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Kaufman Field Guides
A Field Guide to Advanced Birding: Birding Challenges and How to Approach Them
Covering thirty-five of the most difficult groups of birds, from winter loons to confusing fall warblers, jaegers to chickadees, accipiters to flycatchers, this clearly written and beautifully illustrated field guide tells exactly how to solve the most challenging bird identification problems of North America.
299 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
39 people are currently reading
293 people want to read
About the author
Kenn Kaufman
39 books132 followersKenn Kaufman (born 1954) is an American author, artist, naturalist, and conservationist, with a particular focus on birds.
Born in South Bend, Indiana, Kaufman started birding at the age of six. When he was nine, his family moved to Wichita, Kansas, where his fascination with birds intensified. At age sixteen, inspired by birding pioneers such as Roger Tory Peterson, he dropped out of high school and spent several years hitchhiking around North America in pursuit of birds. This adventure eventually was recorded in a memoir, Kingbird Highway.
Thereafter he spent several years as a professional leader of nature tours, taking groups of birders to all seven continents. In 1984 he began working as an editor and consultant on birds for the National Audubon Society, a connection that continues to this day. Gradually he transitioned from tour leading to a full-time focus on writing, editing, and illustrating, always on nature subjects. His first major book, the Peterson Field Guide to Advanced Birding, was published in 1990. This was followed by another dozen books, including seven titles in his own series of Kaufman Field Guides. His next book, The Birds That Audubon Missed, is scheduled for publication in May 2024.
Currently, Kaufman devotes most of his time to writing books and painting bird portraits. His paintings have been juried into several prestigious exhibitions. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society, a recipient of the Eisenmann Medal from the Linnaean Society of New York, and the only person to have received the American Birding Association's lifetime achievement award twice.
Kaufman resides in Oak Harbor, Ohio with his wife, Kimberly Kaufman, also a dedicated naturalist. Kenn and Kimberly mostly work on separate projects, but they collaborate as the "birding experts" for the popular Birds & Blooms Magazine.
Born in South Bend, Indiana, Kaufman started birding at the age of six. When he was nine, his family moved to Wichita, Kansas, where his fascination with birds intensified. At age sixteen, inspired by birding pioneers such as Roger Tory Peterson, he dropped out of high school and spent several years hitchhiking around North America in pursuit of birds. This adventure eventually was recorded in a memoir, Kingbird Highway.
Thereafter he spent several years as a professional leader of nature tours, taking groups of birders to all seven continents. In 1984 he began working as an editor and consultant on birds for the National Audubon Society, a connection that continues to this day. Gradually he transitioned from tour leading to a full-time focus on writing, editing, and illustrating, always on nature subjects. His first major book, the Peterson Field Guide to Advanced Birding, was published in 1990. This was followed by another dozen books, including seven titles in his own series of Kaufman Field Guides. His next book, The Birds That Audubon Missed, is scheduled for publication in May 2024.
Currently, Kaufman devotes most of his time to writing books and painting bird portraits. His paintings have been juried into several prestigious exhibitions. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society, a recipient of the Eisenmann Medal from the Linnaean Society of New York, and the only person to have received the American Birding Association's lifetime achievement award twice.
Kaufman resides in Oak Harbor, Ohio with his wife, Kimberly Kaufman, also a dedicated naturalist. Kenn and Kimberly mostly work on separate projects, but they collaborate as the "birding experts" for the popular Birds & Blooms Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
March 5, 2011
Most field guides have a very similar design: they are essentially laundry lists of species (some comprehnsive, some focused on common species), with photos/drawings, brief descriptions, and maps, usually with a short introductory section on general issues of the groups involved but not much more detail than that. The new Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding is completely different. Almost a third of this ~450 page book is about learning the principles of understanding what you see (or hear) in the field. Rather than simply show you what the different species are, it teaches you how to identify the species. After the thorough and detailed "introduction" on generally how to identify birds, the rest of the book focuses on each of the major groups of birds, what the common problems are with that group, and what characters are most diagnostic. Detailed explanations are given on how to identify the more confusing species within each group. The language is clear and easy to read and the photographs are excellent and cover many more angles, ages, as variants than most. For some species they even include sonograms of the common calls, something I've never seen in another guide and which (with practice) can definitely serve as a much better indicator of call that textual descriptions.
Although it covers a reasonably large number of species, this book cannot substitue for your favorite "laundry list" field guide because it simply doesn't contain the full list/descriptions of all of the species in North America. However, not only will you want this guide as a supplement to the other guide (or perhaps, more accurately, the other guide is really the supplement to this one), unlike that guide, this is the book you will actually want to read from cover to cover, because doing so is a lesson in bird identification that standard field guides simply do not offer. This is a must read for anyone interested in birding and identifying species in the field.
