Book Review: The Warbler Guide

The Warbler Guide by Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle is a massive volume of information on our favorite colorful songbirds.  The book is heavy but compact and the Northern Parula calling on the front cover will ask you to pick it up again and again. I like the icon structure for each species.  This gives valuable information in a concise manner.  The sonogram information at first may seem intimidating but a primer on how to decode the information is included in the beginning of the book.

This book is one-of-a-kind and unlike any other specialty species guide I've seen.  Each species is given a detailed account.  The book's cover species, the Northern Parula, has over 30 full-color photos to help decipher the small details.  The Distinctive Views section, which has very detailed close-ups of parts of each species, is my favorite because it really hones in on the areas that will lead to a successful identification.

Overall, I think this is a beautiful resource book.  The sheer volume of color photos alone is amazing.  The Quick Finder guides are fun and are almost like art more than guide book reference which is probably due to the fact that the talented Catherine Hamilton did the drawings for the book.  And for those that really are trying to study up on identification skills, there is even a quiz section in the back.

I highly recommend picking this book up for your birding pals this year. The Warbler Guide will not disappoint the birder that loves warblers and also wants to delve a little deeper into their identification skills.  For a sneak peek and some added reference guides, Princeton University Press has many resources on the website to give you more insight about this ground-breaking warbler guide.

This review copy was provided by Princeton University Press.