National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Birds of North America

by Jonathan Alderfer, Paul Hess

Essential for the millions of Americans who watch and feed birds in their backyards―whether experienced birders or new birding enthusiasts―from the experts at National Geographic and co-author of the popular and perennial best seller Field Guide to the Birds of North America.   No matter where you live―in the country, city, a high-rise or house―this handy guide will quench your curiosity about the feathered creatures in your midst. It features 150 of the most common and interesting birds likely to be observed at backyard feeders, nesting nearby or just migrating through. An indispensable visual index of all 150 species appears on the inside front and back laminated covers, making identification a snap.   Beginning with Backyard Basics, an easy-to-follow, richly illustrated presentation on observing and identifying birds―with tips on attracting and feeding your favorite birds, birdhouses, and bird-friendly landscapes to entice nesting―the book is full of National Geographic’s iconic field guide images and maps.   Core species on everyone’s list―such as robins, woodpeckers, bluebirds and chickadees―are featured in two-page spreads including practical tips with additional imagery. Sidebars captivate with interesting and little known facts.

Genres: Birds, Nonfiction, Reference, Nature, Animals, Science, Guides

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2011

About the author

Jonathan K. Alderfer is an art consultant and a bird artist whose illustrations appear in National Geographic field guides. He began his career as a painter in the 1980s as an illustrator of articles for The Western Tanager, the Los Angeles Audubon Society's newsletter.
Jonathan is an avid, expert birder.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pocket size book that is a little gem that you can take along while bird watching. There are some very helpful quick indexes that assist with identifying the birds you find. Loaded with beautiful pictures, and maps indicating where the birds live either year round or part of the year. There is information including Identification, Range, Food and Nesting habits. Even though this book is not specific to the region that I live in, I still find it very helpful in case I travel elsewhere.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent "first" guide to the most common backyard birds in North America.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good coverage of backyard birds and how to feed them. A comprehensive field guide is better for identifying birds beyond the backyard. My full review.

[Jonah Willard. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great backyard guide to the birds of North America. It’s really helped me improve my bird identification skills.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

No pun intended, but this excellent reference will help us more accurately identify the birds that both travel through and inhabit our backyard. This was an easy to read, very informative, book characterizing most of the birds we see throughout the year. From plumage to food, I now know more about these birds than ever before. I will keep it nearby at our kitchen table to identify our "backyard feeders". Fun to use and very helpful.

[Ramona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great field guide that I will return to.

[Michelle Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use this guide all the time to identify birds that stop by!

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Serious birders have multiple field guides scattered around their house and in the car. Most of these types of field guides are too comprehensive for the casual bird watcher who just wants to know what kind of bird is at their feeder or singing that lovely song.

The guide I use the most is my National Geographic guide, so I’m a little partial to their newest version which is aimed at the backyard bird watcher. It focuses on the 150 most common species that one is likely to encounter in the yard or local park.

It’s nicely organized with plenty of illustrations and range maps, a description of the bird’s plumage, voice and nest type in a user friendly format. There is also a visual and color index to aid in initial identification of new birds. The first 50 pages of the book covers backyard basics: tips on identifying birds, what to feed them, placement of birdbaths and nestboxes, and types of plants/landscaping are recommeded to create a birding habitat. Interesting articles about bird behavior are included in the guide section with topics such as, “Why Do Birds Migrate”, “Feeder Pecking Order” and “How Do Birds Stay Warm”.

This is an excellent guide for the new or casual bird watcher. It does a nice job of highlighting most, but not all, of the birds you can find in your backyard or neighborhood park.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Illustrations, some photos at random, range map not intuitive, shows differences in appearance of males females and young

[Michelle Mallette · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my full review here.
With the Christmas Bird Count just around the corner (next Saturday, Dec. 21), it's a good time to consider adding a birding book to your shelf if you don't already have one. This is from National Geographic - it's an excellent first guide as it offers helpful tips for identifying birds, attracting them to your yard, and how to spot them on trails and in parks as well as your feeder. Because it covers all of North America, you need to be familiar with the range maps - Dick Cannings' new book on B.C. birds will probably be a better choice if you already have a general guide. This one features full-colour and high-quality drawings of each bird, pointing out characteristics that help with identification. There’s a very useful index, and the inside cover flap serves as a quick index to common species. My thanks to the Grand Forks & District Public Library for including this new title in its nonfiction collection.

[Hannah]

National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Birds of North America by Jonathan Alderfer
Informational Nonfiction
Target Audience: 4th-8th Grades

Twin Text #3: The Conference of the Birds by Alexis York Lumbard. I chose this book to match National Geographic because it has a really fun way of giving birds personalities. National Geographic shows us how birds communicate with their voices, The Conference of the Birds will keep a child's attention and add interest to birds, a topic which might otherwise seem boring. The illustrations are also a plus!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb book for amateur birders showing wonderful pictures with range, food, migrations, and descriptions of over 150 birds including ways to identify them by size, color, shape of wing and head, etc.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reference book with pictures of birds throughout the seasons, range, nesting, food.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This bird guide has information on habitats, behavior, preferred food and nesting of each species which many newer bird guides lack. Great for beginning birders.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource for beginning birders. The illustrations are very accurate. The information about each species is very clear, informative and the book itself is well organized.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I geeked out hard over this book and was finally able to solve the mystery of the gorgeous bird I saw in a tree at my house last year!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource for identification of local birds!