North American Bird Search Box

This search box can be used to find bird species using bird's english, french or latin name, or to identify bird by its 4 letter Alpha Code

Field Guide for all the Birds of North America

Bird Books

Information, images and range maps on over 1,000 birds of North America, including sub-species, vagrants, introduced birds and possibilities

As in most cases, when one develops an interest on certain topics, one tends to gather sources of information on a particular subject. As these sources of information frequently come in the form of books, we naturally tend to find some books more helpful than others.

I have provided a list of books that I have found to be helpful in my quest to identify and better understand birds and their habitat. I found that these were the most popular books on birds of North America and that they have been very useful throughout my travels and personal research.

Books on Birds of North America

• "Audubon Bird Guide, Small Land Birds, eastern & central regions" by Richard H. Pough 1949
• "The Peterson Field Guide, A field Guide to Western Birds" by Roger T. Perterson 1961
• "Handbook of Birds of North America" by Frank M. Chapman 1966
• "Golden, A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America" by Chandler S. Robins 1966
• "The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, eastern region" by J. Bull & J. Farrand, Jr. 1977
• "The Birder's Handbook, A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds" by Paul R. Ehrlich 1988
• "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds, eastern region" by J. Bull & J. Farrand, Jr. 1994
• "The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, western region" by Miklos D. F. Udvardy 1977
• "Stokes Field Guide to Birds, Eastern Region" by Donald & Lillian Stokes 1995
• "Kaufman Focus Guides, Birds of North America" by Ken Kaufman 2000
• "Peterson Field Guides to Birds of Eastern and Central North America" by Roger T. Peterson 2002
• "Book of North American Birds" by Reader's Digest Project Staff 2005
• "The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North American Birds" by David A. Sibley 2005
• "National Geographic Complete Birds of North America 1st edition" by Jonathan Alderfer 2006
• "Birding" by Joseph Forshaw Steve Howell Terence Lindsey Rich Stallcup 2007
• "National Wildlife Confederation, Field Guide to Birds of North America" by Edward S. Brinkley 2007
• "Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America" by Roger T. Peterson 2008
• "Field Guide to Birds of North America" by Ted Floyd 2008
• "The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of North American Birds" by David A. Sibley 2009 1st Edition
• "Peterson Field Guides to Birds of Eastern and Central North America" by Roger T. Peterson 2010 6th Edition
• "National Geographic Complete Birds of North America 2nd edition" by Jonathan Alderfer 2014
• "The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of North American Birds" by David A. Sibley 2014 2nd Edition

Books on Birds of the USA

• "A Birder's Guide to Florida" by Bill Pranty 1996
• "Birding Texas" by Roland H. Wauer & Mark A. Elwonger 1998
• "Guide to The 500 Most Important Bird Areas in the US" by The American Bird Conservancy 2003
• "Florida's Birds 2nd edition" by David S. Maehr & Herbert W. Kale II 2005
• "National Geographic, Field Guide to Birds, Texas" by Jonathan Alderfer 2005
• "Condors in Canyon Country" by Sophie A. H. Osborn 2007
• "Arizona Wildlife Viewing Guide" by Sharon Adams & Sharon Mallman 2007
• "Finding Birds in the Southeast Arizona 7th Edition" by Kenn Kaufman 2007
• "A Birder's Guide to Alaska" by George C. West 2008
• "Birds of Texas" by Tim OHR 2011
• "Finding Birds at the Salton Sea & Imperial County, California" by Henry Detwiler Revised 2023
• "Finding Birds in San Diego County" by Henry Detwiler 2016
• "Finding Birds in Southern Illionis" by Henry Detwiler 2021
• "Finding Birds in South West Arizona" by Henry Detwiler 2022

