Birds of the Pacific Northwest (A Timber Press Field Guide)

My son became an "birder" when our state enacted "stay at home" order. We are allowed to go outside for a walk in a forest or wildlife viewing areas. He found that photo sessions, when he is looking for birds and tries to take pictures of them with his telephoto lens, are engaging and exciting. It is a good way to get outdoors and keep ourselves busy with something fun. Well, it is not enough to take a picture of a bird, once you did, you become curious which bird it is and what is known about it. He tried several apps for it, which were good, but ultimately we settled on this book as our primary resource. He uses every time when we need to identify a new bird. The book is full color, pictures are very good quality, they are taken from angles from which you can see all characteristic "features" of each bird which help to identify them. Each bird is described on 2-3 pages, so you not only learn what its name is, but also learn interesting facts about their origin and habitat. So far, we were able to easily find every single bird that we saw and every time learned something interesting about it from the book's description. This book is exactly what we needed. I am very thankful to the authors for putting a lot of time and effort into creating this beautiful book. It is not exactly a pocket size book, but it would fit into a large outside pocket if needed. It is a good compromise between portable size and content.

Simply the finest birding book for the region I have seen and now own. The book has so many things done right that I have virtually set aside every other book I have previously relied on for birding in the backyard and back country alike. Layout- Easy to use, easy to quickly search and reference. Easy. Period. Photos- High quality, great shots and real shots that help me reference what I am really seeing in the field. With multiple aspects of most birds in a range of plumages when appropriate. Descriptions- A perfect blend of technical data and language that is appropriate to the lay-person and expert alike. I purchased this book for multiple family members and some of the more beginner birders find the best aspect to be-- 'they understand it'. I would consider myself to be a Novice birder but spend more than an average amount of time in the outdoors observing. This is a great reference tool, and incredibly reasonable in price for all it provides. It may not replace your entire birding library as it did mine, but I assure you it deserves a place in it.

Great field guide for birders of any level! I am a beginner from the east coast, so this has helped teach me a lot about the PNW birds I’m not very familiar with. Small enough to take with you on an adventure, and well organized if you’re trying to identify in the field.

A really nice book & great pictures

It includes info on some birds as well as references to very niche local areas where we live in Oregon! My mom loves it and can't wait to use it when she and my dad (both retired) go on road trips so she can take pictures of birds and ID them later. The ONLY reason I removed a star: The book is a bit small, and the text is a bit on the tiny side for older readers, who may be the larger audience for this material. It'd be nice if they sold a copy that was about 25 percent larger.

My sister-in-law is a new birder and has really loved using this book to learn more and identify birds in our area. She was super excited to get this book for Christmas.

Absolutely love this book. So easy to read and only necessary stuff. I bought used but it arrived what looks like a brand new book.

UPDATE 8/26/2018: I've referred to this thing endlessly this year. I will be watching this one for future revision/additions if they ever come. This is the bird guide for PNW, hands-down. My 5 stars stand. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I've only just gotten into this guide and already I am simply impressed. The photography is outstanding and without being overly contrast-laden, heavily edited as several other guides tend toward (I believe editors believe this adds clarity to the markings and colors, but really it only muddies the waters since no bird appears this way naturally). The descriptions, ranges and behavioral notes are excellent, marvelous really for a book of this size. The organization is well done and the cover and binding are strong. Not much more to ask for. My previous favorite for our region is "Birds of the Puget Sound Region Coast to Cacades" Paulson, Morse, Aversa and Opperman ... but I have to admit, except for the physical size of this book, its a bit better in most ways. It's naturally larger as is covers a much larger region, but even still I'm happy to have picked it up. A new favorite.

This is an excellent book. Where I retired to, has over 100 species of birds. I therefore concluded, rightly, that I really needed a good bird book and this one is excellent. Concise descriptions with clear colour photos have made this book a permanent resident of my truck along with my binoculars. Highly recommended.

Covers way more territory than the Pacific northwest. Not interested in other areas.