The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds
Listed on the book at $35.00 USD
~530 pages (640 species?)
~10,000 photos used
Size: Huge
Thanks to a sweet deal with Princeton Publishing, I now have a free copy of the Crossley ID guide, which I can relay my feelings towards you!
At first, I didn’t like it... Which I’ve learned over the years means it’s probably going to be something I end up liking... And I did! I was worried it was “too much”, with 10’000 bird images loaded into a massive book. If you don’t want to read any further, here’s the skinny:
I don't think it's going to "change birding as we know it", but:
It’s a worthwhile book for any birder. Birders are known to add lots of books to their collection, and in that sense, this book is a MUST. Heck, it’s probably a much better stand-alone field guide than dozens of other books on the market. But since most of us have “collections”, there’s no doubt what so ever that it’s worth adding (for a really good price...)
Anyways, here’s some more of my thoughts, expanded:
Who should buy it: in this case, it’s easier to say who shouldn't buy it! I see various groups of people who can use the book:
Casual birders: can find more of what they’re looking for in this book than any other photo field guide out there. I can’t imagine trying to use other photo-field guides that have a single image per species to identify birds. (Eg,/ how can you identify a Black-bellied Plover in its gray non-breeding plumage with only a photo of a breeding plumaged bird? They’re nothing alike!) It is a very useful addition to their collection.
Intermediate birders: can use the book largely to the same degree. I’m sure we all reach a point where there is only so much inside a book that we can learn from, but clearly this book has more to glean from than any other.
Even for the most advanced birders, this book has a surprising amount of things to pull from it. There is no one who can argue that having 10000+ images of birds couldn’t be put to good use, but I found myself already searching through for things I could find amongst the masses of images. I noticed the female Orchard Oriole (big image, listed as female) is actually a fall juvenile bird (notice the Juvenal-gape showing). Or how some “breeding plumaged” shorebirds are shown in fresh plumage (April/May) or worn fall migrants (July/August) under the same label. I’m sure there is a lot more I’ll turn up as I search through more of the collections.
Who shouldn’t buy it: anyone who is thinking of just starting as a birdwatcher. I can’t imagine buying this book for a friend who has never been out birding once before. It might scare them away. It is a limited case where buying a pocket-sized illustrated field guide would probably be a better way to go!
Overly critical: Baird’s Sandpiper is front/centre a Juvenile, White-rumped Sandpiper is a spring adult. It would be nice to have some sort of theme to how the birds are placed (eg/ adult breeding plumage always in the bottom right) – but this probably wasn’t realistic to the author!
Also,
Biggest critique: remove distracting background elements from some of the photos! Not really a big deal at all, but some strange things like the huge wreckage in the background of the Bonaparte’s Gull image. Why not just open water for more open water birds? Or “beach birds” on a plain beach? (eg,/ Bar-tailed Godwit has people in bathing suits behind it)
(Not the best example, but this image could maybe have been stronger without the boats? I dunno...)
Things someone like me would notice:
Ad. Male Hornemanns’ Hoary Redpoll isn’t an Ad. Male
Griseus SBDO is not fully in breeding plumage
The adult Red-necked Stint is a worn adult in breeding plumage (eg,/ July/August) like the vagrants we see in North America, while Little stint is "spring breeding plumage" (eg,/ early May) seen in Europe? It doesn't really show the observer what a Little Stint would look like in North America...
Some birds (Thayer’s/Iceland – are really good). And I mean really really good considering how troublesome groups of birds like this are, never mind explaining it in a field guide.....
(ICGU/THGU page)
Anything else?
I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews of the book, but I’d guess it’s more peoples surprise at how “new” this style of field guide is. (afraid of change?) No, I don’t think it’s going to change the birding world, but yes, it’s a superb addition to a collection!
Check out the Crossley website for more info if you're curious:
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So yeah! That's my quick review of the book. I'll update the blog if I have more time to search through it and find anything new. It's the first time I've reviewed a book, so please feel free to critique my review! I'd like to know what you think!
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