The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior

Three words: get this book. Serves as the perfect companion to any field guides, not just Sibley. All kinds of valuable information on birds, their behaviors, habitats, migration patterns, taxonomy, etc etc. I know some experienced bird photographers that knew nothing of this volume, and all have purchased it. Their consensus? Same as mine. 5 solid stars.

I took a 10-week evening course in Ornithology, and this was our textbook. Basically our whole class was the contents of the book (plus lecture slides, sound samples, and field trips) and we learned so much. The first part of the book covers aspects of avian anatomy and behavior: flight, singing, feeding, grooming, migration, reproduction, etc. The second part covers 70+ families of birds in North America. As a class, the content was a bit overwhelming, so I'm grateful to have the book to refer back to.Sibley packs a ton of information into very concise, easily understandable prose. Just a fantastic resource.

I have only recently gotten into birding in the last year or so. This book has been fun toward that end. The first part of the book has a lot of summary chapters written by various ornithologists on bird behavior, anatomy, and lifestyle, using plain English. There's some science in there, but that is good for any budding birder or wildlife watcher to know. The second half of the book is devoted to specific orders, phyla, and species of birds. It provides descriptors on various species with pictures, but I wouldn't let that replace a good guide like Peterson's.This is more about the how and why birds do what they do, rather than identifying them in the field.

A book for anyone watching birds, even a non-birder like me. Moving into a house with birds like crazy...I bought one bird feeder on Amazon. Then another, and a third. I was hooked on sitting on the sofa in the a.m. sipping tea and watching. But why do they do this and that?Library won't help (they want their books back). So I bought my own one volume to cover all my questions, mostly.

I'm not a birder, though it seems like an interesting hobby. But I just look at the birds at the feeders and birdbath in the back yard and think, "I wonder what that one is?" So, I bought "The Sibley Guide to Birds" (which is outstanding) on the recommendation of a birder friend, and that led me to this book.On the one hand, it's a long, dense, scientific work. The years of effort and study that went into it is astounding.On the other hand, it's an extremely entertaining set of answers to all of those "Why do they do that?" questions that come up when you're watching birds. For example, why do bird knees seem to bend backward? Well, they don't; the knee is close to the bird's body, and what seems to be a backward knee is actually the bird's ankle. The birds are in effect walking around on their tip toes.If hundreds of pages of information like that, coupled with beautiful illustrations and great maps, all wrapped in an easy-to-use organizational scheme sounds interesting and useful, then get this book.For a non-birder like me, it's probably more information than I really need, but I found it fascinating.

I like it but think it could have been better. Some species get far greater coverage than others; I don't know if that's because we know more about those species or if the publishers just decided what they thought would be most interesting to readers. Sometimes I look something up to find only minimal information. On the other hand, the entries for some species gives far more detail than any standard ID reference. Overall, I have learned from it so would still recommend it.

If you want to learn about birds as opposed to just identify them, then this is a critical resource. I continue to learn a lot from this book.

Very detailed description with excellent images. A wealth of knowledge. Highly recommend.

My favorite book purchase in a long time! This book is exactly as described. Perfect for beginners and the more seasoned birder. This is a step beyond a field guide, providing fascinating and in-depth information on general topics and specific bird families. Although not quite conversational in style, this book is composed in such a way that it can be read cover to cover or simply referred to as needed. Sibley has collaborated with an outstanding company of experts in this book, whose works are worth pursuing in themselves. I highly recommend this book to anyone with anything more than a casual interest in birds. It is a must for any birder's library!

Excelente complemento para las guias de aves de Norteamerica. Los textos son sencillos pero con un sinnumero de ejemplos sobre la historia natural de las especies. No tiene un enfoque teórico- es decir de Modelos. Sino adecuado para cualquier lector interesado en las aves. Aunque es de 2001 por lo que esta un poco desfasado en relación con la taxonomía actual.

Tes bon livre de reference pour l'amateur d'oiseaux

Use it often at the cottage

If you are interested in more than identifying birds, this book is for you! We also have the "Sibley Guide to Birds" mainly an identification book which rates among the best but this behavior book fills in lots of background information.