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oc warbler skip to main skip to sidebar monday december 5 2011 on my nightstand national geographic field guide to birds of north america 6th edition my first ever birding guide was the national geographic guide well it technically wasn t mine i borrowed it from my non birding but inquisitive parents when i first took an interest in identifying birds several years ago at the time around 2003 i had no idea how dynamic and fast changing birding knowledge was and i figured the dog eared book that my parents had picked up on a whim many years earlier which i now realize was the inaugural edition of the national geographic guide from 1983 was like my high school algebra texts a source of immutable truths little did i know that everything from the genetic relationships among birds to their common names to their ranges and populations was in constant flux i was puzzled as to why people called those gorgeous white raptors in our area white tailed kites when the guide said clearly that they were black shouldered kites i still have that guide along with many other newer ones kaufman sibley crossley and several other more specialized guides so when i was given the opportunity to check out the newest update of the national geographic guide i couldn t resist comparing it to the original the book that helped launch my life as a birder both the similarities and differences between the original and latest update are striking the same signature bald eagle on the cover quite a few of the same illustrations and even same descriptions both list the ivory billed woodpecker as probably extinct but for strikingly different reasons the description of its range and distribution in the new guide will be heartbreaking to anyone who rejoiced at its putative rediscovery a few years back but new illustrations very much in the same style as the older ones also abound as well as significantly expanded or revised descriptions of certain birds the description of white crowned sparrows in the 6 th edition for instance goes into helpful detail about their various subspecies their songs and distribution which the original shorter description lacked another useful detail the guide includes is an index of subspecies range maps this can be a great benefit to those who spend a lot of time birding on the road more striking to me was the extremely liberal definition of birds of north america used in the book flipping through it one sees dozens of accidental and even extinct species not found in other north american field guides i personally appreciated these graphic reminders that north america or parts of it at least is closely linked biologically and geographically to the far corners of asia and northern europe and for any enthusiastic birder this feature will be a tantalizing reminder that any trip to the field can bring unexpected surprises but for beginners or others looking for a straight ahead quick reference to birds one is likely to encounter on a typical trip this expanded inventory could be a needless distraction a characteristic feature of any field guide is the front matter all the stuff the guide presents before actually getting to the birds themselves kaufman s useful pocket guide for instance has a friendly simple preface that captures a birding for everyone vibe and the first words in the preface of crossley s graphically rich guide are i don t like text which tells you everything you need to know about the orientation of the rest of the book the national geographic guide strikes an accessible yet serious tone in its front matter the brief descriptions of bird classification ranges and field marks are written to be understandable to beginners but include enough information such as a two page illustrated spread of labeled head wing and body feather tracts to be a useful reference for more experienced birders as well any review of a field guide is supposed to end up with the answer to the question so how does this rank among the other guides for the same area i really hate answering this question because i don t have a single favorite north american field guide like many birders i like having an assortment of them for different purposes kaufman to keep in my back pocket for quick reference sibley to keep in my car for more comprehensive id checks and crossley to keep at home to study before and after looking for a new bird also i often find myself needing more than one set of illustrations to id a bird definitively especially if it s molting or in some transitional plumage the new national geographic guide for me falls into the keep in the car category a great combination of quick reference and comprehensive description that will be a useful addition to my arsenal of references posted by felicia at 9 40 am 3 comments labels bird guides book reviews national geographic guide sunday october 30 2011 how the rose breasted grosbeak got his chest once upon a time long before you or i were born the rose breasted grosbeak wasn t called that back then giorsbeaks chests were snowy white and grosbeaks were very proud of their looks at that time there was one particular grosbeak who loved two things 1 berries and 2 himself all the other birds said his egotistic gluttonous ways would eventually come back to bite him in the vent one october day this grosbeak was feeling both unusually hungry and unusually proud of himself he had planned his southward journey to go through the verdant land now known as florida which he knew was filled with berries in october bright red magnolia berries fat clusters of tiny lavender colored beauty berries and big juicy purple