Although it covers a reasonably large number of species, this book cannot substitue for your favorite "laundry list" field guide because it simply doesn't contain the full list/descriptions of all of the species in North America. However, not only will you want this guide as a supplement to the other guide (or perhaps, more accurately, the other guide is really the supplement to this one), unlike that guide, this is the book you will actually want to read from cover to cover, because doing so is a lesson in bird identification that standard field guides simply do not offer. This is a must read for anyone interested in birding and identifying species in the field.
June 24, 2014
So, this is a very detailed, in-depth book on birding. I got through the first section, which was about identification in general. Unfortunately I didn't retain very much -- for example, he goes into detail about molting, and the different kinds of molts, etc. I was happy to read it and I'll keep in mind the idea that "well, that bird looks weird, but it might just be between molts" or something but there's no way on God's green earth I am ever going to be able to remember specific molts for certain species of birds. But still, I'm glad it's in there!
I stopped when I got to the part that starts talking about identification for specific types of birds (I think ducks were first.) Again, it's interesting and useful but there's no way I'm going to retain most of it. But maybe before I go out somewhere where I know there will be ducks, I'll read the duck section as a refresher.
Long story short, it's a valuable book, but not as useful to a birder such as I, somewhat more casual and in it for the "being outside on a leisurely walk" side of things, moreso than the "getting a long list and spotting rarities" side of things.
I stopped when I got to the part that starts talking about identification for specific types of birds (I think ducks were first.) Again, it's interesting and useful but there's no way I'm going to retain most of it. But maybe before I go out somewhere where I know there will be ducks, I'll read the duck section as a refresher.
Long story short, it's a valuable book, but not as useful to a birder such as I, somewhat more casual and in it for the "being outside on a leisurely walk" side of things, moreso than the "getting a long list and spotting rarities" side of things.
June 7, 2024
Awesome book for birders! Reiterates how to identify outside of field markers and dives into the tricky groups of birds. This definitely helped me improve my game.
December 31, 2017
This is an excellent guide. I am not sure that I retained enough of it, and hope to re-read it some day..
November 25, 2019
I should really find my own copy soon, rather than depending on the library's so much. This was nothing but helpful, specifically in identifying the exact species of birds that come to my backyard.
(That place is like a "Y'all come down" choir every afternoon! I have stopped hanging out in it lately since I have been writing my NaNoWriMo attempt. I am at 7,341 words about A. Qui Line, the master of fowl affairs, hahaha, et al.)
What this ornithologist says about wild birds in the beginning corresponds precisely with what I remember about raising cockatiels from age 5 to 15.
At the rear of the book there is a ruler - delineating inches and centimeters. Fortunately, the centimeter side is closer to the edge so you can be most precise to the mm if the situation calls for it.
It abets you on your way to understanding these incredible beings! I wish that I had wings myself. Just like these creatures. Kaufman lets you have a better insight on how they work. I really liked that. You will too, and how the specific ones differ, as well. It's very clearly illustrated!
This book had me pulling out a pencil and drawing the field marks out to tell them all apart for myself. That is quite impressive! (Almost moreso than the Laws bird book.)
If you have the time and the inkling for birdwatching, it is a worthwhile pursuit. I think it might help keep your eyes from going bad.
(That place is like a "Y'all come down" choir every afternoon! I have stopped hanging out in it lately since I have been writing my NaNoWriMo attempt. I am at 7,341 words about A. Qui Line, the master of fowl affairs, hahaha, et al.)
What this ornithologist says about wild birds in the beginning corresponds precisely with what I remember about raising cockatiels from age 5 to 15.
At the rear of the book there is a ruler - delineating inches and centimeters. Fortunately, the centimeter side is closer to the edge so you can be most precise to the mm if the situation calls for it.
It abets you on your way to understanding these incredible beings! I wish that I had wings myself. Just like these creatures. Kaufman lets you have a better insight on how they work. I really liked that. You will too, and how the specific ones differ, as well. It's very clearly illustrated!
This book had me pulling out a pencil and drawing the field marks out to tell them all apart for myself. That is quite impressive! (Almost moreso than the Laws bird book.)
If you have the time and the inkling for birdwatching, it is a worthwhile pursuit. I think it might help keep your eyes from going bad.
March 9, 2018
Concise, well-written, well-organized, covers broad spectrum of information on each genus and each species.....all that AND fascinating reading. With this guide in my hands or jacket pocket, I feel like I Kenn is at my side while birding and he really really wants me to become a great 'bird-understander' but also understands how frustrating the process can be. Thank you so much Kenn.
The book also owes its success to first-rate publishing and excellent contributions by everyone involved.
Rare that I sacrifice precious early morning hours normally devoted to watching wild birds to do anything else, let alone write a review of a book!
The book also owes its success to first-rate publishing and excellent contributions by everyone involved.
Rare that I sacrifice precious early morning hours normally devoted to watching wild birds to do anything else, let alone write a review of a book!
