What do you think?
Rate this book
Peterson Field Guides #1
A Field Guide to the Birds: A Completely New Guide to All the Birds of Eastern and Central North America
Roger Tory Peterson, one of America's pre-eminent artist-naturalists and arguably the inventor of the field guide, made people love birds like no one since John James Audubon. A Field Guide to the Birds, first published in 1934, remains his most famous and wonderful work. The manual stood instantly apart from the dichotomous keys zoologists used to identify species, since Peterson grouped paintings of related species together and used arrows to, as he explained, "pinpoint the key field marks." This way, watchers could spot birds from a distance and avoid, as he archly put it, "the bird-in-hand characters that the early collectors relied on." Birders could use the guide where they needed it most--outdoors--on living birds flitting quickly by. In addition to detailed illustrations, Peterson offers charming (and useful) descriptions of each avian citizen's appearance, behavior, voice, and range. There is also priceless anecdotal information, based on decades of field experience, as in this description of the common house sparrow (Passer domesticus): "Familiar to everyone. Sooty city birds often bear little resemblance to clean country males with the black throat, white cheeks, chestnut nape." His transliterations of song are just as quietly marvelous. For instance, Pluvialis squatarola, or the black-bellied plover, makes things clear with "a plaintive slurred whistle, tlee-oo-eee or whee-er-ee (middle note lower)."
Peterson's original handbook covered birds of Eastern North America, and has since been followed by guides to Western birds, animal tracks, butterflies, and many other natural wonders. He and his team updated "The Birders' Bible" as new species were discovered and classifications modified. Generations of enthusiastic watchers owe Peterson a debt of gratitude for making ornithology accessible. But equally important, he showed scientists that finding beauty in living animals, and not just cataloging the measurements of dead ones, was crucial. Roger Tory Peterson died in 1996. He will be remembered as a passionate naturalist, a keen observer of living things, and a gifted artist and teacher. --Therese Littleton
Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
32 people are currently reading
902 people want to read
About the author
Roger Tory Peterson
319 books42 followersRoger Tory Peterson was an American naturalist, ornithologist, artist, and educator, and held to be one of the founding inspirations for the 20th century environmental movement.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
August 29, 2011
I collect bird guides, but when I actually go out in the field, this is the ONLY book I bring with me. It's truly indispensable -- and I'll always love it for describing chimney swifts as "cigars with wings."
February 18, 2021
i know what they are now
Read
December 31, 2024This isn’t really a book but I don’t really care
20/20 baybeeeew
20/20 baybeeeew
December 4, 2007
This is the famed Peterson's Guide. It is illustrated using paintings by Roger Tory Peterson. In a nice touch, the incomplete plate (page with the painting of birds) that he was working on when he died is found in the preface by his wife, and the forward references the completed version that was completed by a friend for inclusion in this Fifth edition.
The plates include lines that indicate field marks. The actual mark descriptions are in the short paragraph that is with each bird. Between 4 and 6 birds are in every pair of facing pages, with between 1 and 5 poses for each bird. The illustrations are fairly large, and clear. The text covers several categories, visual description included differences between male, female and juvenile, similar species, description of the range, voice, and habitat. With this much to cover, the wording is terse.
Also, there is a thumbnail range map. A larger range map is in the back. There are many reviewers who complain about the range maps being in the back of the book, presumably they are discussing a previous edition.
What Peterson introduced with this guide was a way to identify species in the field, without having to capture or shoot the specimen. In this case, the field marks. For each species, he gives marks (distinctive markings) that distinguish one bird from others of the same family. For example, if a woodpecker is small and has a red spot on the nape of the neck with a white stripe down the back, it could be Downy woodpecker. But if its bill is as long as its head and the outside tail feathers are all white (no black spots) it probably is a hairy woodpecker. If it is large, has a red crest that extends to its bill, and the wing has a white leading edge and black trailing edge, it is a Pileated. If the trailing edge is white, the red crest does not go all the way to the front of the head and you are in a southern old growth forest, well, that could very well mean something else, especially in 2005-2006.
I suppose that a true birder does not memorize field marks, instead has an intuitive understanding just by looking as to what species a given bird is. But for those of us who have not attained enlightment, we identify the basic type, then use the marks to home in on the species, or note things to look for when we hit our field guide. And the Peterson's does a good job of that.