pokeberries the very thought of them made him swoon and he was very pleased with his itinerary he was pleased with himself for another reason too while the other grosbeaks changed into modest brown plumage for their trip he had decided to keep most of his snappy black and white spring feathers you re being an idiot the other grosbeaks said that outfit s too worn to make it all the way down south what s the point a disapproving magnolia warbler scolded seriously you re going to be too busy eating and flying to check out any ladies with that getup of yours and they ll be too busy to notice you the grosbeak didn t listen he know they were only saying that stuff because they were jealous that october day in florida things started even better than he expected almost immediately he spotted shiny red clusters of ripe berries then he did what any discerning epicure would do when presented with nature s bounty at its finest he stuffed his face omg those berries were amazing best of all he hardly needed to move to gobble down one cluster after another each more succulent than the next reddish juice dribbled down his snowy white breast of which he was very proud but he was too hungry to care look at you you ought to be ashamed of yourself it was some grosbeak he didn t know who was dressed in an old man s brown and beige fall outfit show a little class look at all that crap you re dripping on yourself yaah pal well check it out i ve got this bush full of berries and you don t that s because i ve already had my share and look at me i managed to keep myself clean mark my words kid no gal s gonna want to nest with a slob like you whatever gramps the grosbeak thought he kept eating when he was too full to move he decided to preen himself not because he cared what the old guy thought but because he wasn t sleepy or hungry and couldn t think of anything else to do yeah and it had been several hours since he d cleaned himself okay maybe more than that this was weird no matter what he tried the juice stains just wouldn t come out they were stuck to him like the black on his wings he panicked he began to peck harder at his chest nothing still bright red like a cowboy s bandanna hanging in front of his breast his beautifully pristine white breast was ruined and it was all his own fault in south america he made a point of hanging with birds who didn t know him but when it was time to go back north again he know he d have to face the music nesting season was approaching how would he explain this to the girls the flight back to north america was the most depressing trip of his life the breeding grounds were a playground of happy activity when he arrived he saw a lot of familiar birds but didn t want to face any of them hey there it was the prettiest fattest female grosbeak he had ever seen great she s just here s to taunt me he thought did you just get here she was still talking to him mm look at you pokeberries she was staring at his chest cocking her head i like a man with a good appetite she hopped towards him startled he hopped backwards what s the matter have you already got a mate n no i well if you don t have anyone lined up i m here unless you d prefer me to spend the summer with him she turned her head towards a loudly singing voice nearby but i kind of like your looks his heart felt as though it would burst i do too he said soon word got out among the male grosbeaks that the dork with the juice stuck on his chest had scored the hottest female grosbeak in north america grateful and chastened our grosbeak built his pretty mate the biggest nicest nest in the area the other females eyed that nest and the happy couple from a distance then gazed at their own dumpy nests and plain black and white mates and sighed no they d say to their mates nothing s wrong what makes you think something s wrong miraculously the guys got the hint the next spring when they returned to the nesting grounds all the men were sporting handsome red bibs and with all the time saved from not having to preen their breasts so much they had the time and energy to build bigger nests and take better care of their chicks than ever before and that s how the rose breasted grosbeak got its chest posted by felicia at 12 42 pm 7 comments labels bird fiction fall migration florida birds rose breasted grosbeak older posts home subscribe to posts atom birding is not an escape from reality birding is reality kenn kaufman amazon com widgets followers shoot me an e mail blog archive 2011 10 december 1 on my nightstand national geographic field guide october 1 august 1 may 2 april 1 march 1 february 2 january 1 2010 37 december 2 november 2 october 1 september 2 august 2 july 2 june 2 may 4 april 5 march 4 february 4 january 7 2009 55 december 2 november 5 october 4 september 5 august 4 july 5 june 4 may 4 april 4 march 7 february 5 january 6 2008 69 december 4 november 6 october 5 september 6 august 8 july 5 june 6 may 6 april 6 march 6 february 4 january 7 2007 46 december 4 november 5 october 4 september 8 august 8 july 7 june 4 may 6 about me felicia gainesville florida united states view my complete profile favorite birding and nature links a dc birding blog alachua audubon society badbirdz reloaded bird banding office bob kaufman s blog calbirds california ebird i and the bird musings on nature neil gilbert s blog orange county birding orange county organisms orange county rare bird alerts pure florida save banning ranch sea and sage audubon the shameless nepotism link wildbird on the fly other good stuff cake wrecks chowhound com my infamous food and cooking blog the onion fatbirder web ring linking birders worldwide join