fun for novice birders
586817
bought our own copy after borrowing this from the library. fun for novice birders!
4034295
I've just learned to paper piece and find the directions and illustrations so easy to follow.  The birds are beautifully crafted without being too challenging.  You're not just limited to the birds.  There are trees, birdhouses and flowers to create the perfect setting.  The projects really bring the backyard inside.  It's also a lovely book just to sit and peruse.
3233666
The Backyard Guide is a 'must have' for anyone interested in watching and enjoying birds. It's fun to see an unkown bird come to our feeder and readily be able to identify it while it feeds at our feeder. The photos in the book are 'National Geographic' style. So close up and clear. This is definitely a good book for birding!
3272581
This was the first field guide I bought when I moved to Arizona a few years ago.  We have a wealth of wild birds in our backyard, and this guide provided a great source of information as I began to learn how to identify different birds.  Yes, it is lacking on some levels, but for beginners of ALL ages (I am NOT a child  -  I'm 60+) I think this is a valuable starting point to becoming a more experienced bird watcher.

I have since added a couple more comprehensive guides to my collection.  But when I spot a new or unfamiliar bird, this is the guide I always go to first.  The way it's organized, by color, does really help with beginning to identify different birds and I've found it immensely helpful.  For under $15, it's a good solid investment.  Hopefully Mr. Tekiela will work on another edition that includes more Arizona birds, both migrating and permanent residents of our beautiful state.
1329798
I love this game.took me about 3 or 4 days to beat it.my favorite thing is creating birds,thats alot of fun.then you set them free to let others download and take pics of them and you can see how many times someone else took pics of your bird.i would recommend this for the casual or serious player for all ages!
264157
I have one of these and I bought one for a friend who is a bird enthusiast.  It works well and it's fun.  You might not want to use it at the table for an elegant dinner party, but it's a great tool for those who like a little something amusing in their lives.
417805
This book is a fantastic introduction to the sport of Falconry. While it is by no means an exhaustive guidebook, it presents a clear path for those that wish to learn more about the sport. It emphasizes more than once, that falconry is not a sport that you can just pick up and put down, it is for serious hunters and bird lovers only.

Beautiful photography and colorful writing bring this short but fun book to life. I had a great time reading it and would recommend it to anyone who wishes to learn more about Falconry.
1418575
This book is great for a quick initial ID on a duck or other waterfowl that you're not quite sure about.
4373530
The author warmly portrays the discovery of bird identification as well as the fun of sharing and learning with fellow birders. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves birds and observing nature.
163891
I purchased this along with the larger-sized "Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher: Birdfeeders and Bird Gardens".  The latter has a wealth of information, but  is not as easy to use for "quick id" as this NGC Backyard Guide is.  Together they're a nice source for the casual, amateur bird watcher.
2648677
Good educational value.  Has bird color examples.
2425569
I really have enjoyed this book as I not too long ago got into birding and this has helped immensely with getting to know which sound goes with which bird -- Beautiful pictures, very good/precise descriptions, and wonderful "bird songs" that I'm getting more and more familiar with -- A great buy for the birding enthusiast...and a lot of fun too.
4631894
I enjoyed reading this book.  There isn't much content on photography.  The book emphasizes methods to attract birds for closeup photos.  Many cleaver ideas are presented.  The book is full of wonderful photos.  The author clearly has a passion for bird photography and it shows.  I found the book to be a nice pleasant read and I am trying some of the suggested tips.
1071445
With birds all around, developing a little bit of curiosity but knowing very little about birding, I was a good guinea pig for this book. The most important benefit of this book is that it is a stress-free introduction for beginners. Often beginner books can be overwhelming and drown people interested in learning (and in the process making them lose interest). This one found the magic formula of making it a fun read.

The second great thing about this book is that it has a nice mix of how-to information and meta. By "meta", I mean it tells you about the things you can learn as you develop more into birding. It is an interesting balance, giving you things to do right now, plus giving you a casual roadmap of future options (for example, what to look for in field guides; or take it a step further, one could turn into a hardcore binoculars gearhead as part of their growing interest in birding).

The biggest frustration with this book, from a beginners perspective, are a number of small pictures or illustrations at parts of the book where it is telling you how to recognize different birds. If I am a beginner, and trying to figure out all these birds that look similar, a tiny 1.5x1.5 inch picture is not very helpful. It's not like this is a big book, at under 180 pages, it could have easily handled an extra 40-80 pages to accommodate larger pictures. On the other hand, we are in the internet era, one can google for thousands of bird pictures, so there's that.

The book has both pictures and illustrations. I have no issue with either, except some of the illustrations were a little too watercolory or not as helpful as they could have been. For example, page #123, the Gulls look blended into the car color and the white background.

Having said all that, it is no easy task for someone who is an expert and involved in a hobby/interest to write a book for absolute beginners. When you are knee-deep in a topic, it's hard to un-learn what you know and see things as an absolute beginner.
2419491
This was the first birdwatching guide I bought and it is perfect for the beginner.  I especially like the little tips and the notes that distinguish similar birds from each other.
4385641
Great nature coloring book with lots of pictures of birds. Giving this one to a birdwatcher that has just taken up adult coloring. Should be challenging but fun. One sided pages are a must also!
3733061
First of all, this book is just the right size to take along with you to the doctor's office, hair appointments, or for when you're travelling.  Inside, is a collection of poems, puzzles, pictures, stories, songs, quips, quotes, games, & facts about all things avian.

I found the stories, quotes, & facts about birds to be very interesting.  They are usually kept fairly brief, so the reading is not too tedious & some are actually quite entertaining.  The illustrations are all in varying shades of green & white, so if you're looking for a book with pictures of birds, this is not it.

The puzzles & games are an assortment of crosswords, word finds, matching, word scrambles, etc.  While I'm no expert, I consider myself to be fairly knowledgable about birds.  The puzzles were challenging without being too difficult.  There were only a few questions/clues where I was totally stumped because I'd never heard of a particular bird before.  The answers to the puzzles are always listed on the following page, in case you get stuck.

This book is suitable for all ages & bird lovers will definitely appreciate it.