The best field guide for birds (2023) - Select a birding guide for proper identification
Updated: May 24, 2023
This question is one that can haunt every single person new to birdwatching. Read onward to learn our top field guide recommendations!
Birding field guides are some of the most crucial pieces of birdwatching gear. For those new to birdwatching, feeding birds, or enjoying wildlife in general, a proper field guide can offer identification help, natural history facts, and tips on finding a target species. There are field guides for almost every major group of birds: waterfowl, raptors, sparrows, warblers, shorebirds, owls, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, and more!
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Navigate quickly to the field guides you are exploring a purchase of:
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Want the abbreviated version? Here's a quick reference guide to our favorite guides:
Guide Category | Guide | Link to Guide |
|---|---|---|
Best Bird Guide | Sibley Guide to Birds | |
Raptors | Crossley Guide to Raptors | |
Owls | Peterson Guide to Owls | |
Hummingbirds | North American Hummingbirds | |
Warblers | The Warbler Guide | |
Sparrows | Peterson Guide to Sparrows | |
Waterfowl | Crossley Guide to Waterfowl | |
Gulls | Gulls of the World | |
Shorebirds | The Shorebird Guide | |
Seabirds | Oceanic Birds of the World | |
Ornithology | Handbook of Bird Biology |
Which field guide should I buy for birdwatching?
I am frequently asked this question by those who are new to the birdwatching community. I have an easy answer if they are looking for their first field guide. The list grows if they are looking for even better reference material. How much does it grow? I have an industrial-style shelving unit capable of holding several hundred pounds. It holds books. I have field guides and references for every manner of animal and plant in North America, Central America, South America, Africa, and more! I have spent 20+ years curating my library of field guides for birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. So, instead of telling you to spend over a decade of your life (and too much money) sifting and sorting through hundreds of books for the right field guides, I am going to provide my top guides for the world of birdwatching. The guide links below lead to various physical and digital offerings.
Oh, and before we start, there are apps out there to help too. There is even an app that will identify bird photographs for you, but where is the flocking fun in that? Stupid apps taking away all the fun. (Kidding, these are great new tools to use.)
The Best Field Guides for Birdwatching
A good general field guide for birds must have high-quality graphics or photos. It also needs to help bring attention to the most useful ID points. The writing style also needs to be easily understood by those who are not familiar with bird terminology. I have two main recommendations for the best overall field guides and two pocket-sized field guides for birdwatchers who are new to the hobby:
Let's look at each recommendation in-depth, starting with my always number one recommended guide for those new to birding.
Best General Field Guide: The Sibley Guide to Birds
The Sibley Guide to Birds has long been the pinnacle of general bird guides. Peterson and Golden guides stopped being updated years ago, leaving a space for the highly talented artist and birder, David Sibley, to step in. Peterson has since started creating new guides, but Sibley's guides had already extended deep roots. Sibley uses paintings in his guide, which allows for control of how the birds are presented to readers. While we rarely get to see birds in optimal light and angles, learning the basics of each species is the foundation we all need when we jump into birdwatching.
Best Photo Guide to Birds: The Crossley ID Guide
The Crossley Guide came out shortly before I was taking my first ornithology courses in college. Richard Crossley grabbed the new wave of photography equipment and editing and rode that wave into a new type of field guide. The Crossley ID Guide uses high-quality photos of birds placed into situations that bird lovers experience in the field. After I knew my first Sibley Guide by heart, I moved to The Crossley Guide to continue my ID skill growth.
The Best Field Guides for Raptors
Field guides for raptors are extremely helpful when identifying the wide variety of raptor color morphs or seeing these charismatic species in flight. Our top three recommendations for raptor identification are:
Check out my top recommendation, The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors, in-depth! (Throughout much of this post, you will find some threads. Crossley Guides are common in several sections, and for the raptors section, one author resounds loudly. Jerry Liguori. Every book in this section has been authored, at least in part, by Jerry Liguori. He IS the top mind in raptor research in North America and possibly the world.)
Best Raptor Guide: The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors
Combining Liguori's mind and photography with Crossley's style and photography gives you an amazing guide to raptor identification. Some of my favorite pieces of The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors are the quizzes creating proper challenges in the guide. Crossley teaches the identification of certain raptor groups, then places them into situations that challenge your newfound skills. The other two guides above are still great references, and if you have a keen interest in learning raptor identification, you should also grab those.
The Best Field Guide for Owls
There are not many field guides for owls, and honestly, most general field guides are good enough for owls. However, if you want the best reference guide to owls of North America, here it is:
Best Guide for Owls: Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean
The Best Field Guides for Waterfowl
Waterfowl can be easy to identify when they are apparent drakes (males). However, for tough identifications of hens (females), difficult geese, and some swans, a field guide built specifically for waterfowl may be of great use!
Whether you are a birdwatcher or a duck hunter, waterfowl identification is critical to both hobbies. The Crossley ID Guide: Waterfowl is a recently published guide. The photography in the guide is top-notch, and it uses the style of placing quality photographs of birds into actual situations you will experience when birding. North American Ducks, Geese & Swans also has some of the best photography you can find in waterfowl guides. If it is available, I highly recommend it. However, it can be hit-and-miss if it is available in stores. The Waterfowl ID Series is comprised of three pamphlet-style guides that teach the critical pieces of waterfowl ID. These are a great addition if you want something to tuck into your birding vehicle.
