Date: 10/8/26 1:11 pm From: Rob Rogers (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: The best field guide ever for North America is coming in early 2027
I am guessing the eagle juvenile plumages would be on those pages
Rob Rogers
On Thu, Oct 8, 2026 at 15:39 Kent Fiala <carolinabirds...> wrote:
> The Table of Contents lists > > Eagles and Osprey 254 > Hawks 258 > > The pages shown seem to be 254 and 255. So I guess that leaves pages 256 > and 257 to be two more pages of eagles and osprey. > > I'm really looking forward to this book. I've always been mystified why we > had to settle for Sibley. > > Kent Fiala > > On 10/8/2026 2:16 PM, <badgerboy...> wrote: > > I took a quick look at the preview on the princeton site, and one thing > jumped out at me--on the page with eagles and osprey, there doesn't seem to > be a juvenile or immature eagle of either species shown. Perhaps its on the > next page (have to TURN the page to find out), or not, since that is not > shown in the preview, but I certainly wouldn't think it very convenient to > have to flip pages back and forth to see the adults and immatures. In > Sibley the pages for Golden and Bald Eagles are facing each other so you > can see all the developmental stages of both eagles without fumbling with > pages. When you have a memory as porous as mine that's important. > > Of course, this might be an isolated instance of something that is less > than ideal, but without more access for examination, I would have to assume > there is more like that. > > Guy (McGrane, Boone, NC) > On 10/7/2026 12:49 PM, Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) > wrote: > > Folks, > > When I have been scrolling through Facebook recently, I have seen a number > of ads for a new Princeton Field Guide titled -- "*The Bird Guide: North > America*". > > > https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691137278/the-bird-guide-north-america > > I didn't think much about this upcoming book, as we have plenty of North > American bird field guides already, as we know. But, I decided to take > a closer look, called up that title on both the Amazon and Princeton books > website; lo and behold, both websites DO have the much needed "Look inside" > feature that allows a potential buyer much valuable intel about what the > species accounts, illustrations, and range maps look like. Wow! if you > scroll toward the bottom, you get to some selected species accounts, > including several pages just for immature jaegers, gulls, etc. In > comparison, the best current guide, in my opinion -- the National > Geographic guide -- still has a bunch of less-than-stellar illustrations > and (though complete including accidentals) is 574 pages. This book is also > supposedly complete and has 624 pages. The NatGeo guide says it has about > 3,000 bird illustrations; the Princeton guide says it has about 7,000 > illustrations. Some folks prefer the Sibley field guide, which is also > fine -- I have both Nat Geo and Sibley; it is a much larger size with > larger paintings, but the text is rather sparse as compared with NatGeo and > the Princeton guides. > > Also, the four authors of the Princeton guide are well-known authors in > their own right, and the two illustrators are clearly exceptional. The > retail price is $35 for the 6" x 9" book. (The NatGeo that I just measured > is 5.5 x 8"), and Sibley is about 6.25 x 9.5"). Folks who have the also > excellent Princeton Field Guide to the *Birds of Europe* (like I do) will > note the similarity in format and thoroughness of that book with the > upcoming North America book. In fact, bird book reviewers have said the > most recent Europe guide by Princeton is the best single bird field guide > ever produced, with the combination of many excellent paintings, thorough > text, and precise-enough range maps. I would think that this North America > field guide will get the same amount of praise. > > The only drawback I see is the small print/font (to be able to fit so much > text into small places!), which may require me and others to use a > magnifying glass, which I do have and use often. I never take bird field > guides in the field; they stay in the car or at home, and thus for my > taste, I'd rather the book be Sibley-sized and thus have a bit larger font > size that we older folks can read without bifocals or magnifying glasses!! > > As the flier says, it can be pre-ordered now. And, as expected, Amazon and > other websites have a lower price. The expected publication date is March > 9, 2027. > > Harry LeGrand > Raleigh > > PS -- I suppose we'd all prefer a less abundant bird on the cover than the > American Robin! > > > > -- > >
