Stokes Field Guide to Birds by Donald Stokes, Lillian Stokes (1994, Paperback)

This book has all the answers for questions you don't get answered in your picture guide books. You should have this since you learn much more than you do from a guide book.

This is my favorite book for all but the most demanding, hard-core birder. That's why I've bought more than 10 of them over the years for myself, friends, and relatives to help them attract and enjoy the birds that come into their yards and neighborhoods. I keep a copy at home, one at my office, and one in my car.

I really like:
1. The Stokes' use of photographs of birds rather than paintings. Paintings are beautiful, but more stylized. I like to see the birds as they actually are!
2. The Stokes include photos of the male, female, juvenile and adult, and major sub-groups on the same page to facilitate identification.
3. The photographs of the birds are on the same page as the descriptive narrative to facilitate identification.
4. The written narrative includes helpful hints to differentiate between similar species, such as some of the finches and the pine siskin. It also includes range maps by season on the same page as the photos so the reader can quickly rule out similar-appearing but impossible candidates for identification. The narrative also indicates which birds are likely to come to feeders for identification purposes.
5. The book is compact enough to carry in a backpack, a suitcase, or glovebox.
6. On Ebay, this book is cheap enough to buy several!