Best Waterfowl Guide: The Crossley ID Guide: Waterfowl
The Best Field Guides for Warblers
Warblers are the gems of songbird migration. While spring migration can make for easy warbler identification, spring females and both sexes in fall migration are a challenge for even experienced birdwatchers. A proper warbler guide can be very helpful!
The Warbler Guide is the top guide for North American warblers. It combines photography, graphics, and learning sound by sight. There is an accompanying app that is also very useful, but it is an additional cost. A Field Guide to Warblers of North America is also a quality guide from Peterson Field Guides, but it cannot compete with the work of Stephenson and Whittle. If you have to pick one, pick The Warbler Guide.
Best Field Guide to Warblers: The Warbler Guide
The Best Field Guides for Shorebirds
Shorebirds are a real identification challenge. Rare shorebirds can add a layer of difficulty that a proper field guide can help alleviate. These are my top shorebird field guides:
This section is difficult to offer a recommendation for. Why? All of these guides need to be updated. However, of the available outdated guides, The Shorebird Guide is the best of the bunch. Its style and quality are in need of improvement, but for being almost 20 years old, it is very helpful. Again, you'll see a recognizable name on the cover.
Best Shorebird Field Guide: The Shorebird Guide
The Best Field Guides for Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are the spark bird for many bird lovers in North America. Learning how to identify hummingbirds makes for quite the effort due to their rapid movements! Here are our top recommendations for hummingbird guides:
North American Hummingbirds: An Identification Guide is the most updated guide to hummingbirds. It combines macro photography (which means close-up and high quality) and graphics for a combination critical to proper hummingbird identification. Prior to my training as a hummingbird bander, it was my go-to for hummingbird identification. I still use it frequently as a reference. It sorts the hummingbirds by size, which can be a benefit for some birders but a hindrance for others. One great bonus, it also includes common hybrids of hummingbirds.
Best Hummingbird Field Guide: North American Hummingbirds
Want more general hummingbird information? Check these out:
This next book is not a field guide, but I read this book over the Christmas season of 2019. I fell in love with its photography and information. Few books can offer a "life-sized" guide to their subjects. If you want a great read on hummingbirds, grab this book.
Hummingbirds: A Life-size Guide to Every Species
The Best Field Guides for Sparrows
Sparrows are often written off as LBB's, or "little brown birds," due to their generally brown coloration and quick movements that rarely allow for lengthy study. Two guides are updated for sparrows in North America:
If you had asked me in 2019 which guide I would recommend, the order would have been reversed. However, I have warmed up to the Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows.
Best Sparrow Field Guide: Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America
The photography is immaculate, and the information is up-to-date. However, the information is almost too updated. The taxonomy used in this guide has split subspecies of certain sparrows into their own species. These changes are not reflected in the recent AOS taxonomy changes, but they are possible in the near future. This is the guide you need if you can get past that issue. If you are easily confused, Sparrows of the United States and Canada will be your style. Of course, who isn't easily confused when it comes to sparrows?
The Best Field Guides for Gulls
Gulls suck. You said it, not me. Honestly, do you even want to try to learn gull ID? Even gull experts occasionally admit that a bird cannot be fully identified. You could just quit reading at this point and act like your library is complete. I would not blame you. If you are serious about birds, though, you need one of these two guides:
Any guide that has "simplified" in the title will be my first recommendation. Especially if simplified is preceded by gulls. I own both guides, and the photography in both guides is at the top of the game. If you are just learning gulls, go Gulls Simplified first. As you grow, grab Gulls of the World.
Best Field Guide to Gulls: Gulls of the World
The Best Field Guides for Seabirds
Many birdwatchers may never go on a pelagic seabirding excursion; however, seabirds regularly show up in states with no ocean shoreline. Having a seabird guide can help when these wanderers do show up on some freshwater bodies.
Trying to read a book on a pelagic trip is a terrible idea for most people. So, grab Oceanic Birds of the World and keep it as a reference on land. I use the kindle version, so I have a copy with me at all times (on my smartphone). In fact, for many of these guides, I keep a digital version. There are few options for pelagic bird species, which gives this guide little competition. Even with tougher competition, this guide would rise amongst the ranks. It covers 270+ species and includes over 2,200 photographs. It is a recent publishing effort, so it is fairly up-to-date.
Best Pelagic Bird Guide: Oceanic Birds of the World
The Best Guides for Backyard Birding
Need a quick guide for backyard birds? Here you go:
My first recommendation will always be an actual field guide. However, these two mini-guides are perfect if you want a quick reference for your backyard feeders.
The Best Guides for Learning Bird Biology
If you want to learn more about the life history of birds, any of the three books above will help you. However, the Handbook of Bird Biology is a gem. I own all three, and Handbook is my first go-to. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology also offers a course to go with this textbook. If you have the time and money, both are worth your time!
Learn your birds, get a bird book
That was a long read. I probably gave way too much information. BUT! You have something to start or continue your bird journey with. These guides do exactly what a good guide should do. They keep your feet on the path to proper bird identification.
I could have probably just provided a link to my Amazon Storefront, but you would just click on it and then get distracted by soaker hoses for your garden. Wait, no, that is just me.
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