Books on Birds of Canada

• "Birds of Canada" by P. A. Taverner 1934
• "Birds of Canada" by P. A. Taverner 1947
• "The Birds of Brewery Creek, Hull, Quebec" by Malcom MacDonald 1947
• "Birds of Canada" by Earl Godfrey 1966
• "History of the Birds of Kingston, Ontario" by Helen R. Quilliam 1973
• "Birds of Canada" by Earl Godfrey 1979
• "Enjoying the Birds of the Ottawa Valley" by John Sankey 1987
• "Atlas of Breeding Birds of Ontario" by Kevin Van Tighem 1988 2nd
• "Birding Jasper National Park" by M. D. Cadman, P. F. J. Eagles, F. M. Helleiner 1988 2nd
• "Birding in Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland" by Roger Burrows 1989
• "Birds of Ottawa & Vicinity" by Gerald McKeating 1990
• "A Birder's Guide to Churchill" by Bonnie Chartier 1994
• "Birding in Metro Halifax" by Clarence Stevens 1996
• "Birds of Alberta" by Chris Fisher, John Acorn 1998
• "Birds by the Dempster Highway" by Robert Frisch 1999 4th printing
• "A Birder's Guide to Point Pelee, and surrounding Region" by Tom Hince 1999
• "Sparrows & Finches of Ontario" by Chris G. Earley 2001
• "Birds of Canada" by Fred J. Alsop III 2004
• "Birding Sites of Nova Scotia" by Blake Maybank 2005
• "Les Oiseaux du Quebec" by Suzanne Brûlotte 2006
• "Finding Birds in Southern Manitoba" by Manitoba Naturalists Society 2006
• "Atlas of Breeding Birds of Ontario 2001-2005" by Michael D. Cadman, Donald A. Sutherland, Gregor G. Beck 2007
• "Birds of the Kingston Region 2nd Edition" by Ron D. Weir 2008
• "Guide to Birdwatching Sites of the Outaouais" by Gétand Desjardins 2008

Books on Birds Species

• "Hummingbirds" by Andrew Cleave 1989
• "Peterson Field Guide, Warblers" by John Dunn & Kimball Garrett 1997
• "The Shorebird Guide" by Michael O'Brien, Richard Crossley & Kevin Karlson 2006
• "Gulls of the Americas" by Steve N. G. Howell & Jon Dunn 2007
• "The Warbler Guide" by Tom Stephenson & Scott Whittle 2013

Birding Topics

• "The Bird Watcher's Anthology" by Roger Tory Peterson 1957
• "Fundamentals of Ornithology" by Josselyn Van Tyne & Anfrew J. Berger 1971
• "The Bird Feeder Book" by Donald & Lillian Stokes 1987
• "Building Birdhouses for North American Birds" by John Plewes 1990
• "Peterson Field Guides, Advanced Birding" by Kenn Kaufman 1990
• "The Birds of Winter" by Kit & George Harrison 1990
• "Garden Birds, How to attract birds to your garden" by Dr. Noble Proctor 1990 2nd printing
• "The Complete Birdhouse Book" by Donald & Lillian Stokes 1990
• "Birder's Dictionary" by Randall T. Cox 1996
• "Birds of Algonquin Park, 3rd edition" by Dan Strickland 2002
• "The Backyard Bird Feeder's Bible" by Sally Roth 2003
• "The All-Season Backyard Birdwatcher" by Marcus H. Schneck 2005
• "The Bird" by Colin Trudge 2008
• "The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior, 2nd printing" by David A. Sibley 2013
• "Ten Thousand Birds, Ornithology Since Darwin" by Birkhead, Wimpenny, Montgomerie 2014
• "Latin for Bird Lovers" by Roger Lederer & Carol Burr 2014
• "Birdmania, A Remarkable Passion for Birds" by Pete Dunne 2015

References to Other Bird Sites:

Avibase - the world bird database This site provides the user with a complete list of bird species, broken down per country, or in the example of the US or Canada, per state and province. Here, bird species names are available in other languages, a great asset to be used as a translation of foreign bird names.

ABA - American Birding Association This site represents an organization that maintains official records of all birds species that have been proven to have been seen inside the perimeters of the North American Continent and the surrounding bodies of water. Regular revised versions are posted to keep the bird list current at all times. This is the list used by all serious birders over their lifetime. You may be aware of the movie called the "Big Year". It was with this list that all the competing birders used in an attempt to set a new record as to how many bird species that could be seen by an individual birder in one calendar year.

I hope you will take advantage of these suggested websites. I have used each of them, in one way or another, throughout the years in my quest to better identify and understand our fine feathered friends.

Classic Collection of North American Birds

CCNAB