All the Birds of North America

by Jack Griggs

At last, a guide that successfully organizes birds by field-recognizable features for quick identification. For lack of a better method, bird guides have traditionally placed birds in evolutionary sequence, resulting in birding's classic Catch-22 -- you must recognize an unknown bird and know its place in the sequence before you can took it up! All the Birds arranges species by their feeding adaptations -- features that are easily observed. How a bird feeds largely determines its form. It's nature's way of organizing species to fit ecological niches. The powerful bills and tree-climbing habits of woodpeckers, for instance, are prominent feeding adaptations. Recognizing birds' adaptations for feeding is the natural, no-nonsense way to identify; learn, and understand them.

Genres: Birds, Nature, Reference, Nonfiction, Field Guides

400 pages, Paperback

Published November 12, 2002

Reviews

[Manybooks]

Yes indeed, Jack Griggs' All the Birds of North America is more often than not the go-to book I use if I am trying to identify bird species I encounter on my property (a rural setting in Southern Ontario). For while I do own a number of different bird watching books, none of them in my opinion even remotely compare to this excellent and handy field guide. The headings and divisions of All the Birds of North America make sense, the illustrations are both beautiful and intricately detailed, while the individual descriptions of the presented bird species are informative without being longwinded or overly scientific, read academic (but fortunately, also never childish, simplistic).

Furthermore, All the Birds of North America not only lists a number of extinct North American bird species, but also generally always indicates which North American bird species are currently threatened and/or endangered, often along with some of the main reasons why this might be the case (and even if these reasons are controversial, even if the reasons for a bird species being endangered are for example due to feral domestic cats, which other guidebooks are often majorly reluctant to even consider, as cats are such beloved animal companions that many individuals would and do tend to react rather allergically to the mere concept that feral cats and even non feral cats that spend most of their days or nights outside can and often do present huge and nasty threats to especially perching native songbirds). And it would be also and indeed be wonderful if the same author (if Jack Griggs) would consider compiling a similar such book listing the bird species of Europe (and one on the birds of Hawaii, many of which are severely, critically threatened, would be a great idea as well). Highly, highly recommended!!

[Melissa]

I learned about lots of new birds. Mostly the different kinds that I run across where I might travel or be. This is a great for few reasons;

1, It's broken down into catagory by bird type: ex: waterfowl, land, flight, etc.
2. It's filled with beautiful, colorful portraits of each of the birds. Great for the more the visually-learning type.
3. There are little maps of the United States for each section that displays darken areas for the bird population.
4. At the back of the book is a check-list for each bird in the book.

So there you have it. It's worth looking at, and if you enjoy learning about wildlife, or like to just learn about birds. Then I recommend this.

[Brad]

Although it's not in the "usual" order for bird guides, this book is still a handy reference to have around. The illustrators put many of the species in their habitat in the drawings and the text descriptions give a good introduction for those just starting to learn these different types of words. The organization and lack of direct comparisons for a lot of the species keep me from using this book in the field.

[Megan]

Now I'm not left wondering which bird breeds I encounter on a daily basis! Everything about this guide, I love - from the beautiful, intricate illustrations to the brief yet substantial information about each kind.

[keri]

Sweet! Shows birds both in habitat and on the wing for better identification. And fits handily in your pocket for hands-free hiking and easy retrieval. Thanks to Jeanne for showing me the way!

[Tiffany]

The non-traditional organization of this book throws many birders, but I think the illustrations are beautiful and it has a lot of useful information in it. Its size is nice for packing around.

[Lisa]

My first field guide. A gift from my husband.

[Brenna Colner]

perfect field guide

[Micaiah]

It’s actually missing a type of owl😂