Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds: Eastern Region

by Donald W. Stokes

Is that butterfly outside your window a Monarch or a Giant Swallowtail? What's the best kind of feeder for attracting birds to your backyard? This pocket-size, brilliantly colorful, simple-to-use guide is an ideal introduction to the birds of the Eastern United States. It contains dozens of full-color photographs that enable readers of all ages to identify the most common species; range maps; tips on attracting and observing firds; information on habitat needs, life cycle, food preferences; and much more.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Birds, Field Guides, Biology, Science, Nature

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Donald W. Stokes and Lillian Q. Stokes are widely recognized as America's foremost authorities on birds and nature. Their books include the bestselling Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America, the Stokes Field Guide to Birds, the Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds, the Stokes Nature Guides, and the Stokes Backyard Nature Books. They live in New Hampshire and Florida.

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good first field guide, separating by colors helps non-birders find and learn what they’re seeing. Liked that each backyard bird had a section on what attracts them to your feeders.

[J.M. Heizer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was the first bird book I ever had and it was gifted to me as a child. It is a wonderful tool for those who are just starting to notice birds around them and are wanting to begin learning how to identify them as it lists the most common species in the Eastern US.

The original copyright of the book is 1996, so some of the regions of particular species are outdated at this point and inaccurate. For example, the region of the double-crested cormorant indicates that it is not seen in most of the Great Lakes or in the eastern Midwest. There are large numbers of the species in Lake Erie in the fall and I've seen flocks of them in rural ponds in parts of Ohio even south of Columbus.

This is a great, cheap bird book to get if you are starting out and don't want to commit to a more thorough or expensive guide. For those newer birders, just be cognizant of the fact that the regions may be out of date for where you can see certain species and know that there are many, many more birds in the Eastern US than are indicated in this text, but you will at least have the big ones down. Happy birding!

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

great guide...easy to follow

[Rageofanath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely simple guide for someone who's never been birding before. Great for kids also. It includes only the most common species, minimizing false ID's of the really rare species that are common among beginners. Sorted by color for fast field identification, includes multiple photos for different color morphs. Unfortunately there's generally only one photo per species, and no illustrations. There are a lot of species missing, and it will include many birds not necessarily present in your state so it's best to supplement it with a more in depth guide. However if all you're looking for is an introduction this is an excellent starter.

I began with this book, it helped me look at the birds in my environment a lot more closely, I augmented it with Petersons. Then I replaced it with Stan Tekiela's Birds of Massachusetts which has a similar color-based guide. But there may not be a Birds of... for your state.

[Andria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really easy guide to use.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very functional bird field guide for beginners.

[Stefanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael is into bird watching now, so I am learning about it too! It's a lot of fun actually.