For identiying what is in the air around us, this is a delight to use, and the order gets intuitive after not long. There is something thrilling of paging through a field guide and realizing you just figured out what that bird you could not identify was, and going out in the field again and wondering if you will see it again.
This is a field guide, and its purpose is identification. It is not a guide of ornithology. If the goal is to understand birds, look elsewhere. But it serves its purpose well, and its cover and construction give me confidence it should survive many walks stuffed in my jacket pocket and thumbed through in the field.
The plates include lines that indicate field marks. The actual mark descriptions are in the short paragraph that is with each bird. Between 4 and 6 birds are in every pair of facing pages, with between 1 and 5 poses for each bird. The illustrations are fairly large, and clear. The text covers several categories, visual description included differences between male, female and juvenile, similar species, description of the range, voice, and habitat. With this much to cover, the wording is terse.
Also, there is a thumbnail range map. A larger range map is in the back. There are many reviewers who complain about the range maps being in the back of the book, presumably they are discussing a previous edition.
What Peterson introduced with this guide was a way to identify species in the field, without having to capture or shoot the specimen. In this case, the field marks. For each species, he gives marks (distinctive markings) that distinguish one bird from others of the same family. For example, if a woodpecker is small and has a red spot on the nape of the neck with a white stripe down the back, it could be Downy woodpecker. But if its bill is as long as its head and the outside tail feathers are all white (no black spots) it probably is a hairy woodpecker. If it is large, has a red crest that extends to its bill, and the wing has a white leading edge and black trailing edge, it is a Pileated. If the trailing edge is white, the red crest does not go all the way to the front of the head and you are in a southern old growth forest, well, that could very well mean something else, especially in 2005-2006.
I suppose that a true birder does not memorize field marks, instead has an intuitive understanding just by looking as to what species a given bird is. But for those of us who have not attained enlightment, we identify the basic type, then use the marks to home in on the species, or note things to look for when we hit our field guide. And the Peterson's does a good job of that.
For identiying what is in the air around us, this is a delight to use, and the order gets intuitive after not long. There is something thrilling of paging through a field guide and realizing you just figured out what that bird you could not identify was, and going out in the field again and wondering if you will see it again.
This is a field guide, and its purpose is identification. It is not a guide of ornithology. If the goal is to understand birds, look elsewhere. But it serves its purpose well, and its cover and construction give me confidence it should survive many walks stuffed in my jacket pocket and thumbed through in the field.
May 27, 2021
You can't get any better than this Peterson Field Guide on birds. It is chock-full of professional, colored drawings and all the info you need to know about these birds. My mother and I were able to identify Roseate Spoonbill's a few years back, around 2018, that showed up on Cow Bayou here in Southeast Texas for the first time ever. I grew up there and my parent's have lived there since 1979.
June 4, 2018
My late husband and I had a blast using this book while observing the birds at our backyard feeders when we lived in the country. Highly recommended for bird watchers.
May 2, 2010
This book was owned by my mother--who was the nature lover and birder in the family. She found more to watch then you might expect living in New York City. We lived near Central Park, which is something of a bird sanctuary. This book taught her a lot that she passed on to me, Though I'm by no means the naturist she was, I do appreciate the way this book made me more aware of the birds around me. I was oblivious before to all but the pigeons ("rock doves" in this book) and sparrows. After this I was more aware of the occasional American Robin, Cardinal and Blue Jays I'd see around the streets, let alone the Mourning Dove, Chickadees, Mockingbird, Oriole, Tufted Titmice among others I could spot in Central Park. Somehow it all made New York City a friendlier and more magical place.
July 24, 2012
Talk about definitive. There are others, but this was the first that was intended to provide specific identification aids in the field. It still rules. It is often fun just to do some armchair browsing through its gorgeous plates and recall what I have seen and where, and what I have not seen.
Birding is such a sweet pastime, and is fun either alone or in the company of others, especially highly skilled observers.
Birding is such a sweet pastime, and is fun either alone or in the company of others, especially highly skilled observers.
January 29, 2013
Great book for birding. Use it often. The tips that each color plate has to help point specific unique characteristics for each bird are extremely helpful. This book came to me by way of a friend who was pointed to it by some more advanced bird watchers. Definitely a must have book for those who enjoy bird watching.
April 14, 2013
This is THE book my parents taught me with on our hikes. I've carried it with me all over the continent. When a mysterious bird drops by our bird feeder it's the book my children reach for. It rarely spends time on the shelf.
November 2, 2016
For me this is the quintessential bird guide. My copy has little bits of post-it sticking out all over. I recommend it to anyone who loves watching birds.
July 18, 2018
Peterson's A Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America (Sixth Edition), attributed to Roger Tory Peterson, was most recently published in 2010. Peterson Field Guides compete directly with The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America: Second Edition and Princeton Field Guides on similar areas of focus, although there may not be a direct equivalent for North American birds from Princeton Field Guides. It also competes to a degree with the National Audubon Society’s field guides, which are actually in a narrower format and more portable in some cases.
(If you’ve read our review of Peterson’s A Field Guide to Birds of Western North America (Fourth Edition) then the remainder of the review and our conclusion regarding the functionality of the book, is identical with only minor changes where appropriate relating to the number of species represented, color plates, and so on.)
This Sixth Edition claims a few significant improvements compared to previous editions, though it’s unlikely to be worth upgrading from the Fifth Edition. Paul Lehman and Michael O’Brien have gone to great lengths to improve the accuracy of the data and provide updated range maps for numerous species while Michael DiGiorgio improved the digitized plates where necessary, building on updates to the Fifth Edition. Overall, the Field Guide offers a number of useful features, some duplicated for ease of access at the beginning of the book and at the beginning of the appropriate section, achieving an ease of use that will help novices quickly identify birds but may not provide enough detail or have a comprehensive enough format to satisfy more experienced birders.
There are 333 color-coded pages describing the size, voice, habitats, scarcity, classification, nomenclature, and “similar species” of over 500 species comprising over 30 families of birds with ranges within Eastern and Central North America, including eastern Mexico. For those seeking the most comprehensive coverage of species, this does not compare favorably to the 650 species in the Sibley field guide for the same region. The 159 color plates contained within the Peterson Field Guide primarily offer illustrations for adult plumages of males and females, with some species getting the requisite illustrations for adolescent plumage or seasonal changes which are essential to identification. Over all, the color reproduction and clarity from the latest editions of Peterson Field Guides are on par or better than what is found in Princeton Field Guides, although we can’t speak to the accuracy of the color reproduction with respect to actual bird plumage, since individual species’ plumage can vary significantly from one region to the next. National Audubon Society field guides on birds have color photos which some people may appreciate more, however the plates found in the Peterson Field Guides are so large and life-like that there are unlikely to be many complaints beyond plumage accuracy. Videos on the Peterson Field Guides’ YouTube channel are a free supplement to this guide.
Towards the back of the book just under one hundred pages are dedicated to enlarged “range maps” depicting the same ranges accompanying nearly all of the bird species described, but with the benefit of being a larger size. These range maps are fit 6 to a page and have both a map number and the page number of the corresponding species, making it incredibly easy to turn to the larger range map when wanting a more detailed view or back to the species data. This feature also makes it very easy to plan trips around what birds will be in their seasonal or year-round ranges simply by looking at all the range maps side-by-side and deciding on what areas will help you check off your "life list."
The last ten pages before the index feature a "life list" with a checkmark spot beside each species so readers can make a note of whether or not they’ve observed this species (with enough space to write in a state abbreviation to denote where they’ve seen it). Life lists are a key way for novice and veteran birders alike to keep track of what species they’ve had the pleasure of observing and such a functional – and essential – element for birding enthusiasts is a great inclusion in this Field Guide.
Like many field guides, the index lists all the bird species described within. The Peterson Field Guide offers a functional twist on the traditional alphabetized index by providing an alphabetically sorted list of both scientific and common names together, making it very easy to find the page number, or range map, of a specific species regardless of which name springs to mind first. 70 silhouettes of bird species are also included to round out the last pages of the field guide and make rapid- or distant-identification easier.
The Field Guide is laid out in a way familiar to anyone who has used field guides from other publishers and provides a good entry-level bird identification book with some features that may provide better subjective functionality in some areas while falling short in others. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America: Second Edition and The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America may offer a superior overall format and more comprehensive collection of individual species and illustrations depicting identifying features and seasonal or regional variations and should be the first consideration for those seeking to invest in a standard-sized field guide. For those looking for something more compact and portable with a similar coverage of information then National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region and National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Western Region are great choices.
(If you’ve read our review of Peterson’s A Field Guide to Birds of Western North America (Fourth Edition) then the remainder of the review and our conclusion regarding the functionality of the book, is identical with only minor changes where appropriate relating to the number of species represented, color plates, and so on.)
