Disclaimer: Princeton provided a copy of this book for review.
Book review: Princeton Illustrated Checklists: Birds of North American and Greenland
The skinny: I decided to give this book a trial run. I didn't really have any need for an illustrated checklist, but it sounded sweet. I was curious how a small book would be able to cover 900 species, especially with a list price of only $15.95... What did I discover? Well they really pulled it off! Let's look closer.
The good stuff:
900 species are in this tiny book. It's only 5" by 7.5".. And only 0.5" thick... Yet the drawings are really good. I mean really good. Have a look at the warbler page:
9 species, +1 supsbecies (Audubon's), male and female of most. And they're all very accurate. Range maps look good (i'm impressed with the N Parula map here). Is this a field guide? or an illustrated checklist? And note how Crescent-chested Warbler is squeezed nicely in there. That's not a species you'll find illustrated at all in the Sibley Guide. The inclusion of rarities makes this very exciting for me. Check this out:
This is where the species get kinda nutty (in a good way). Say you're presented with some tiny dull bird you've never seen before. The sibley provides no help at all, yet you pull out your "illustrated checklist" and suddenly you figure out you're looking at some small female "Siberian thrush". This little book ($15.95) has the details to probably help you figure out you're looking at the first Ontario record of a female Red-flanked Bluetail - and not the 2nd record of Siberian Rubythroat. Cool stuff eh?
The bad stuff:
I'm already sold on the book, but I'd be crazy to not point out the MAJOR flaw in this publication. (This book being Princeton Illustrated Checklists: Birds of North American and Greenland) ... There is absolutely NO checklist in this book. Maybe you could highlight the species names, but you could do that in any book.
It may not be a deal breaker, but it just seems funny to have a checklist with no checklist. I guess the good news is, you're one of the many great birders who use ebird (www.ebird.org) to save your sightings (and lists) - while having your birding observations make a real difference. SO who really worries about the lack of an old-school written checklist in the book?
--- the other expected bad part is the obvious omissions of some drawings to make the book this size. I was excited by all the vagrants listed and drawn --- but some things that were cut include many juvenile plumages (eg, Herons)... Good luck trying to ID a juv Little Blue Heron with this book! As stated though, it's not really a "field guide", but a fun thing to have in your collection.
Final thoughts:
Who gets this book?
Answer: everyone.... For $15.95, it is a spectacular little book. Some situations I foresee you using it:
1. For it's small size, I have a feeling it will be the "field guide" I carry around in my car. You may rarely use it for real "problem ID's".. but that one day will come when I'm confronted with some tiny LBJ, and I'll pull out my copy and nail the ID as a female Pine Bunting - getting the word out quickly and start the ensuing mass-twitch.
2. I will also love it for reference material. Every once in a while I see something in the field (rarity or otherwise) that strikes me as odd, and I need to learn more about it. I then go to my refrence collection and look at the species account (for the same species) in each book I own, and this will be a fine addition to the team.
3. GIFTS... Can you say Birthday present or Christmas gift for a birder you know? This is probably a book that few people would really feel a strong urge to buy. The potential really isn't obvious when you see it sitting on the shelf. But again, at a very low price, this would be a great gift. The person you give it to will learn how useful it can be, and be very happy with you!
Sooner or later I'll get my hands on some Princeton book that I don't like...........
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