April 30, 2025
I don’t normally enjoy books detailing plumages, wear & life stages, but Kauffman’s style keeps it engaging so I took in at least some of it. I also found the line drawings really useful even without colour; often a sense of shape & tone is more useful when out observing ‘in the field’. That said, 4 instead of 5 stars as this edition lacks colour & has been superseded by a new edition (I saw this one in my local Audubon reserve & enjoy vintage books sold as new!).
October 10, 2018
This book made me appreciate even more that I didn't have to learn birdwatching on my own. I strongly believe that to start birdwatching having a teacher is essential. But if you don't have one... If there is really no one around who can teach you... Then this book does contain all those little things that must be told to a beginner birdwatcher.
March 28, 2021
Definitely enjoyable....each chapter covers a different avian identification conundrum (loons, empidonax flycatchers, etc), and follows a similar methodology. It goes through shape, song, bill, coloring, behavior, etc. I underlined key passages in my copy, and will keep it with me when going out on trips where I may run into a question. My one quibble is that it's not in color, the illustrations use shading to indicate where some color is, it would have been helpful to see the actual color.
February 1, 2022
Super helpful, I found the information on gulls particularly insightful and clarifying. This book does a great job clarifying and explaining birding challenges and the writing is nice and personable. Highly recommend if you are into birding.
April 5, 2022
A great resource for birding. This book is more about thinking of birds in their broader classifications as a way of making identification more effective in the field. A good book to read and then keep on hand as a reference.
February 15, 2018
Fantastic! Even as a veteran birder I learned a whole lot from this book.
August 31, 2020
Seven word review = I now know how little I know.
August 9, 2023
This guide has lots of helpful advice and illustrations for birders who want to take their identification and appreciation of birds to the next level.
August 30, 2012
This field guide expands greatly on Kaufman's earlier standard field guides to birds of Eastern and Western North America. But it is not for the faint of heart! This is a reference for very experienced birders. With emphasis on "very". Kaufman is most interested in developing skills needed to even attempt identification of birds from difficult vantage points, where molt and juvenal situations are involved, and between confusing species (especially flycatchers!). The latter 2/3 of the guide provide very detailed discussions of what to look for in these difficult evaluations. I strongly urge even moderately skilled birders to stick with the earlier Kaufman guides, which are excellent. This one is rather powerful (and potentially discouraging) medicine.
May 15, 2012
May 5, 2012: I read his first edition and liked it for the most part. But this second edition is much better! I can clearly understand what I need to do to take this hobby to another level of enjoyment.
It's not written for beginners but I think if I was a beginner I'd want to be coached on this material - to get started with a different orientation than simple field marks, although they are necessary.
For advanced birders, the book is a must read in my opinion.
It's not written for beginners but I think if I was a beginner I'd want to be coached on this material - to get started with a different orientation than simple field marks, although they are necessary.
For advanced birders, the book is a must read in my opinion.
April 2, 2015
The book covers some problematic groups of birds and some common similar birds that are very difficult to differentiate from each other. It gives tips on how to watch birds, how to listen to them and how to learn behavior of each class of bird. I did find that I needed a little more information about several groups of birds and a little less detail about some (such as Hummingbirds), since I live in the Northeast. Perhaps there is a book that only covers east/west or north america?
May 30, 2011
A great resource for birdwatchers looking to improve their identification skills. See my full review at my blog.
January 3, 2015
This book helped me a TON. I initially got it to help me learn to identify shorebirds, which I found especially hard. It not only helped me to do that, but helped me identify pretty much every other kind of bird, too. It's probably one of the best birding books I own.
February 15, 2011
Helpful discussion of specific identification challenges such as accipiters or fall warblers.
August 22, 2011
Excellent guide to solving some common identification challenges, such as juvenile accipiters and fall warblers.
May 20, 2011
Kaufman meets the needs of the less-experienced birders. A good volume for the birding beginner.
June 7, 2011
Kaufmann's waited twenty years to update his field guide. Birders will appreciate Kaufmann's delay when they often refer to this volume for guidance.
December 5, 2011
This guide tells how you can tell the differences, markings of species.
(If you can) Theres smaller pictures but more text. Which sometimes I would rather have.
(If you can) Theres smaller pictures but more text. Which sometimes I would rather have.
June 5, 2015
Excellent information for birders who want to hone their skills.
June 27, 2016
A great resource for the obsessed bird watcher!
August 17, 2013
The original was a treat, the new addition is amazing! Great for beginning and advanced birders alike.
February 7, 2015
A good reference book. I read specific sections when I need more info about a bird.
October 19, 2015
Very well written book with more knowledge transfer than a standard birding field guide. This is more about what to look for and how to appreciate behavior and appearance in the field. Recommended.
February 18, 2014
An excellent resource. I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to become a better birder.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews