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Favorite Birding Books


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7 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

Ya know, that's the kind of question you might ask BEFORE you place your orders.  :classic_wink:

Did you order these as physical books or e-books?  I'd like to hear from others who have ordered material in e-book format and what they thought.

I read Kingbird Highway as an ebook on my family's ancient nook, because NONE of my local library systems have it. 

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2 hours ago, Quiscalus quiscula said:

I read Kingbird Highway as an ebook on my family's ancient nook, because NONE of my local library systems have it. 

I have it in eBook also.  That type of book works great on an eReader.  Saves space on the bookshelf.  

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5 hours ago, chipperatl said:

My rule for books now is reference books are hard copy; non-fiction that tells a story or fiction books are eBook.

That's the conclusion I've come to.  I made the mistake of ordering the Warbler Guide in e format originally, and regretted it almost as soon as I opened it.  Ditto one of Pete Dunne's references.  I eventually reordered both as 'dead trees'. 

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20 minutes ago, Charlie Spencer said:

That's the conclusion I've come to.  I made the mistake of ordering the Warbler Guide in e format originally, and regretted it almost as soon as I opened it.  Ditto one of Pete Dunne's references.  I eventually reordered both as 'dead trees'. 

Warbler Guide app is amazing.  Warbler Guide on eBook....yeah that doesn't sound so good.  

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  • 2 months later...
2 hours ago, Birds are cool said:

According to Kindle app I have.  Honestly don’t remember much about it off hand. Looking at ToC I do remember a little bit.  I think I just absorbed the knowledge without acknowledging the source.  I think most of it I’ve heard/read elsewhere also.  

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22 hours ago, Birds are cool said:

Thanks @chipperatl and @Quiscalus quiscula, i have read some of his books, but not this one.

Easy answer for a bird book, "Is there such a thing as a bad bird book?", but then I remember this one.  Horrible, narcissistic, and arrogant would be putting it mildly.  I stopped after less than one or two chapters I believe.  Thankfully my experience with birders in general did not match the way these people acted, or I would have been out.  

https://smile.amazon.com/Supremely-Bad-Idea-Three-Birders-ebook/dp/B004OR1612/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Edited by chipperatl
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  • 3 months later...

I am only 3 chapters into it, but this is now my favorite birding book. I have learned a bunch, and the author is a great writer. 

https://smile.amazon.com/Secret-Perfume-Birds-Uncovering-Science/dp/1421443473/ref=sr_1_4?crid=APEGYD008UAY&keywords=avian+smell&qid=1676489875&s=digital-text&sprefix=avian+smell%2Cdigital-text%2C188&sr=1-4-catcorr

I finished reading this book about a week ago. Also a great read. The author gives a lot of history on the places and hummingbirds that he sees throughout the book, which I found very interesting. The book is about hummingbirds.

https://smile.amazon.com/Glitter-Green-Search-Hummingbirds/dp/154161819X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1676490102&sr=1-1

BTW both books are on sale right now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This might be the best done Bird ID guide since the Warbler Guide.  Maybe even better since it has so many illustrations for each bird.  It is soooooo pricey though.  Covers everything that could possibly be seen on the sea.  

https://www.amazon.com/Seabirds-Identification-Guide-Peter-Harrison/dp/8416728410/ref=sr_1_1?crid=103DHLO3DFO89&keywords=seabirds+the+new+identification+guide&qid=1678489078&sprefix=Seabirds%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840

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Just curious, how much time do y'all spend reading? Like how many hours per week? I would love to read more but I'm so bad at time management and there's so many other things I need/want to do that I never get around to reading. Whenever I hear people talk about all the books they've read, I am shocked that they have time for that many books. 

Edited by Colton V
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3 hours ago, Colton V said:

Just curious, how much time do y'all spend reading? Like how many hours per week? I would love to read more but I'm so bad at time management and there's so many other things I need/want to do that I never get around to reading. Whenever I hear people talk about all the books they've read, I am shocked that they have time for that many books. 

I used to read a lot.(like at least 2 hours a day) then I got somewhat of a life and yeah. I don’t have many books to read anymore either. I probably spend about an hour to 2 hours a week reading. Which is kinda sad but… 

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12 minutes ago, Snake Fingers said:

I used to read a lot.(like at least 2 hours a day) then I got somewhat of a life and yeah. I don’t have many books to read anymore either. I probably spend about an hour to 2 hours a week reading. Which is kinda sad but… 

That's me. I use to read like 2-3 hours a day, and now I only am able to read around 3 hours a week.

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4 hours ago, Colton V said:

Just curious, how much time do y'all spend reading? Like how many hours per week? I would love to read more but I'm so bad at time management and there's so many other things I need/want to do that I never get around to reading. Whenever I hear people talk about all the books they've read, I am shocked that they have time for that many books. 

5-10 hours a week.  Depends on the books I’m reading at the time.  It has been a little less the past couple of weeks.  I’ve tried to read non-fiction in the morning before I start work, and then fiction at night.  The last couple of non-fiction books were not good, so my mornings haven’t involved much reading.  

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 3/1/2023 at 9:12 PM, chipperatl said:

Book arrived today.  My initial impression is….Wow.  1/3 of the book is just the Introduction and how to use it.  The have a Field Mark Matrix with 13 field marks and essentially using it like keys for insects.  Range maps also include migration timing, and separate bar charts for different N-S regions.  It is definitely a Field Guide size-wise.  

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16 hours ago, chipperatl said:

Book arrived today.  My initial impression is….Wow.  1/3 of the book is just the Introduction and how to use it.  The have a Field Mark Matrix with 13 field marks and essentially using it like keys for insects.  Range maps also include migration timing, and separate bar charts for different N-S regions.  It is definitely a Field Guide size-wise.  

Myiarchus and Kingbirds are coming up next for them.  On the ABA Podcast they said they just turned this volume in.  

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/5/2023 at 2:09 PM, chipperatl said:

Book arrived today.  My initial impression is….Wow.  1/3 of the book is just the Introduction and how to use it.  The have a Field Mark Matrix with 13 field marks and essentially using it like keys for insects.  Range maps also include migration timing, and separate bar charts for different N-S regions.  It is definitely a Field Guide size-wise.  

Our copy just arrived earlier this week. It is a lot thinner/smaller than I thought it would be based on this write-up. We'll be looking at it this weekend for sure.

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