This Sixth Edition claims a few significant improvements compared to previous editions, though it’s unlikely to be worth upgrading from the Fifth Edition. Paul Lehman and Michael O’Brien have gone to great lengths to improve the accuracy of the data and provide updated range maps for numerous species while Michael DiGiorgio improved the digitized plates where necessary, building on updates to the Fifth Edition. Overall, the Field Guide offers a number of useful features, some duplicated for ease of access at the beginning of the book and at the beginning of the appropriate section, achieving an ease of use that will help novices quickly identify birds but may not provide enough detail or have a comprehensive enough format to satisfy more experienced birders.
There are 333 color-coded pages describing the size, voice, habitats, scarcity, classification, nomenclature, and “similar species” of over 500 species comprising over 30 families of birds with ranges within Eastern and Central North America, including eastern Mexico. For those seeking the most comprehensive coverage of species, this does not compare favorably to the 650 species in the Sibley field guide for the same region. The 159 color plates contained within the Peterson Field Guide primarily offer illustrations for adult plumages of males and females, with some species getting the requisite illustrations for adolescent plumage or seasonal changes which are essential to identification. Over all, the color reproduction and clarity from the latest editions of Peterson Field Guides are on par or better than what is found in Princeton Field Guides, although we can’t speak to the accuracy of the color reproduction with respect to actual bird plumage, since individual species’ plumage can vary significantly from one region to the next. National Audubon Society field guides on birds have color photos which some people may appreciate more, however the plates found in the Peterson Field Guides are so large and life-like that there are unlikely to be many complaints beyond plumage accuracy. Videos on the Peterson Field Guides’ YouTube channel are a free supplement to this guide.
Towards the back of the book just under one hundred pages are dedicated to enlarged “range maps” depicting the same ranges accompanying nearly all of the bird species described, but with the benefit of being a larger size. These range maps are fit 6 to a page and have both a map number and the page number of the corresponding species, making it incredibly easy to turn to the larger range map when wanting a more detailed view or back to the species data. This feature also makes it very easy to plan trips around what birds will be in their seasonal or year-round ranges simply by looking at all the range maps side-by-side and deciding on what areas will help you check off your "life list."
The last ten pages before the index feature a "life list" with a checkmark spot beside each species so readers can make a note of whether or not they’ve observed this species (with enough space to write in a state abbreviation to denote where they’ve seen it). Life lists are a key way for novice and veteran birders alike to keep track of what species they’ve had the pleasure of observing and such a functional – and essential – element for birding enthusiasts is a great inclusion in this Field Guide.
Like many field guides, the index lists all the bird species described within. The Peterson Field Guide offers a functional twist on the traditional alphabetized index by providing an alphabetically sorted list of both scientific and common names together, making it very easy to find the page number, or range map, of a specific species regardless of which name springs to mind first. 70 silhouettes of bird species are also included to round out the last pages of the field guide and make rapid- or distant-identification easier.
The Field Guide is laid out in a way familiar to anyone who has used field guides from other publishers and provides a good entry-level bird identification book with some features that may provide better subjective functionality in some areas while falling short in others. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America: Second Edition and The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America may offer a superior overall format and more comprehensive collection of individual species and illustrations depicting identifying features and seasonal or regional variations and should be the first consideration for those seeking to invest in a standard-sized field guide. For those looking for something more compact and portable with a similar coverage of information then National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region and National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Western Region are great choices.
December 25, 2025
Shamelessly logging this to reach my 2025 reading challenge goal but I have gone through basically all of it and cannot stress enough that This is THE BOOK you need for birding. Genuinely a priceless resource
May 17, 2017
This is a must have guide if you live in or are traveling to the Eastern and Central North America area. With numerous birds visiting daily to my backyard, this resource is always within arms reach, usually sitting next to a camera. Pictures are bright making identification easy and the book is laid out in a very easy to use format.
Read
April 11, 2013 This book is a keeper , as an Ontario resident, it is a must , pelee Island adventures , always on the lookout for a new species, this book cannot be surpassed as a tool!
June 1, 2023
I have looked at several field guides, and this one is the one I found the most useful so far - will be getting myself my own copy (yay to libraries that allow familiarizing with books before investing!).
