All about Birds Midwest: Midwest US and Canada

by Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The perfect guide to the birds of the midwestern United States and central Canada, from the #1 birding website AllAboutBirds.org

The All About Birds Regional Field-Guide Series brings birding enthusiasts the best information from the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website, AllAboutBirds.org, used by more than 17 million people each year. These definitive books provide the most up-to-date resources and expert coverage on bird species throughout North America.

This dynamic guide is the perfect companion for anyone interested in the birds of the midwestern United States and central Canada. The guide offers fascinating details about the birds around you, useful bird ID tips, and handy bird-watching information. It presents full accounts of the 221 species most commonly seen in these regions; beautiful photographs of male, female, and immature birds, as well as morphs, and breeding and nonbreeding plumage (so you can ID birds all year long); current range maps; and so much more. The midwestern USA and central Canada edition of All About Birds is easy to use and easy to share.

This volume features the following states, provinces, and territories: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, western Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, central Nunavut, and eastern Northwest Territories.
Descriptions of 221 bird species, including four photos for each bird chosen specifically for better ID and sourced from the Macaulay Library (a collection of bird photos from citizen scientists)
Quick and easy index with illustrations on cover flaps, with complete index at the back
Information on Cornell Lab citizen-science programs and how to participate
Bonus content includes identification best practices and tips on bird photography, birdscaping, food and feeding, and more
Free MERLIN Bird ID app (downloaded more than 5 million times) for quick ID in the wild using photos and birdsong

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2022

Reviews

[Darya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This field guide has the same content as the Merlin app - becoming rather an encyclopedia that you would like to thumb through at home than an actual field guide that you take on birding strolls (since you have it all in your phone anyway if you want to id a bird on the go).
I loved the intro with tips to start distinguishing birds.
As for the actual bird pages - I didn't read it all, just looked through - the inclusion of species based on the range overlapping with one of the states they count in with "Midwest" (I am also used to other definitions of this region than the one they used) seemed somewhat mechanistic. Is a bird that mostly lives in the South-West and occurs on a tiny verge of Kansas a Midwestern bird?
And, yes, it is nice to thumb through beautiful photos but the same information on the app with all the interactive possibilities is more handy.

[Woomo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great lightweight book to carry around, but I would not use this as a definitive guide. There are no illustrations, just photos. There is typically 4 photos per bird. A lot of birds, especially songbirds, can change colors and markings wildly throughout the year and this book doesn't cover that very well. Besides that, it's really not a terrible book. It can easily fit in large pockets and will not take up a lot of space in your bag. However, if you do grab this book, make sure you have something like a peterson or sibley along with it.

[Susan Marrier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was useful to learn what birds I can hope to see in my geographical area and what their likely habitats might be, although the range maps are in some cases inaccurate, as there are some birds that are definitely here but not shown to be. Migration patterns would have been helpful, as well. The introductory chapters about various aspects of birding are quite good, but the actual species descriptions are uneven. The shapes and sizes are not particularly helpful, but the colours, behaviours, and habitats are quite informative. Some mnemonics are good, but more could have been included. The photos are not as useful as drawings would be. In short, a fairly useful guide, but only as a supplement to some of the more standard ones.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like how this guide provides pictures of the individual species as adults & juveniles, male vs female and in flight. The text has a lot of good information including fun facts and the distribution maps include a key on each one.

[Trista Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really informative and useful for a new birder. However, there were a lot of spots where images covered the text so you can't see the rest of sentences, and there were a few spelling errors.