: April 14, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Carefully packed and shipped within 24 hours with delivery confirmation! (PP54)
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Amazon.com
World-renowned birder Kenn Kaufman addresses a long-running paradox of bird field guides with his Focus Guide. While beginning birdwatchers prefer photographic guides like those by Donald Stokes, the physical traits that make identification easier are more readily discerned in the idealized paintings of illustrative guides like those by Roger Tory Peterson and National Geographic. Kaufman's groundbreaking work combines the best of both approaches by digitally enhancing photographic images to show the characteristics that are sometimes not apparent in photographs. Some other distinguishing features include: - The guide is organized by bird family groupings rather than strict taxonomic classification; this is a feature that will appeal especially to beginners.
- Text descriptions and range maps for each species appear on the page facing the plate of respective bird images.
- Important field marks are highlighted.
- Color-coded tabs identify each grouping of birds (waders, warblers, sparrows, etc.) for quick thumb indexing.
Kaufman's efforts follow the auspicious tradition of Roger Tory Peterson, whose portable field guide system was the first of its kind to meet the needs of the average birdwatcher. "It's the guide I've always wanted," says Kaufman, "and I suspect most birders will feel the same way."
Product Description
In 2000 Houghton Mifflin first published the Kaufman Focus Guide to the Birds of North America. Critically acclaimed for its innovative design, the Kaufman guide began introducing a new generation to birding. In 2005, this new Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America is now the most up-to-date field guide, including dozens of changes by the American Ornithologists' Union in official names of birds; the addition of new species to reflect the latest scientific discoveries; and dozens of updated range maps. Additional information helps beginning birdwatchers get started, all in the same compact format that has made this guide the easiest to use for fast identification in the field.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 46 more reviews...
 Great as a second field guide July 7, 2008
I love the Peterson field guide and thats the one I always bring out into the field. That being said, the Kaufman is a great guide I'll bring in addition to the Peterson. Sibley is great also but the large book is better as a home reference. The field Sibley is too think for my liking too. I hadn't found a photo field guide I liked until the Kaufman. All of the colors are accurate and I like how the birds are grouped together. My only complaint is that the arrows that point out differences between the sexes and important identifying marks aren't always the best. For example, the Kaufman guide only points out that Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers have white outer tail feathers. It doesn't point out that the male gnatcather has a black line above his eyes. And the photo doesn't really accentuate the line either. The Peterson guide clearly has this distinguishing mark and its pointed out on the photo. The description in the Kaufman guide does say that there is this black "eyebrow" line on the males but a beginning birder may easily miss this. I do like that with photos, the proportions of the birds won't be slightly distorted like they can be in illustrations. Overall this is a great guide but shouldn't be the only guide you bring into the field. Especially for beginners, an illustrated guide will have more identifying marks pointed out.
 We Love This Bird Book July 3, 2008
We have gifted Ken Kaufman's Field Guide to Birds of North America to almost everyone we know. It is perfect for a newbie, casual birder and even the most seasoned bird watcher. This field guide was originally introduced to us by way of our daughter's professor. Text book? NOT! This book will be one of your classics.
Some don't like the guide,, I Love it April 11, 2008
I grew up with the Peterson guides and I know many don't like the idea of photgraphs in a guide book, but i love it..The complaint is that photo's can make the natural coloring look different in shade,etc,, but I have not found this to be a major issue with these enhanced pics.. The photos are color enhanced and actually do have the "painted coloring look" rather than a plain stock dull photograph. I can only imagine rare times that this would cause any real issue, but to each their own.. In regard to the book, I LOVE the flex cover..My old peterson held up well, but the flex cover is 100 times better for durablity. The bird habitat map system is great and easy too read. The short narratives through out the book are interesting and infromative. I love the back page, "quick index", which is arranged alphabetically so you can quickly go directly to the needed page to better identify the exact bird. I also like how he has used small "indicator arrows" on the pictures which directs the reader to some distinct item of note regarding the bird which helps to identify it or differentiate it from a close match.(this has helped me a few times with similar looking birds)
Another nice thing as a field guide,The paper is very durable as I learned when my canteen leaked onto the top portion of the book. I was fearful as I opened the book, expecting the worst, even though every page on the top section of the book got a bit rumpled from the water there was NO,NONE, NODA, smudging or running or ink smears on the page and no pages were stuck together even though it had dried out. Not many field guides can take that and come out that well. It is also the perfect size as a carry full time field guide.
Though I can only compare it to my 20 year old Peterson I must say I am quite happy with it as a casual birder..
If you buy one birding book - this is the one! March 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I own lots of bird books, and the ones you're "supposed" to own - National Geographic (3rd edition), Peterson Guide to Western Birds, Sibley, Golden, and a few others. This one's my favorite, and the most practical in the field. One reviewer wrote that they prefer illustrations - I disagree. As amazing as the illustrators for other guides are, photographs just go somewhere where a drawing can't. And I do love National Geographic and Sibley, but the editions I own, by the time you've looked up the bird you're looking for, it's probably flown away. This is my favorite. That's not to say I don't think any birder should go without National Geographic or Sibley; but those two books are better for doing your homework; Kaufman beats them in the field.
excellent book for the birder with a little experience January 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed the way Kaufman grouped birds together according to type. If you know your birds a little then you can just go to the type and pick which one it looks most like. Also,there were photos of the bird in it's different plumages...male, female, juvenile, winter, summer, etc. and he showed pictures of different subspecies variations. The maps and graphs were thorough and easy to understand. Kenn took much of the confusion out of birding!
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