Pros:
- short snippets about the entire family before proceeding to snippets on individual species
- illustrations that highlight the features differentiating species from related ones; also depicting typical appearance at different age and some common morphs
- additional illustration panes on e.g. "dark bird of prey from below", "shore silhouettes"
- easy to read maps with seasonal ranges
- common/uncommon/scarce/nearly extinct etc. status pops out, allowing you to parse the page quickly in search of the most likely suspect when id'ing
- just "Eastern and Central North America", with a separate one dedicated to the Western part of the continent: makes sense for practical purposes!
Cons:
haven't found any so far, but will add if I find any from the experience of using my own copy later
Pros:
- short snippets about the entire family before proceeding to snippets on individual species
- illustrations that highlight the features differentiating species from related ones; also depicting typical appearance at different age and some common morphs
- additional illustration panes on e.g. "dark bird of prey from below", "shore silhouettes"
- easy to read maps with seasonal ranges
- common/uncommon/scarce/nearly extinct etc. status pops out, allowing you to parse the page quickly in search of the most likely suspect when id'ing
- just "Eastern and Central North America", with a separate one dedicated to the Western part of the continent: makes sense for practical purposes!
Cons:
haven't found any so far, but will add if I find any from the experience of using my own copy later
January 3, 2022
I think I can mark myself as having read this after 2.5 months of carrying it every time I go outside, though I don't think I've ACTUALLY read every word yet.
I borrowed the 5th edition from the library and used it for two months, and just received the 7th edition for Christmas. This is an excellent field guide. It fits right in my fanny pack (!) so I can actually take it with me when I go birding. It's indispensable to be able to flip through it and carefully compare field marks and behavior descriptions and determine - aha, that's a black-bellied plover! (One of yesterday's new species). The drawings are beautiful and detailed, the maps are easy to interpret, descriptions are helpful, the recent addition of color coded pages for different families is helpful, the silhouettes of, ie, shorebirds and raptors are very instructional, and overall I just find it fun to study and to constantly learn about birds I never new existed!
I borrowed the 5th edition from the library and used it for two months, and just received the 7th edition for Christmas. This is an excellent field guide. It fits right in my fanny pack (!) so I can actually take it with me when I go birding. It's indispensable to be able to flip through it and carefully compare field marks and behavior descriptions and determine - aha, that's a black-bellied plover! (One of yesterday's new species). The drawings are beautiful and detailed, the maps are easy to interpret, descriptions are helpful, the recent addition of color coded pages for different families is helpful, the silhouettes of, ie, shorebirds and raptors are very instructional, and overall I just find it fun to study and to constantly learn about birds I never new existed!
May 21, 2021
This book is a wonderful resource, and I’ve found it very helpful over the years since I got more interested in birds. I continue to return to it often.
That said, for identifying birds quickly in the field, a much more useful resource is the Merlin Bird ID app: https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org. It’s free and it’s amazing.
That said, for identifying birds quickly in the field, a much more useful resource is the Merlin Bird ID app: https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org. It’s free and it’s amazing.
September 8, 2020
I absolutely love this reference for our backyard birding and have been using it for years. My 1 1/2 year old daughter will flip through and enjoys the detailed photos and learning the names of each bird species.
December 16, 2020
The classic. Great resource. More info that most birders will need, but compact enough to easily carry in a pack. I can attest to the fact that the range of the barn swallow has increased since this edition was published.
July 7, 2023
Excellent field guide, easy to use and beautifully illustrated. The descriptive language is peppered with delightful phrases. e.g. Great Horned Owl: “Subarctic birds frostier than others.” And I love the cool silhouettes at the back end flaps. Particularly the Roadside Silhouettes.
June 5, 2017
This guide can't be beat for helping new birders identify what is in their yard.
Has my Life List in it!
Has my Life List in it!
June 14, 2017
The all time great bird book to beat all bird books. Even fits in your pocket!
October 21, 2018
This is my "go-to" book for identifying birds. A "must" for every bird-lover. It's a reference book, you know, so I'll never really finish reading it.
December 14, 2018
Classic and very well organized reference. Highly recommended!
March 13, 2019
A must have for birders.
February 13, 2020
Great field guide to help me with birding and my ornithology class!
March 6, 2020
good reference for birdfeeder watching
July 5, 2020
Organized by bird type, the beginning of the book sets you up for narrowing down the type of bird through primary characteristics such as bill and tail shape.
May 26, 2022
This is a must-have book for anyone starting out birding. Or for anyone who just wants to know how to identify their backyard birds.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews