The "Other" Field Guide to Birds

I am speaking, of course, of the National Wildlife Federation field guide to birds of North America, by Edward S. Brinkley. Published in May 2007 and touted on the back cover as “The most up-to-date all-photographic field guide,” this book seems to have been virtually ignored by bird (and virtually all other) bloggers. That is a shame, as I find it to be an incredibly well-designed and quite useful guide, much more so than other photo-based guides such as those by Ken Kaufmann and Don and Lillian Stokes. More than 750 species are illustrated with 2,100 full-color photographs (an average of nearly 3/species). Each photograph is enhanced with captions highlighting important field marks. Four-color range maps are provided for 600 species. In my opinion, this book should be a mandatory addition to every North American birder’s collection of field guides.