Birds of Florida Field Guide

by Stan Tekiela

Learn to Identify Birds in Florida! Make bird watching in Florida even more enjoyable! With Stan Tekiela’s famous field guide, bird identification is simple and informative. There’s no need to look through dozens of photos of birds that don’t live in your area. This book features 140 species of Florida birds, organized by color for ease of use. Do you see a yellow bird and don’t know what it is? Go to the yellow section to find out. Fact-filled information, a compare feature, range maps, and detailed photographs help to ensure that you positively identify the birds that you see.

Genres: Birds, Nature, Reference, Nonfiction, Science

368 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2001

About the author

Author, naturalist and wildlife photographer Stan Tekiela is the originator of the popular state-specific field guide series and many easy-to-use identification guides for the U.S. Over the last 30 years he has authored around 200 field guides, quick guides, nature books, children's books, wildlife audio CDs, puzzles and playing cards, presenting many species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, trees, wildflowers and cacti found across the U.S. and in Canada.

Stan has a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural History from the University of Minnesota, and he has received national and regional awards for his books and photography. Also a well-known columnist and radio personality, his syndicated column appears in more than 25 newspapers and his wildlife programs are broadcast on a number of Midwest radio stations.

Stan leads instructional photo workshops and wildlife tours across the U.S. for both beginner and advanced photographers. He also gives detailed presentations about wildlife, complete with his award-winning photographs, to audiences of all sizes across the country.

Reviews

[Judson Quicksall · Rating 5 out of 5]

BIRDS

[Garrett Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great travel sized bird guide to the most common species in Florida. Stan organizes his bird books by color so you can quickly find the bird you are looking for. It has nice clean photos of each bird, gives the basic details of each species, along with his notes about the birds where you can learn interesting factoids about the species. Each species also has a small map where you can see the range of each bird and what times of year they can be found. If you need an easy to read and browse bird book for a Florida trip this is a good one to get.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

So easy to find locate bird in book to identify. Well laid out.

[Ferhat Culfaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interestingly sorted by colour than species or alphabet which actually makes spotting easier.

[Alex Smearman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Idk if it’s got all the birds in Florida but it’s got a lot of them!

[Darla153 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like this little guy as a handy quick reference guide for the novice bird watcher. The overview of each species is brief providing just enough information for the backyard spotter. Unfortunately the photography runs short. Some of the identified species have images that are still very hard to detect whether you are referencing the right bird or not. Clear images shown from overhead wingspan, perched and from the underside flying overhead would be great to clearly identify markings. Overall it is a keeper for a start-up book. I would recommend it.

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in my favorite specialty store on birds a year ago and was told by the owner that this is THE reference book on birds that is sold the most in their shop. A comfortable size to keep on a table or ledge of a window, the pictures are very good. I've used it to identify a pair of red-tailed hawks that a family of crows was going after (it helped that I had a pair of binoculars and the book showed a picture of what the bird looked like while soaring). Who'd have thought four crows were that brave but I witnessed it.

I've used the book to determine two species of woodpeckers that we have. I seem to have a mental block identifying this bird! I've also read up on bluebirds and we now have three pairs that live near our home. The most amazing thing that has happened is that whenever one of our adult kids visit and sees me looking out the window in the morning they want to know what birds we have. If I am not sure one of them will pick up this reference book and tell me what they think. The hobby has spread to their houses. One now has two birdbaths in her yard and the other lets me know what is living in her hedge. Even our twenty-year-old son lets me know what he sees in our yard. Of course, my young grandsons just love to see any birds in general. So parents, it is never too late to start this hobby.

Packed with wonderful basic information, colorful pictures of males (and females if they look different) and little tidbits of knowledge that many may not know, it is a enjoyable book. Whether you use it at home, take it to the park or pack it up when you head to the beach, the facts it contains will help you. If nothing else the comfortable size makes it easy to drop in a purse or carry in a large pocket and should remind you that you are not alone.

[Janet C-B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book at a wildlife store, for the purpose of adding to my collection of reference books for Florida birds. What makes this field guide different from other bird ID books is that it is organized by bird color vs. bird family. I have read this 300 + page guide cover to cover and continue to use it as a back-up refernce book.

Pros: Specific to birds in my local area
1 - 3 clear photos are shown of each bird, sometimes including male/female differences.
In some cases a photo of the bird in flight.
Beginning pages, with diagrams of parts of a bird, diagrams of nests, and info on migration
Index at end which is not always included in a bird field guide.

Cons: organization by color can be confusing, especially with multiple colors.
organization by color is not helpful when the male & female have major color difference.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kind of field guide. As much as dichotomous keys bring back fond memories of my days as an undergraduate biology major, I have to admit that I prefer the organizing principle of this book: "birds that are mostly black" and "birds and are mostly yellow," etc... The bird call CDs and weatherproof leather cover are pretty wonderful, too.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good quick reference, although not very detailed. Better for the beginning birder or someone just curious about a bird in their yard.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Birds are arranged by color, so that helps when identifying. I like that it tells you what time of year you can see the birds. Not super in depth, but travel-size.